2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia RWD

By Mauricio Lezcano / carsntravel.com / Photos FCA

The all-new 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia exude Italian style, craftsmanship and performance, all while delivering a comprehensive list of standard features; All-new from the ground up, the Giulia lineup marks Alfa Romeo’s return to the heart of the premium sedan segment and the next chapter of the brand’s rich 105-year heritage.

Exterior
Styled with passion, high-performance, functional and seductive Italian design with its muscular proportions and a pure design ethos of passion, lightness and simplistic elegance clothing its class-leading technical layout with near perfect 50/50 weight balance, the all-new 2017 Giulia exudes stunning and functional Italian style with a finesse of Alfa Romeo heritage, athletically taut lines and sculptural details.

Alfa Romeo designers styled the proportions of the all-new Giulia to have commanding presence and a menacing face determined to take on the world’s best roadways and road courses. A large signature shield grille is elegantly sculpted within the front fascia to form the Trilobo, a signature of Alfa Romeo design. Aggressively styled headlamps flank the signature grille and include LED daytime running lights for a signature appearance.

The side profile proportion highlights the near perfect 50/50 weight balance and seductive Italian design. To skin the all-new Alfa Romeo rear-wheel drive architecture that delivers benchmark-level performance thanks to a primary focus of locating as much mechanical mass between the wheelbase as possible, Alfa Romeo designers deliberately provided Giulia with extremely short overhangs, long hood and front fender proportions. And for more emphasis on Giulia’s rear-wheel-drive layout, Alfa Romeo designers made the muscular rear fender forms straddle the passenger compartment to deliver a settled look over the drive wheels and stylistically mark the point where power is unleashed onto the road. Taut lines, including the elegantly sculpted character line along the body sides, mark the doors and envelope the handles while naturally leading back to the legendary V-shaped nose.

Rounded angles and enveloping pillars draw from Alfa Romeo’s rich design heritage and recall the drop-shaped profile reminiscent of the Giulietta Sprint, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Even from plan view, Alfa Romeo designers gave the Giulia an organic, ellipsis design appearance to add to the all-new sedan’s timeless character. Finishing off the Giulia’s athletic appearance are nine available wheel designs that range from 17-inch, to larger and wider 19-inch staggered-fitting five-hole-design wheels that hark back to the brand’s stylistic heritage.

Short overhangs and deck lid further emphasize the all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia’s muscular rear fender forms and road-holding stance. Elegantly shaped tail lamp features are drawn horizontally to highlight the performance sedan’s width, while LED rear light clusters further highlight Giulia’s use of advanced technologies. Finishing off the rear is a two-piece fascia that neatly integrates the chrome dual exhaust tips for a precise aesthetic.

Interior
Built around the driver, Alfa Romeo Giulia designers focused on simplistic elegance, with a focus on incorporating the essential elements for performance. Inside, Giulia’s high level of craftsmanship starts with an asymmetric-styled instrument panel, featuring a driver-focused cockpit crafted with an array of available leathers with accent stitching, plus trim bezels in aluminum, wood or carbon fiber all for a bespoke look that could only be crafted in Italy. A Formula-1 inspired steering wheel features a thick-rim profile that transmits the chassis’ direct-steering feel and neatly groups the vehicle controls and the engine start button. Behind the steering wheel, the Giulia features a full-color 7-inch TFT cluster straddled by two large white-on-black face analog gauges.

At the center of the interior, the brand’s all-new widescreen Information and Entertainment system is available in 6.5 inches, or 8.8-inches, offers an intuitive, yet sophisticated series of features all elegantly hidden in the instrument panel. Below, in the center console, the rotary controller is ergonomically located and features a simple operation of the entertainment system. Last, the Alfa DNA selector is adjacent to the automatic shifter, enabling the driver to easily adjust the Alfa Romeo Giulia’s driving behavior.

