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

It is astonishing to see auto magazine reviewers giving the Giulia less than 4.5 or even 5 stars! All one reads is how mediocre the infotainment system is, forgetting what a fanatastic drive the car offers. Actually I find the infotainment system perfectly adequate for the main purpose it serves and easy to use, unlike more "sophisticated" systems in other cars I had which are usually too complex (and distracting) to use. But is driving pleasure now reduced to second place behind infotainment?! I had owned six BMW's, four Golf GTI's, a Golf VR6, a Jaguar XF, a Mercedes C class and an Audi A4; none of those can match the driving satisfaction that the Alfa gives. The Alfa handling is superb with an ultra quick steering which points the car in the direction you seek. The engine is exemplary responsive, but what stands out is the mapping of the auto gearbox: it can read my mind and is always in the right ratio changing at the right moment; I have not needed to use the shift paddles at all and all of this is in Normal mode as I seldom need to go into the Dynamic mode. In other cars, the auto box changes up too soon in Drive mode leaving one in the wrong gear when needed (e.g. at roundabouts) or hangs on to low gear for ever in Sport mode. What is ironic is that the Alfa has proved to be more reliable than all the other cars I had owned! The driving position is excellent and the seats are very comfortable and supportive on long journeys. The fuel economy is very good for a reasonably powerful engine: I only need to fill up once on 600 mile trips to Geneva while driving at a decent speed (being overtaken by only a handful of cars on motorways). In the Giulia, Alfa has engineered a wonderful car and I would not replace it with any other (only perhaps the Giulia Quadrifoglio).