New Alfa is poetry in motion
FLAWED BUT SUBLIME: FEW CARS MATCH ITS BALANCE, NONE BEAT ITS STEERING PRECISION
Not quite enough power nor standout looks but as an experience, it doesn’t get more beautiful …
True beauty is never perfect. So, in Rome you have the air of thousands of years of history, beautiful buildings and churches in the loving clasp of picturesque hills and the Tiber River. But you also have stifling heat in summer, smoggy pollution on bad days and the cacophonous chaotic mess that is Italian traffic.
The rest of Italy is the same, from the rolling vineyard-clad hills of Tuscany to the villages of Sicily. Underlying the beauty is the sort of inefficiency and wastage – not to mention corruption and crime – which would make South Africans feel right at home. They have had more governments since the end of World War II than they’ve had hot baths.
But then, you realise, true art and beauty are not created in a sterile laboratory. From the Sistine Chapel to Ferraris, Italian craftsmen sing with their hands. And, from the kitchens of world-renowned chefs to those of ordinary mamas in villages emerge dishes that seem to have dropped straight from heaven. If you don’t like Italian food, you don’t like food.
In the same vein, if you do not love at least one Italian car, then you cannot call yourself a true petrolhead.
Love affairs with Italian cars can be a little bit like addiction, my cousin in England tells me. Sean, who has owned Alfa Romeos, Fiats, Lancias, but never quite stretched to a Ferrari, doesn’t expect his cars to be reliable. Being gorgeous is enough.
These days, however, the myth of Italian cars being rubbish and falling apart from rust at the sight of a cloud 30km away has largely been dispelled.
So, when I got behind the wheel of the new Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0 litre, quality and reliability were not issues at the forefront of my mind. I would take any of the current range of cars in the Fiat Chrysler stable – the Italian ones anyway – against any of their European rivals when it comes to peace of mind.
The Giulia is a beautiful car and one which looks better in the metal than in photographs. It is reminiscent, though, of a BMW 3 Series and, therefore, is not the standout design its predecessor of the same name was in the car market of the 1960s and 1970s.
When you slip into the figure-hugging driver’s seat and look down at the leather-clad steering wheel, and ahead at the large dials for speed and engine revs, you know this is an Alfa. Interesting is the fact that the traditional Alfa Romeo logo with the cross and the viper – are rendered in monotone rather than in the original vibrant colours.
It fires up with a throaty roar from the turbocharged engine. And therein lies the first imperfection. The engine is good as it goes, but its 147kW is a lot less than some rivals are offering. So, it will scoot to 100km/h in about seven seconds at Highveld altitudes, but there are plenty of cheaper hot hatches out there which will embarrass you at the lights. There may be those who argue the purpose of this Alfa is not straight-line speed, and they’d be correct… but still, you’d like a little bit more grunt for your money which, for the 2.0 litre, ranges from R550 000 to just under R700 000.
The power argument is, according to overseas reports, settled by the Giulia QV, which sports a 2.9 litre twin-turbo V6 engine which belts out 375kW and is near the top of the executive sedan pecking order. The first 46 of those cars brought into the country were already spoken for before the launch, so this is an academic discussion really.
On the move, the Giulia, even in 2.0 litre form, is probably the best handling executive saloon out there. That’s some statement, but there are few cars that match the balance of this front-engine, rearwheel-drive car and none which can beat the precision and sharpness of its steering which allows an almost telepathic connection between driver’s brain and the front wheels.
A long-time veteran of the local motoring industry, known as a top driver in his day, surprised me with his comments that the Giulia is fantastic. He has driven just about everything and it takes a lot to get him excited. He was about the Giulia. And he was right. On the road, this Alfa is sublime. It is flawed – it doesn’t have quite enough power or the standout looks the marque was known for in the past – but as an experience, it doesn’t get more beautiful …