MODELTESTED: Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0 Turbo 200 Super

PRICE: £31,580 ENGINE: 2.0-litre 4cyl, 197bhp

ALFA Romeo saloons have always made more sense with petrol power, and this £31,580 Giulia 2.0 Turbo 200 Super aims to once again tug at your heart strings. But this time the Italian model backs it up with impressive driving dynamics, plenty of usability and decent economy, even in petrol form.

Design & engineering

WHILE Alfa’s Giulia nameplate has a rich history with roots going way back to 1962, this executive saloon is thoroughly cutting edge. At 1,429kg it’s the leanest car here thanks to extensive use of lightweight materials. These include carbon fibre for the driveshaft plus aluminium for some chassis parts and the bodywork, including the doors, wings and suspension subframes.

The different materials mean Alfa has achieved 50:50 weight distribution, which usually results in top driving dynamics. On that subject, doublewishbone suspension takes care of damping at the front, while a multi-link arrangement at the rear means it matches the Jag’s suspension layout.

In fact, those two models are closer still once you inspect the figures. Both cars produce 197bhp, but the Alfa musters 10Nm more torque, at 330Nm in total. Like both rivals, the Giulia doesn’t get adaptive dampers as standard, but our car was equipped with the £1,950 Performance Pack. This adds adaptive dampers – switchable using the standard DNA drive mode selector – a limited-slip differential and gearshift paddles (they’re not standard and can be specified as a standalone option for £275).

This is indicative of the lack of standard kit on offer here compared with the Jaguar and Kia. Leather upholstery costs £750, heated seats are part of a £550 pack, and xenon lights are another £625. Sat-nav, DAB radio, Bluetooth and parking sensors are all included, but a reversing camera plus keyless entry and go are both extra, although the Alfa is much cheaper, giving some room for options.

Still, the interior is well thought out. Quality is acceptable, but while the leather and most of the plastics are good, in some areas the cabin is a letdown – most notably the infotainment (see Page 44).

Driving

THE sporty driving position is a hint of what’s to come, because the chassis is the sharpest here, with super-fast steering and sharp throttle response. At first the Giulia can feel nervous and hyper-alert because its steering is very sensitive, even for a sporty saloon.

However, once you get used to the rate of response you learn to use less lock and the Alfa Romeo’s reactions feel more natural.

The engine matches the chassis’ keenness to perform and revs sweetly, also making the best noise of our test trio, which adds to the driver appeal. It was the quickest car on test, accelerating from 0-60mph in 6.7 seconds. Its lightweight construction meant the Giulia was also fastest over our in-gear assessments, pulling strongly from low down thanks to that combination of decent torque and a lower kerbweight.

The gearbox itself isn’t the smoothest-shifting unit, though; it loses out to the Jag, but it’s better than the Kia’s slightly lumpy set-up. In manual it jerks its snappy changes through, while in auto it slurs shifts better, but doesn’t have the precision we’d like.

For the most part the Alfa deals with bumps and imperfections well with the adaptive dampers in their softer mode, which you can access easily using a switch on the centre console. Some surfaces and potholes do send a shockwave through the chassis that the Jaguar would deal with better, but the Giulia is comfortable enough on the whole.

Still, it’s clearly set up for sportier dynamics and it’s the driver’s choice of our three models here. Dynamics are also helped by the limited-slip differential on our car, matching the Kia.

Practicality

THE Giulia’s 480-litre boot is the largest on test, even though this is the smallest car of the three. Yet there’s more to practicality than how many suitcases you can stow.

Inside, there’s a good level of storage, with the relatively low centre console offering plenty of pockets and trays. That highly adjustable driving position means it’ll fit pretty much any size of driver and it feels the most natural to hop into.

Space in the back is good, with no issues when it comes to legroom, even if there’s not as much as in the Stinger. It feels less claustrophobic than the Jaguar does in the back, while both models have much more headroom than the Kia.

Ownership

ALFA Romeo came in a very impressive second place in the makers’ chart of our Driver Power 2018 satisfaction survey.

Safety is strong, with the Giulia achieving a full five-star Euro NCAP rating. That’s thanks to its standard safety systems, which include nine airbags, forward collision and lane departure warning, as well as autonomous braking. The £950 Driving Assistance Pack Plus adds a rear-view camera, all-round parking sensors, auto main beam lights and blind spot detection with rear cross traffic alert.

Running costs

THE Alfa’s fuel economy on test was respectable given the performance on offer. It returned 30.7mpg, which means you’ll spend £2,299 on petrol per year.

But it was a little behind the XE, which recorded 32.0mpg and will be £93 cheaper to run over 12 months. The Kia’s more powerful engine and higher weight meant it did just 27.4mpg, so you’ll spend a steeper £2,576 over 12,000 miles of driving.