Giulia. New segment leader? Would you buy one?

[mattyn1]

I test drove a Speciale on Saturday.

Absolutely lovely - and would have if:

the boot access was larger, and it had a centre arm rest & cup holders in the back for the kids.

[Ares]

mattyn1 said:

I test drove a Speciale on Saturday.

Absolutely lovely - and would have if:

the boot access was larger, and it had a centre arm rest & cup holders in the back for the kids.

You should have driven a sportscar instead. MX5 doesn't have those problems, you fat toy driver

[captain_cynic]

Efbe said:

I have waited for years and years to replace my alfa 159sw with the next model.

/bah, this isn't nearly as well styled as the 159, just looks like they have followed the bmw/audi fad of bulbous blandness.

Sadly safety regulations tend to dictate that all saloons need to be this shape.

[captain_cynic]

Ares said:

Struggling this think of sportscars with auto/pdk/etc....?

Ferrari
Lamborghini
McLaren
Porsche
Pagani
Aston Martin
Koenigsegg

Need more?

Aren't sports cars as others have pointed out... but you seemed to have forgotten that Aston still offer a manual box on their DB11 and one is coming to the new V8 Vantage.

Pagani in the Hyuaraurauraua went to great lengths to make the gear stick feel like a manual. Also, the Zonda was manual (most of them at least).

However we're not talking about £150,000+ supercars, we're talking about the "Compact Executive" sector which tops out at around £50,000 the Alfa's main competitors are the BMW 3 series, available in Manual, Audi A4, available in manual and the Mercedes C class (which also has a manual, but the C class is far from sporty).

Anyone looking for a sporty executive saloon will be driven towards the Audi or 3er and a big part of that is the option of a 3 pedal. Hence I think Afla are doing themselves a disservice by not offering a manual here in the UK (even if it is a bit rubbish... but that just adds to its Alfa-ish charm).

[velocemitch]

mattyn1 said:

I test drove a Speciale on Saturday.

Absolutely lovely - and would have if:

the boot access was larger, and it had a centre arm rest & cup holders in the back for the kids.

Doesn't the Speciale have the fold down centre armrest in the back, its the same seats as a Veloce and that certainly does?.

Boot access is a bit narrow but we coped OK when i took a full load in mine.

Its a bit sad that you allow yourself to miss out on a car like the Giulia for the sake of a couple of cup holders.

[mattyn1]

velocemitch said:

Doesn't the Speciale have the fold down centre armrest in the back, its the same seats as a Veloce and that certainly does?.

Boot access is a bit narrow but we coped OK when i took a full load in mine.

Its a bit sad that you allow yourself to miss out on a car like the Giulia for the sake of a couple of cup holders.

Not with the pretend leather it doesn't - well this one and the white one next to it didn't. And I am disappointed - but if it isn't right etc. I have reasons why cup holders in the back are important!

And I think in a months time, the boot would annoy me. So we said no!

[akirk]

mattyn1 said:

I test drove a Speciale on Saturday.

Absolutely lovely - and would have if:

the boot access was larger, and it had a centre arm rest & cup holders in the back for the kids.

I thought the speciale had no back seats?


though you might get a smaller child into the luggage net...

[mattyn1]

what a dick. I test drove a Super, not a Special(e)!

[velocemitch]

mattyn1 said:

what a dick. I test drove a Super, not a Special(e)!

Well there’s your answer, boots no bigger, but the seats fold as standard.

[mattyn1]

velocemitch said:

Well there’s your answer, boots no bigger, but the seats fold as standard.

Now if there were an estate model.......

[Efbe]

captain_cynic said:

Efbe said:

I have waited for years and years to replace my alfa 159sw with the next model.

/bah, this isn't nearly as well styled as the 159, just looks like they have followed the bmw/audi fad of bulbous blandness.

Sadly safety regulations tend to dictate that all saloons need to be this shape.

Maybe, but the 159 was and still is gorgeous, yet had very good safety ratings when it was built.

Hence me buying it even though I really really did not need it at the time.
8 years later and I have struggled to find anything that could replace it. There really isn't anything modern in this class car that is any where near it in looks.

[RobM77]

Efbe said:

captain_cynic said:

Efbe said:

I have waited for years and years to replace my alfa 159sw with the next model.

/bah, this isn't nearly as well styled as the 159, just looks like they have followed the bmw/audi fad of bulbous blandness.

Sadly safety regulations tend to dictate that all saloons need to be this shape.

Maybe, but the 159 was and still is gorgeous, yet had very good safety ratings when it was built.

Hence me buying it even though I really really did not need it at the time.
8 years later and I have struggled to find anything that could replace it. There really isn't anything modern in this class car that is any where near it in looks.

I must admit that I much prefer the looks of the Giulia to the 159. I guess looks are subjective!

[Ares]

captain_cynic said:

Ares said:

Struggling this think of sportscars with auto/pdk/etc....?

Ferrari
Lamborghini
McLaren
Porsche
Pagani
Aston Martin
Koenigsegg

Need more?

