Alfa Romeo Giulia

So for the car lovers on this board, there's a new competitor to the BMW 3 series, Mercedes C series, Lexus IS series, Audi 4, etc.

Alfa Romeo's new Giulia is getting exceptional reviews, is a gorgeous car, and is unique and new. The jewel of the pack is the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. This is the M3 competitor.

I drive a used 2011 BMW 335i... so thought why not take a look at the Giulia. So I went to the dealer. I really wanted to see and test drive the Quadrifolgio. But unfortunately supply there is extremely low. Wasn't one at the lot, and salesman said that as soon as one comes in, it goes out and in many cases is pre-sold. They aren't getting a lot for the year.

So I test drove the next "best" version which is the Giulia TI Sport. It is a beautiful car. But on the whole I walked away kind of "meh". I hadn't looked much at the non Quadrifolgio version research wise. Didn't realize the TI is a 2.0l I4. Decent 280 hp, decent 0-60. But I'm coming from my 335i which is a 6 cylinder with 300 hp that just delivers more power and umph. I struggled even with the Giulia on the manual shift mode... the car was fast, but it got up to a 5,500 rpm fast, whereas my 335 redlines at 7k rpm.

The Giulia was fast, just somewhat deceptively so. It was a comfortable ride, in automatic shifted through gears smoothly and nicely, felt well balanced, was nicely equipped on the interior and again, a gorgeous looking car. I'm guessing and it looks like the TI is priced and built to compete with BMW 328/330's or Lexus IS 300, as opposed to the 335i/340 or IS 350. And I can see how that makes some sense, as I'd assume those models sell in more volume. Unfortunately I didn't realize that going into the test drive.

I still have to believe based on all reviews and specs, that the Quadrifolgio is a completely different driving experience - as it should be at $75k+. It competes with the M3, for example. And it produces 505 horsepower and a 3.6 0-60 time. I'd love to test drive one.

Unfair to the Alfa, but a BMW dealership was 1 mile away so I stopped in and test drove a 2017 M3 competition pack.... just for fun. What a beast of a car. So aggressive, fast and fun. Puts my 335i to shame. If the Quadrifolgio is that impressive, as the reviews say, then amazing. I'm not really in the market for an $80k sports sedan... but its fun to dream and to test drive!! I'm still going to try to find a way to monitor the dealers and test drive the Alfa QF.

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I paid just north of $21k for my BMW 2 years ago. Bought it used. Only had 35k miles on it.
5+ years old now... still a great car! If you want a car like that, you can always buy used, as i did.

 

Right on. We'll see how mine holds up when I get there.
I don't drive a ton so I've got some time.

Relative to this thread... Alfa is Fiat.. Chrysler, etc. Quality tbd on the Giulia.

 

Ha! Design is obviously subjective... but you're likely to be in the minority on that opinion.
Pretty much every review out there loves its looks.

Also, have no idea what "beginner 'luxury'" means. As opposed to high end stuff like Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley, etc.?? Might have just a little something to do with price.

 

Awesome. Thanks.
I definitely noticed the b-pillar or whatever it's called being closer to the front but had no problem getting out. I saw another video where the guy couldn't figure out how to turn off his blinker if he accidentally hit it. The normal motion would be to push the opposite way but he was sayin all that did was turn on the other blinker so you were kind of in a loop. Weird if true.

All the reviews on this car say it's super solid. Guess build quality and sales performance over the next 2 years will tell the tale of whether Alfa can be a real player in America.