Giulia. New segment leader? Would you buy one?

[RobM77]

budgie smuggler said:

Ares said:

No gearbox knows what the car is about to do. All gearboxes require the driver to 'tell' them.

Can't remember what car it is, but isn't there one which uses the GPS mapping files to hold a gear or change down preemptively when approaching turns?

This was mentioned earlier. Jolly clever! I'd personally rather be in control due to varying road conditions and also because I just like to be in control. Take the 370Z's auto blip - a totally harmless feature and I can't think of a reason not to rev match a downchange, but personally I'd just rather do it myself. I'm a geek and I love innovation, both in electronics and mechanical engineering, but I just like the choice to interact as fully as possible with the car if I want to. Ergo, I'd buy a 370Z if I could switch off the auto-blip and I'd buy a Giulia if I could have a manual gearbox. Needless to say, this contention isn't a new thing - the Lexus IS is a 3 series competitor that many of us have considered, and that's been automatic only in the UK for some years.

[James P]

RobM77 said:

budgie smuggler said:

Ares said:

No gearbox knows what the car is about to do. All gearboxes require the driver to 'tell' them.

Can't remember what car it is, but isn't there one which uses the GPS mapping files to hold a gear or change down preemptively when approaching turns?

This was mentioned earlier. Jolly clever! I'd personally rather be in control due to varying road conditions and also because I just like to be in control. Take the 370Z's auto blip - a totally harmless feature and I can't think of a reason not to rev match a downchange, but personally I'd just rather do it myself. I'm a geek and I love innovation, both in electronics and mechanical engineering, but I just like the choice to interact as fully as possible with the car if I want to. Ergo, I'd buy a 370Z if I could switch off the auto-blip and I'd buy a Giulia if I could have a manual gearbox. Needless to say, this contention isn't a new thing - the Lexus IS is a 3 series competitor that many of us have considered, and that's been automatic only in the UK for some years.

I think it's BMW that has this feature linked into the sat nav/ gearbox programming. I've not driven one with it (unlikely to as I have I no intention of getting a BMW again) so don't know how it's programmed to work.

On the original question, I had expected to give serious thought to a Giulia to replace my current car when the lease ends in November. Unfortunately it seems that the service department at my local Alfa dealer is still up to the tricks that drove me away 15 years ago. They are also unable to offer either QV or Veloce at the local branch. The car and dealer network are going to have to earn a glowing reputation over the next 6 months for me to even contemplate one now.