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

I've long been an Alfa fan over the years and owned Suds, 75's 155's 164's right up to a Busso powered 3.2 GT. All were great cars in many ways, but all of them had weird and wonderful quirks that you put down to, well it's an Alfa, so it's normal. The only car I couldn't warm to was a 3.2 159, which was heavy, slow and way too thirsty. Alfa Romeo treated me to a half day at Millbrook proving ground in July to try out the Giulia, which itself was rather special as I tried the bottom of the range 200hp petrol right up to the fire breathing 510hp Q. Although I found the 200hp to be ok, the 510hp is a licence looser, it's such a well balanced car that you are in triple digits before you think about it. The one I decided on in the end was the 280hp Veloce. I've had it a couple of months now and just blown away with it. It's certainly no slouch with a 5.5 0-60, but will happily cruse with no issues whilst giving good MPG. I've gone for the basic Alfa Red for mine and it makes everything else in the company car park look rather tame. Driving wise, the handling and steering is fantastic. It's so direct you really feel like you are in a lighter sports car to a big saloon. The alloy flappy paddles are a joy to use in manual mode or you can just leave it in auto and let the 8 speed ZF to it's job, which it does flawlessly. The brakes take a while to get used to. I play racing games on a Logitech G25 wheel and it feels weirdly similar. As it's not a conventional hydraulic set up it does feel a little artificial, but once used to it it's fine and the big brembos fitted to the Veloces as standard work like a charm. Interior, well I know the press say it isn't up to the Germans, but the cabin feels easily better than the 3 series I had last year. The infotainment system is easy enough to use and the way they've blended it in to the dash rather than looking like someone has just glued an ipad to it. The seats are superb, supportive / electric & heated keeps the Mrs happy on cold days, which is a bonus. All I can say is if you are thinking of a sporty saloon, give one a try.