RE: Jaguar XE HSE P300 vs Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce Ti
Discussion
Having owned my Alfa Giulia veloce for coming up to 2 years I must say its been a fantastic car.
Mine has been faultless and the one trip to the dealer for it's service was perfectly good.
I have found the infotainment more than adequate, yes there are systems with more bells and whistles but this did everything I asked of it. OK, it doesn't have gesture control or the ability to change the interior lights one of 64 colours - but for Bluetooth, sat nav, radio etc it works a treat.
As for interior, I think it's great. Yes audi's are more flash and the shifter could be better - but overall it's very good. In particular the steering wheel, which is nicely sized, thin and has the great aluminium padels. I also love the fact it doesn't have the swathes of glossy black plastic (c-class anyone) which quickly scratches and looks rubbish after some use. The standard leather seats are a league above the standard c-class and BMW offerings and, if like the 159, should age well to boot.
But for me, the star of the show is the chassis setup. It's the perfect balance of comfort and fun. If I only had capacity for one car, a veloce makes a compelling all-round option. I just wish they did an estate.
Mine has been faultless and the one trip to the dealer for it's service was perfectly good.
I have found the infotainment more than adequate, yes there are systems with more bells and whistles but this did everything I asked of it. OK, it doesn't have gesture control or the ability to change the interior lights one of 64 colours - but for Bluetooth, sat nav, radio etc it works a treat.
As for interior, I think it's great. Yes audi's are more flash and the shifter could be better - but overall it's very good. In particular the steering wheel, which is nicely sized, thin and has the great aluminium padels. I also love the fact it doesn't have the swathes of glossy black plastic (c-class anyone) which quickly scratches and looks rubbish after some use. The standard leather seats are a league above the standard c-class and BMW offerings and, if like the 159, should age well to boot.
But for me, the star of the show is the chassis setup. It's the perfect balance of comfort and fun. If I only had capacity for one car, a veloce makes a compelling all-round option. I just wish they did an estate.
Couldn't disagree more about the alfa interior. It feels just right. And has a lovely, understated design with the minimalist, sweeping dash and lovely looking gauges.
I also find it laughable when journalists blindly regurgitate the same old German interior bile. I'm yet to sit in any Audi that's not wall to wall with ridiculous interior rattles, squeek and creaks. Just search any audi forum, it's a massively common issue.
I also find it laughable when journalists blindly regurgitate the same old German interior bile. I'm yet to sit in any Audi that's not wall to wall with ridiculous interior rattles, squeek and creaks. Just search any audi forum, it's a massively common issue.
I thought about this comparison the other day, when I was heading back from Gaydon through lots of fantastic B roads. Firstly I was following a new-ish A5 that didn't like having a little MX5 keeping up with him so was really going for it; the body control absolutely fell to pieces as he was pressing on and it looked like a complete pig of a thing to drive at 8/10ths on those roads.
Eventually he went off somewhere and I then caught up with an XE, just a plain old diesel model, and it couldn't have been more different. The chap was making excellent progress, and the car was controlled and composed over poor surfaces, adverse cambers, and series of complex tight curves. At no point did it look like it was anything but tightly controlled and predictable.
I think the Jaguar driver was considerably more capable, but the difference in how the cars performed was stark. It had me looking for V6 petrol models in the classified ads when I got home.
Eventually he went off somewhere and I then caught up with an XE, just a plain old diesel model, and it couldn't have been more different. The chap was making excellent progress, and the car was controlled and composed over poor surfaces, adverse cambers, and series of complex tight curves. At no point did it look like it was anything but tightly controlled and predictable.
I think the Jaguar driver was considerably more capable, but the difference in how the cars performed was stark. It had me looking for V6 petrol models in the classified ads when I got home.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff