Company Car & Van April 2018

ON TEST: ALFA ROMEO GIULIA
More road reports at www.companycarandvan.co.uk
Andrew Walker
revels in the
new-look Giulia
Regular readers will already know
that I have a bit of a thing for all
things Italian. The place, the food,
the people, its football and, of
course, its cars. My first car was a
black Fiat Uno 55S and our current family car
is an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Tecnica in a
fetching Stromboli grey. Who better than me,
then, from the Company Car office to drive
Alfa’s latest saloon, the Giulia.
It may have been more than 12 years in
the making – the old Alfa 159, its predecessor
was launched in 2004 – but the slowness of
the arrival of Alfa’s newest model was
caused not by Italian bureaucracy but by the
purchase of Chrysler JEEP by Fiat in 2014,
whereupon Fiat concentrated its efforts on
the JEEP brand. No matter, as the old saying
goes, better late than never, and this is most
certainly true of the Giulia, which I first spied
at Munich Airport in Summer 2016.
The Giulia name is not new, though. The
original four-door saloon was manufactured
from 1962 to 1977 and proved popular with
the Carabinieri. Indeed, if you ignore the
Minis in The Italian Job, you may notice that
the chasing police cars are Giulias.
Although the all-singing, all-dancing
top-of-the-range Giulia Quadrofoglio Verde is
the model we would all like to own – even
Jeremy Clarkson threatened to buy one in
the last series of The Grand Tour – the more
sensible, more logical model choice for fleet
customers is the Tecnica, which is
specifically aimed at the business sector.
Like all of the range it is only available as
an auto but there are two diesel models. First
you have the 2.2 JTDM-2 Auto 150bhp,
which offers CO 2
at 109g/km, a combined
fuel economy of 67mpg, a top speed of
137mph and an 0-60 time of eight seconds.
Or there is the slightly more powerful 180bhp
version, which offers identical emissions and
fuel economy, but will hit 143mph and reach
60 mph in seven seconds.
Tecnica trim is specifically designed to
appeal to the business/fleet market.
Standard spec includes cruise control, rear
view camera, front and rear parking sensors,
a Connect 8.8” colour display infotainment
system, with radio, SatNav, 3D maps with
TMC, MP3, aux-in and Bluetooth connection.
Best of all, it retails from £31,840.
We’ve established that the Giulia looks
good from the outside where, when
compared with the German trio of BMW 3
Series, Audi A4 and the new Mercedes E
Class, it’s a winner, no contest. But, what’s it
like inside? Alfa has tried very hard to make
the quality and design of the interior match
the best in class and to a certain extent, has
succeeded. Beautiful dials, a fabulous
steering wheel and the simple black
Giulia offers fun,
Italian style
CC&V FACTFILE
Alfa Romeo Giulia Tecnica
2.2 JTDM-2 Auto 150bhp
Price: £31,840
CO2: 109g/km
BIK: 21%
Combined fuel economy: 67mpg
dashboard colour palette all work really well.
But – and there is a ‘but’ – the overall finish is
not as good as that found in the Audi or
BMW and even the much improved
Mercedes, which always flattered to deceive.
Up front, there’s loads of space for both
front seat passengers and in the rear,
passengers three and four are also well
catered for. Passenger five will struggle on
long journeys, exactly the same as they
would in all cars in this sector. Boot storage
is class average at 480 litres.
Sadly, the UK won’t be getting a manual
Giulia, but don’t worry, the automatic
gearbox provides enjoyable, smooth, fast
shifts. If desired, you can utilise the large
paddles behind the wheel which might bring
back some of the driver engagement lost
with the lack of a manual model. But as a
lazy man, I stuck in the auto mode and I was
never disappointed. This may partly be due
to the fact that the Giulia is rear-wheel driven,
with a 50:50 weight distribution.
The suspension is quite stiff, but
nonetheless it offers exceptional cornering
and even copes well on bumpy roads. As
with my own Giulietta, Alfa’s D.N.A drive
allows the driver to select three driving
modes – Dynamic, Natural and All Weather
– which basically alter the steering weight
and throttle response. Even in Natural setting
the Giulia is fun. Select Dynamic and it does
feel sharper, but for day to day driving,
Natural works just fine.
I was driving the smaller engined 148bhp
version and despite coming with less power
than the 178bhp version, it still emits a lovely
diesel roar, a noise I haven’t heard since I
drove an Alfasud in the 1980s. It revs as well
and just like the 3 Series, is more fun to drive
quickly than the Audi or Mercedes. There is,
though, a lack of torque in the mid-range,
which is noticeable on the motorway when
compared to the new C Class for example.
Otherwise it’s a competent motorway
performer.
Available from £295 a month on contract
hire, the 148bhp 2.2 diesel Tecnica is right on
the money.
I’m also starting to see Giulias on the road
and can only imagine that their owners are
smiling like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.
CC&V VERDICT
After a long wait, Alfa Romeo
has got it right with the Giulia,
with even the lower specced
model’s looking fantastic and the
lower powered model’s driving
well too. Back at the top where it
belongs
Rating:
18 | April 2018 | Company Car & Van www.companycarandvan.co.uk