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Payne: Alfa Giulia is still a classic Italian dish
Posted by Talbot Payne on November 9, 2023
Pontiac — Alfa Romeo is going through some big changes these days with its second SUV, the Tonale plug-in hybrid, and a barnful of pure electric vehicles planned by 2027. EVs, SUVs, yada yada — they’re all the rage. But for you purists out there, you should know the Italian brand is still stamping out a terrific gas-powered sedan.
There are few cars that will put a bigger smile on your face than a 2024 Giulia.
Grip the fat leather steering wheel, rotate the Drive Mode selector to D (Dynamic), and Giulia wants to play like a puppy copped up on a leash in the garage all night. Where to play in Oakland County? Any twisty road will do, as the Alfa turns on a dime.
The Italian brand has been doing this a looooong time and the rear-wheel-drive Giulia is one of the sharpest tools in the luxe shed along with the Cadillac CT4 and BMW 2-series coupe. The 2 has a Gran Coupe sedan version but its, um, Mini-based front-wheel-drive platform isn’t in the same league as the others. Giulia is athletic and utilitarian, though six-footers should beware of the cramped back seat (I could barely sit behind myself). I love my Model 3 for its innovation, but Tesla has a ways to go to catch up with its luxury peers on handling.
The smiles begin long before you touch that D dial. The Alfa is one of the sexiest sedans on the road, its sculpted flanks, wide stance and signature tri-lobo grille instantly recognizable as not-that-Audi-or-BMW-like-all-your-neighbors-have. For 2024, Giulia has updated its lighting signature to match the new Tonale.
McLaren this week threw cold water on the idea that sportscars will be going all-electric anytime soon due to the inherent challenges of EVs trying to pack 300 miles of range and reduce weight for performance. An all-wheel-drive Giulia weighs a significant 600 pounds less than an AWD Tesla.
Inside, you’ll grin at the ON button located on the steering wheel’s left spoke. Like Porsche’s left-console key location (a throwback to running Le Mans race starts when drivers would jump in and turn the key at the same time), Alfa wants you to know it’s serious about this performance business.
Drive Mode dial, shift paddles, binocular cockpit. Everything about the interior communicates performance. The ‘24 model has also upgraded interior tech with all-digital instrument display. But dig deeper and the Giorgio platform, introduced in 2016, shows its age.
The 2024 Honda Accord in my driveway at the same time I was testing Giulia has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless charge pad, and a head-up display. Giulia lacks these modern amenities, which are expected in most new mainstream cars, much less luxe models.
The lack of head-up display is a particular miss in a performance car. Bimmer puts its head-up displays to good use with a racecar-like, horizonal tachometer so the driver never has to take their eyes off the road when paddle shifting. The Alfa is every bit as engaging, and would benefit from similar tech on road.
Or on track.
For a healthy $25K premium, the Giulia Quadrifoglio is also on offer for 2024. The QV (as Alfa likes to call it) loves to be pushed to its limits on tracks like M1 Concourse in Pontiac. I was happy to oblige. The sedan’s 111-inch wheelbase is playful, and its Pirelli P-Zero Corsa tires provide excellent stick.
The 3.0-liter, twin-turbo V-6 sings a lovely aria complete with trombone shift accompaniment — BLAT! BLAT! BLAT! — from the quad pipes as I upshifted through the 8-speed automatic transmission. The automatic’s shifts are much quicker than a manual can manage — but again it would benefit if you could shift the steering wheel paddles by using a head-up tachometer.
Unless you plan regular track days, the more affordable, still-sensual Alfa Veloce is plenty of car. Veloce possesses the same inherent goodies as its steroid-fed brother — Brembo brakes, magnetic shocks, limited-slip differential. And its 280-horse turbocharged engine is one of the most satisfying 4-bangers in the business.
Still, as I grinned my way across Oakland County, that $55K sticker made me pause. There is plenty of good hardware in the compact car segment for less than $50K, beginning with my favorite hot hatch class.
Drop $45K on a VW Golf R and you get similar turbo-4 performance — plus all-wheel-drive, modern tech, better rear seat space, and better hatchback utility. What you don’t get is a century of Italian heritage.
My friend Mehul bought a Giulia because he had coveted an Alfa sedan from the days his father owned a Giulia GTA. It had left a mark. Unforgettable style, fun-to-drive, Rosso.
Rosso means red in Italian, but it also references the blood that makes your heart beat a little faster. It’s a rare yearning that the Italian brand still manages to evoke from sheetmetal. It’s a quality that, I’m afraid to say, eludes the newly introduced Tonale SUV, as competent and stylish though it is.
Which is why I was pleased to see the Giulia back for ‘24. The other emotion Alfa has provoked over the years is less flattering: anger at its lack of reliability. After a blizzard of electronics failures, Car and Driver wrote off its long-term 2018 Quadrifoglio tester with the headline: “After 40,000 miles with the Alfa Giulia, our heart is broken.” Ouch.
Under the leadership of CEO Jean Philippe Imparato and North American boss Larry Dominique, the brand aims to change that. “If you don’t have quality, you don’t have a premium brand,” Dominique likes to say.
From a basement dweller in J.D. Power’s Sales Satisfaction Index in 2018, Alfa leap-frogged the field last year to No. 1. This March, it also took the top spot for J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study (tracking the number of problems experienced per 100 vehicles over the first 90 days of ownership). That’s a good start, and key to Alfa’s renaissance in the U.S. market.
Giulia is already tops in the Initial Grins Study.
2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia
Vehicle type: Front engine, rear- and all-wheel drive, five-passenger sedan
Price: $44,670 including $1,595 destination ($55,140 RWD I-4 Veloce and $81,855 V-6 Quadrifoglio as tested)
Powerplant: 2.0-liter, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder; 2.9-liter twin-turbo V-6
Power: 280 horsepower, 306 pound-feet of torque (I-4); 505 horsepower, 443 pound-feet of torque (V-6)
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Performance: 0-60 mph, 5.6 seconds (I-4, Car and Driver); 3.6 seconds (V-6, Car and Driver); top speed, 193 mph (V-6)
Weight: 3,522 pounds (I-4 RWD); 3,820 pounds (V-6)
Fuel economy: EPA 24 mpg city/33 highway/27 combined (I-4 RWD); 23 mpg city/31 highway/26 combined (I-4 AWD); 17 mpg city/25 highway/20 combined (V-6 RWD)
Report card
Highs: Italian style; athletic swagger
Lows: Tight rear seat; lacks latest luxury tech
Overall: 3 stars
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.