A variety of interior combinations are available across the Alfa Romeo Giulia model lineup. Four different seat styles, including luxury and sport seats, plus six different interiors, which include genuine Dark Gray Oak, Light Walnut, and brushed aluminum, can also be selected.

For audiophile customers, Alfa Romeo Giulia offers the sophisticated Harman Kardon Premium Audio System, which delivers detail-rich audio output. The heart of the Sound Theatre system is a 900-watt 12-channel class D amplifier, which distributes clear sound through a system of 14 speakers for superior listening quality. With this sound system, occupants can experience the premium quality for which Harman Kardon is famed.

Performance
Debuting in the all-new 2017 Giulia, an all-new 2.0-liter direct-injection all-aluminum, 16-valve, turbocharged and intercooled engine, designed specifically for Alfa Romeo, delivers a best-in-class 280 horsepower, 0-60 mph acceleration in 5.1-seconds, along with world-class levels of performance, efficiency and refinement.

To deliver its best-in-class 280 horsepower output and flat torque curve of 306 lb.-ft. of torque between 2,000 and 4,800 rpm, the state-of-the-art engine features exceptional turbo responsiveness thanks to a 2-in-1 turbocharger design, with the charging system driven through two pipes which gathers exhaust gas from pairs of cylinders in alternating sequence. Performance and fuel economy are fostered by the MultiAir electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology, the direct injection system with 2,900 psi injection pressure, a water-cooled cylinder head integrated manifold and a water-cooled charge air cooler.

The Q4 all-wheel drive adds even more all-season capability and performance to Giulia, when equipped with the intelligent Q4 all-wheel-drive system, Giulia models deliver even more all-season traction and performance capability thanks to the system’s ability to transfer up to 60 percent of the 2.0-liter direct-injection all-aluminum turbo engine’s torque to the front axle.

The innovative system is linked to the Giulia’s Chassis Domain Controller and driver adjustable Alfa DNA Drive Mode Selector enabling the driveline’s next-generation integrated actuator to adapt to changing ground conditions or driver need in 150 milliseconds, and instantly optimize the required torque to each wheel.

Giulia is the first Alfa Romeo to receive the newest generation eight-speed automatic transmission codeveloped with ZF. The innovative compact gear set design is obtained with a smart arrangement of components and by integrating functions: four planetary gear sets and only five shift elements minimize the drag loss and increase the transmission efficiency, thanks to the new multi-disk separation of brakes and the use of a parallel-axis vane-type oil pump. Energy efficiency is maximized by an optimized cooling strategy, which adjusts the cooling oil flow to the system pressure.

The eight-speed automatic transmission’s shift-by-wire improves safety and comfort, while the integrated transmission control unit allows to shift faster and more precisely than a professional driver and enables nested multiple downshifts thanks to the most modern adaptive shift strategies.

Summary
As the first of a new generation of vehicles on an all-new platform, the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia embody Alfa Romeo’s La meccanica delle emozioni spirit, delivering race-inspired performance with a class-leading 280 horsepower, advanced technologies that include the available Q4 all-wheel-drive system, seductive Italian style and an exhilarating driving experience to the premium mid-size sedan segment.

The all-new Alfa Romeo Giulia RWD starts at $37,995.00 the one I drove included, Silverstone Gray Metallic Exterior Paint ($600.00), Cold Weather Package ($700.00), Sport Interior Package ($600.00), Driver Assist Dynamic Plus Package ($1,500.00), Sport Appearance Package ($1,250.00), Dual-Pane Sunroof ($1,350.00), 8.8 Inch AM / FM / HD Bluetooth Radio ($500.00) and SiriusXM Sat Radio with 1-year subscription ($350.00), and it came in at $45,840.00 including destination charge ($995.00).
mlezcano@carsntravel.com

Posted in Alfa Romeo, CAR REVIEWS.

Emilio Lezcano

Journalist - Editor - Photographer
Professional Race Car Driver

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