CAR WARS! Does The All-New Alfa Romeo's Giulia TRUMP The BMW 3-Series And Jaguar XE? Let's See...

The verdict:

All of which feeds in to the idea that the Giulia is not only a little bit more animated and a little less constrained by weight, but also that it better resists the apparently necessary level of benign sediment that settles on its rivals. Does this ultimately lift it above them? Well, it comes tantalisingly close on Brecon. Likewise later, as I look back on the contest in retrospect. The lightness, the flatness of its cornering stance, the damping, the front end and the steering remain embedded in the memory, evoking the same sense of excitable completeness that BMW and Jaguar seemingly evoke without effort. For Alfa Romeo, it is a staggering long-jump leap forward and embedded in the sternum of everything the Giulia does well.

It’s almost churlish, then, to peg it back with ‘but’, ‘however’ and ‘were it not so’, yet the broader picture is admittedly less absorbing. Alfa’s oversight still slips when it comes to marshalling how well put together the car is, how it functions in a mundane switch-flicking way, how quiet it ought to be when subjected to wind flow and just how important infotainment is to the way buyers regard almost any product on four wheels. In this regard and a few more besides, both the 320d and XE romp over the Giulia. Nonetheless, to apply the standard modern Alfa adage – that there’s a great car here waiting to get out – is similarly unfair. The Giulia is already great and only awaits the attention to detail that may yet deliver a class leader. Improbably, it fully merits our continued patience.

TomM - 1/21/2017 9:17:28 PM

+2 Boost

If Alfa was owned by a better company - even Ford - it might have had a better chance at "competing" with BMW or Mercedes. And the fact that BMW has run its course and is on the way back down is not the issue - the issue is Alfa itself was not known for reliable cars - and add the additional bad reputation from FCA - plus a Platform at least partially based on an OLD Mercedes Platform - and engines from FIAT - and the car would have to be Leagues above the competition before it could compete at their sales level.

That does not mean that Alfa is not a decent car - it means that it has a lot to overcome for European buyers. Here in the USA - the ALFA will be associated with Chrysler cars - also not a great help. Alfa has not been here for years - and does not have the Panache' that the name has in Europe (even if that is old too)

MDarringer - 1/22/2017 9:58:42 AM

0 Boost

I read the article and the writer is very self-impressed to the point that the writing is about the writer writing than about the cars.

For me, I feel a sense of intense resentment about the Alfa. Here is this "new" platform with a lot of Chrysler LX left in it that was supposed to be a boon for new Dodges and the latter are nowhere in sight. Hell, the Giulia isn't even in sight. For a just-launched car it is in short supply--not because of a stampede of sales--but due to supply of the whole range not being available.

Customers will arrive, look at the Quadriformaggio, balk at its price, and write the Giulia off of their lists.

The full range needed to arrive in good supply with very sweet lease deals, a 10/100,000 mile warranty, and heavy advertising.

The Giulia is dead in the water just like the XE before it.

mini22 - 1/22/2017 5:34:05 PM

+1 Boost

I think if the car turns out to have some reliability and a good service department it will have "some" success. However it is crucial that it does not suffer any of the main issues of not only Fiats but other FCA products. They are transmission woes, engine issues, infotainment malfunctions etc. Now I know that the Giulia does not share a lot of these items (except most likely infotainment equipment).In spite of what Darringer says these is this is an exceptionally well developed chassis with good sounding and refined engines. Prices can only be justified if the car is good, has reliability and the customer has "red carpet" service. Agree with Darringer on warranty offerings and heavy advertising.

MDarringer - 1/23/2017 8:36:02 AM

+1 Boost

Believe what you want, but Marchionne said very early on that the car that would become the Giulia was derived from the Ghibli (which was derived heavily from the Chrysler 300 which was derived from a discontinued Mercedes E) and then when people began disparaging it, Sergio magically called it an "all new" platform and gave it the name "Giorgio" hoping that with enough bullshit, smoke, and mirrors that people would believe it's new.

These days, though, you can add a crease to a fender and the entire car is "all new".\

So, yeah, all new platform.

mini22 - 1/24/2017 1:52:58 PM

+1 Boost

Bullshit, smoke and mirrors be dammed. It really does not matter. The platform it's sitting on right now competes exceptionally well with the best chassis in it's price segment-the C Class, the 3 Series, the XE, the A4, and ATS. 99.99% of all auto publications rate the Giulia's chassis right at the top of the heap. So if this is a case of turning chicken shit into chicken salad Alfa (with Ferrari's input)so be it. Bottom line it's a great driving car with supposedly great engine's in both 4 and 6 cylinder. One should not get caught up in platforms. Porsche has taken a rear engined platform and turned it into one of the best handling platforms out there. As for Alfa I hope they can make it in the USA. It's an ambitious undertaking.