Sunday, June 26, 2016

Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

This is by no means the most anticipated Alfa Romeo the world has ever waited since...well, I don't know what famous Alfa hit in its timeline, probably the 4C perhaps. This car signals the rebirth of the legendary Alfa Romeo marque and it's a clear sign that the famed Italian car company will rise with new models coming to compete with the best that Europe has to offer.

2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia

It's no clear wonder why every car enthusiast from across the world can't hardly wait to see what the new Alfa Romeo Giulia is ever since Alfa Romeo worked on the revitalization plan years ago and when it made its smashing appearance, we had no words to describe why we've waited an eternity to see Alfa's first rear-wheel drive saloon since the 75 come into fray.

Anyway, what's in our mind about the Giulia from Alfa Romeo? Let's talk it over because being the first in the brand's revival act, which involves an eight-car line-up and a worldwide sales target of 400,000 by the next two years, it runs on an entirely new platform called Giorgio and being Italian, it's built entirely in Italy. Thanks to Alfa's in-house design, the new Giulia's design is very striking to look at as well as Alfa Romeo's brand new logo, which is a shame why video game companies that making racing games (I'm talking to you, Forza) are shying away from it these days just like Cadillac.

2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia interior

The interior looks as if Alfa stole it from BMW, specifically the E60 5-Series perhaps but nevertheless, it would be fun to be accommodated inside the long-awaited Alfa we can buy. Not only does it look luxurious to be accommodated with but also high-tech if you know how to use it. One thing that amazes about the Giulia's high-tech commodity is its sat-nav that picks up the pace even if the GPS signal is missing thanks to Dead Reckoning technology. Try driving into the tunnel and the car's GPS still tracks your movements. Pretty smart, huh?

2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio

What's on our minds about driving the Giulia? Let's talk it over like you're drinking a Super Dry beer at the pub. The fastest version, the Giulia Quadrifoglio, comes with Alfa's brand new 2.9L V6 twin-turbo engine, which shares the same components as the V8 engine from the Ferrari California T. It produces 510HP of power and 600Nm of torque and when mated with the 6-speed manual gearbox, it can do 0-100kph in 3.9 seconds and onwards to 307kph. Thanks to its motorsport DNA that traces to past Alfas in history as well as extensive use of lightweight materials, it's no wonder it lapped the Nurburgring at 7:39.0, making it the fastest 4-door saloon to lap around the legendary track.

For the normal Giulia, meanwhile, the only engine available for launch is a 2.2L l4 Multijet engine with two power configurations; one that produces either 150 or 180PS of power output, both are mated with either a 6-speed manual or an 8-speed automatic.

Whichever Giulia you'll get, it's going to be a great car to drive even though this is a rear-wheel drive car. Best of all, most models come with a carbon-fiber drive shaft as well as aluminum shock towers, suspension components, independent suspension setup, and better weight distribution that makes handling like no other. Because the handling is so great, it makes anyone who never tried the Giulia very jealous to get their hands on it, at least someday, we really want to get our hands on this.

Of course, a Giulia can't be called a luxury car without safety tech, which is kinda bugging us on the move, such as Forward Collision Warning with Autonomous Emergency Brake and pedestrian detection, Integrated Brake System, Lane Departure Warning system, and cruise control.

2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia
Should you buy it? The Giulia starts at 35,500 Euros while the hi-po Quadrifoglio starts at 79,000 Euros. On that pricing, that would mean 3-Series money for the normal Giulia and M3 money for the Quadrifoglio. Either way, it's been a while since Alfa Romeo launched the most-talked-about car of the decade, and with that kind of performance, this Alfa begs to have its presence be known not just in the real world but also in video games due to its high demand. No, seriously, this is the most demanding car we ever want to drive in our lives.

Photo: Alfa Romeo

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