New Giulia sedan gets Ferrari sparkle
The first frontengined, rear-drive Alfa in over 20 years
LET’S start with a big number. Seventy billion rand. That’s how much money Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has thrown into the development of eight new Alfa Romeo models to be rolled out in the next few years. That’s a lot of cash even by giant car company standards, so yeah, you can say FCA is taking the rebirth of Alfa, and its plans to take on the usual premium suspects (you know who they are) pretty seriously.
But for cars like the new Giulia which was launched in South Africa last week, the FCA mothership didn’t only tap its bank account. It also pulled some heads from Ferrari’s engineering department to put some prancing horse sparkle into the 159 sedan’s replacement and impressively, the high-performance knowhow wasn’t only used in the flagship Quadrifoglio (QV) version. Ferrari’s input can be felt all the way down in base models too.
To call the Giulia a 159 successor is a bit unfair though, because this sporty sedan is at its nucleus a different type of car. Alfa started from a clean sheet here, and the 159’s front-wheel drive setup was nixed right from the get-go in favour of rear-wheel drive. The Giulia is the first front-engine, rear-driven vehicle from the brand in more than two decades, and as Ferrari would have it, includes loads of aluminium and a smattering of carbonfibre in its chassis composition.
We’ll get four Giulia derivatives (for now) starting with three 2-litre turbopetrols, but even here you’ll find a double wishbone front and multi-link rear suspension made from lightweight aluminium, and the eight-speed auto gearbox is connected to the rear differential via carbonfibre propshaft in all variants. These items combine with a very direct (and noticeably over-assisted) steering ratio to make for quite the agile handler, and it was nice to think the feeling and feedback it gave as I hustled it along the Cape’s winding Bainskloof Pass was exactly the way some speed scientist at Ferrari intended it.
With 147kW and 330Nm the Giulia 2.0 squares up against a host of premium saloon rivals, which besides the A4, 3 Series and C-Class trio includes certain Jag XE, Lexus IS, Infiniti Q50 and Volvo S60 models - all with similar engines and outputs. The all aluminium Alfa engine’s claim to fame is its MultiAir electro-hydraulic valve system (just like in many Fiats), and though it’s a smooth runner, its performance isn’t really worth writing home about. Zero to 100km/h comes in a claimed 6.6 seconds with a top speed of 235. It’s more adequate than exhilarating, but then the same is true for every one of its competitors.
But if exhilarating is what you’re after, Alfa has you covered with the Quadrifoglio (Cloverleaf), and here’s where Ferrari’s input is most evident. Under its carbonfibre bonnet is a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 with 375kW and 600Nm - enough to run with the biggest guns in the league, M3, C63 and soon to be revealed new RS4 included.
I only had a handful of laps around Johan Rupert’s private test track in Franschoek to assess the QV’s tyre vaporising abilities, but in that limited time it knocked my socks off. Power delivery is instantaneous, almost to the point where it can catch you off guard on pulloff. It might not be quite as focussed in corners as an M3, or quite as brutal as a C63 under full taps, but if you think of an overlap in those two cars’ best attributes the QV sits right in that spot in a sort of best-of-both way. It’s also not as aurally pleasing as you might expect from a Ferrari-tuned powerplant, especially on the inside where a well-sealed cabin hushes some of what’s firing out of the quad tailpipes at the back, but it can spit some sweet snarls and cracks if you short shift with the aluminium steering paddles in manual mode.
I can’t yet speak for how it feels on an imperfect public road but on Rupert’s super smooth ‘Plaaspad’ it handled impressively. Grip is good, and it shunts out of corners with tractional help from an electronic diff that can send all power to either rear wheel if need be. Even so it can be forced into huge smokey drifts if that’s your bag, but that’d be counteracting the effort engineers have made to make this a such a sharp weapon. And by effort I mean bespoke Pirelli P Zero rubber, an electronic front splitter that raises and lowers for adjustable downforce, and gear-specific torque curves just like you get in genuine Ferraris.
The Base Giulia comes standard with 16” alloys, cloth seats, a steering wheel start button (a’la Ferrari), auto braking, DNA selectable drive modes, and a 16.5cm colour infotainment screen. Super spec adds 17” wheels, adaptive cruise, a better climate control system, paddle shifters, and a rear-view camera among others, while the Stile Pack (pronounced steel-eh) upgrades to 18 inchers, power leather seats, navigation, and a subtle body kit. The QV comes well kitted out of the box with 19” wheels, carbon body panels, a 14-speaker stereo, and most of the Stile’s gadgets; but you can still go wild with optional carbon ceramic brakes, carbon shell seats, alcantara steering wheel, special paint colours and many others which can bring its price close to R1.8-million.
Alfa SA says that an allwheel drive Veloce model and a turbodiesel could be added to the range at a later stage. Follow me on Twitter @PoorBoyLtd GIULIA PRICES: 2.0 Base - R555 000 2.0 Super - R625 000 2.0 Super Stile Pack - R695 000 Quadrifoglio - R1 400 000
All Giulias come with 3-year/100 000km warranties and 6-year/100 000km maintenance plans.