Aren't sports cars as others have pointed out... but you seemed to have forgotten that Aston still offer a manual box on their DB11 and one is coming to the new V8 Vantage.

Pagani in the Hyuaraurauraua went to great lengths to make the gear stick feel like a manual. Also, the Zonda was manual (most of them at least).

However we're not talking about £150,000+ supercars, we're talking about the "Compact Executive" sector which tops out at around £50,000 the Alfa's main competitors are the BMW 3 series, available in Manual, Audi A4, available in manual and the Mercedes C class (which also has a manual, but the C class is far from sporty).

Anyone looking for a sporty executive saloon will be driven towards the Audi or 3er and a big part of that is the option of a 3 pedal. Hence I think Afla are doing themselves a disservice by not offering a manual here in the UK (even if it is a bit rubbish... but that just adds to its Alfa-ish charm).

No, on that, I was responding to that daft assertion that optimum sports cars never have autos....when in fact they pretty much all do.

But it turns out some people see an MX5 as more of a performance/sports car than a Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren/etc (which are all overweight toys for fat men, apparently)

[Rawwr]

Yes, I see a Mazda MX5 as more of a sports car than a Ferrari F12.

[Ares]

Rawwr said:

Yes, I see a Mazda MX5 as more of a sports car than a Ferrari F12.

I can almost get that. But more of a sports car than all Ferraris? (and Lamborghinis/Mclarens/etc?)

[Richard-390a0]

theplayingmantis said:

Richard-390a0 said:

To me an Alfa should be A) Sporty B) Manual C) A nice bright red colour.

From this thread I now know they're apparently auto, so that's A & B outta the window IMHO

& C) They all seem to be a dull dark red colour which looks even worse this time of year, so much so that they blend in with the usual small exec pack on my commute rather than standing out as I would hope an Alfa would.

TLDR - No.

the dark red is likely comp red...QV specific. interesting where you commute is that your seeing all these nondescript QV's and other Giulia's, i have seen a grand total of 5 giulias (of all the versions) in the wild.

Its not sporty, that's why everyone who knows more than us creams their pants over how sporty it is...

moron

I saw another bland dark red one this morning actually. I live in the ever crowded south east so the chances of seeing one on my 100 mile daily commute isn't that remote.

As I said 'not sporty IMHO' if yours differs so be it.

& I didn't even need to call anyone names. TTFN.

[Rawwr]

Ares said:

I can almost get that. But more of a sports car than all Ferraris? (and Lamborghinis/Mclarens/etc?)

I'm not sure I'd class anything in Ferrari's, McLaren's or Lamborghini's current range as a sports car

[RicksAlfas]

Maybe we should rename this thread - "If the Giulia had a manual gearbox, with cup holders, available in any colour you want, and there was a dealer on every street in the land, would you buy one?"

[Mound Dawg]

SidewaysSi said:

What about an Alfaholics GTA-R for example? Probably a finer and more involving car than that lot put together.

Can we quote that on our website?

[RobM77]

Ares said:

captain_cynic said:

Ares said:

Struggling this think of sportscars with auto/pdk/etc....?

Ferrari
Lamborghini
McLaren
Porsche
Pagani
Aston Martin
Koenigsegg

Need more?

Aren't sports cars as others have pointed out... but you seemed to have forgotten that Aston still offer a manual box on their DB11 and one is coming to the new V8 Vantage.

Pagani in the Hyuaraurauraua went to great lengths to make the gear stick feel like a manual. Also, the Zonda was manual (most of them at least).

However we're not talking about £150,000+ supercars, we're talking about the "Compact Executive" sector which tops out at around £50,000 the Alfa's main competitors are the BMW 3 series, available in Manual, Audi A4, available in manual and the Mercedes C class (which also has a manual, but the C class is far from sporty).

Anyone looking for a sporty executive saloon will be driven towards the Audi or 3er and a big part of that is the option of a 3 pedal. Hence I think Afla are doing themselves a disservice by not offering a manual here in the UK (even if it is a bit rubbish... but that just adds to its Alfa-ish charm).

No, on that, I was responding to that daft assertion that optimum sports cars never have autos....when in fact they pretty much all do.

But it turns out some people see an MX5 as more of a performance/sports car than a Ferrari/Lambo/McLaren/etc (which are all overweight toys for fat men, apparently)

On your first statement, nobody ever said that. What we said was that manual gearboxes were a common choice for keen drivers, as demonstrated by the fact that all sports cars are either manual only or have a manual option. Furthermore, all racing cars (true sports cars in the purest definition of the term) are manual. I think I stated very early on that some road going sports cars come with automatic boxes (the NSX mk1 and Exige S spring to mind), but these remain rare options, further compounding the point that many keen drivers (most in those two cases) prefer manual boxes.

All we're saying is that some of us keen drivers prefer manual boxes, even when we've tried the ZF 8 speed box and decent double clutch boxes.

On your second point, yes of course, because the MX5 is a sports car and a Lambo, Ferrari or McLaren is a supercar/GT; therefore the MX5 is more of a sports car than a Lambo etc.