Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce 2.0 Turbo Petrol 280hp auto 4d Owner Review

I have the 280 bhp Veloce. It is a genuinely brilliant car (and I / my family have had 37) the sweet spot in the range. Furthermore you'll keep your license - at serious risk in the 503 bhp QF, which is over £20k more. It is still seriously fast. It steers, rides and handles superbly, being especially subtle on B roads, where my earlier BMW 335d and Audi A5 3.0 Tdi were both uninspiringly stiff (I cut my teeth on the legendary Alfasud 1.5 Ti - it's in that league). It's good value (with tempting discounts available). It's well built. It's family practical. It's comfortable. It's well specced. It's economical for the performance. I reluctantly concede that its 8 speed auto box (with brilliantly integrated parking brake) is better at ratio selection than I am - and it's fun over-riding it with the tactile aluminium paddles when we disagree. Once learnt, the infotainment system is great (ignore mild press sniping - it does take a day or two). Above all (and this is MILES more important than all the above) it has tremendous character - thus it's a proper Alfa. It rapidly becomes a friend, not just a machine. You either get that or you don't. Downsides - a few, mostly very minor. If you want to quibble some of the less visible trim is not quite on a German level, but we're talking 5% difference. The engine note, being a 4 cylinder, is fairly mundane, but there is a subtle underlying growl which is growing on me. Keyless operation is still the answer to a question nobody asked, and anyway all its rivals have it too. I'd like to be able to turn off the daylight running lights and the auto stop / start permanently. Cheap owner's wallet / unpainted Alfa logo on the steering wheel: silly cost cutting. And the only big one: no Sportwagon (yet, I hope): I've had two such 156s, including a GTA, which suited me ideally, and would have bought a Giulia version had it been available - the new Stelvio 4 x 4 (supposedly the reason there isn't) is a different beast altogether. Hope Alfa don't assume they appeal to the same buyer. And that's it. Treat yourself to a test drive: if you have a whiff of petrol in your veins you'll be convinced within a mile. I was.