Alfa Romeo Giulia/Alfa Romeo
This time I didn't do the right thing, I admit. In normal car tests, certainly for those preparing for cars with sporty pretensions, we try to at least tickle the dynamic shell. To visit the regions of limitations, to try to wonder about the car's tank at the points where all its assemblies are tested under load. Does the steering wheel reveal its own belligerence and desires in accelerations out of its face, do the brakes produce the required confidence to do their job time after time, does the chassis not raise its hands even when it has to balance the grip of the tires and the side forces that threaten to divert the vehicle from its course.
This time it didn't happen, none of it, almost didn't happen. This time I drove these two cars in the everyday, normal, moderate and to a large extent - correct in their case. For a moment I was Lorenzo or Giovanni, finishing his short work week in the suburbs of Milan and jumping north on a two and a half hour drive including an espresso stop to the Cerbinia ski resort and back. And like it, all I wanted was the car that would do it comfortably, quietly, with the required amount of comfort accessories and if possible as a bonus - also with some pleasure.
As of today and until further notice, the Giulia and the Stelvio are the only two Alfa Romeo models that really deserve to carry the logo and name. Last remnants of her last independent incarnation - and this is probably one of the last times they will receive the anti-aging treatment before they too disappear from the surface.
Within three years, according to Alfa Romeo's strategic plan, both will be replaced by new models with the same name, but which will use the Stelantis STLA platform, one that will be used across the entire range of the concern's cars, and not the dedicated and superior Giorgio platform . To summarize the meaning of the change - try to think of making pizza in a microwave that can do many other things in addition to the fragrant and precise product of a dedicated baking tray and a hot stone.
These two models are already very old, and were presented in 2016 and 2017. Their competitors have already had time to replace a generation or a generation plus with a mechanical and cosmetic facelift during this period, while Alfa is mostly content with polishing and polishing.
A free day during the launch of the new Milano, and the opportunity to drive these two cars in the same conditions back to back was something that both the traveling colleague and I decided was a shame to miss. So we asked for a recommendation for good mountain roads and set off. And if you think I'm skipping the step of showing the changes, then that's fine, I just know it will be short enough and won't require more than a few sentences.
Externally - the significant difference is the lighting units are now with the U-shape similar to those in Tonala, and changes in the grill that require a sharp and skilled eye to identify. Internally - 12.3-inch fully digital dashboard, 8.8-inch multimedia system with Android and Apple compatibility and more. Mechanically - only the 2.0-liter engine with a capacity of 280 hp, dual-wheel drive that receives adaptive brakes and a limited-slip rear differential is left in the offer.
Since the time is short and the driving is a lot, I decide to leave the impression of the passenger compartment to the road and simply wake up the engine by pressing the paddle button on the steering wheel The sound, it must be noted, is not particularly musical despite the easy circumstances of an underground parking lot, it did not change even under load, where the engine had difficulty making those sounds of an internal combustion engine that we will still miss. I am not talking about too loud exhaust sounds Exaggerated "turbos" and bogus "bakfiers", but just that pleasant sound of a good gasoline engine that plays on revving.
Even after its update, the passenger compartment of these two cars remains their Achilles heel. Along with materials that are very pleasant to the touch and look (steering wheel, gear levers, seat upholstery), there are also too many parts such as the climate control and the central console whose plastic was not very impressive when it was presented, certainly not at the required level today.
The 8.8-inch screen is too small to produce a map-worthy display in the mobile mirror, the plastic space that remains black around it only enhances its small dimensions. The digital dashboard is excellent, with convenient and efficient displays including one that I particularly liked showing the numbers in Alfa Romeo's historic font. The space in their back seat is not impressive either. It is reasonable in the Stelvio due to the upright sitting position and the ease of entry and exit, but really not good in the Giulia, which adds a very uncomfortable entrance opening to the narrow legroom.
Although they were locked in 19-inch (Julia) and 21-inch (Stelvio) rims, the ride comfort in the vast majority of cases was excellent. Smooth due to a very successful basic calibration of the shock absorbers and if that wasn't enough, the use of adaptive shock absorbers that can be manually moved to their soft position gave a little more comfort. Except for one place with which nothing will help - a big rim and a low cut tire will lose all the time - potholes. There were at least a few particularly bad ones that I already imagined how we were forced to change a tire in the middle of this mountain road and crawl in agony at 80 km/h all the way back.
The other component that accompanied us was noise, although it is hard to blame the car for that, since inside a car in the northern part of Italy And at the end of the snow season - the cars were still equipped with relatively noisy winter tires. But even in the noise, it was possible to recognize that the Stelvio produces more wind noise than the Giulia and that its 5-door structure transmits more resonance from the trunk to the passenger compartment, while in the Giulia, The trunk is completely separate and isolates the noises better.
The engine in both cars is the same, 2.0 liters with a capacity of 280 hp. I know, it doesn't sound like much nowadays when an electric family like BYD Sill loads 312 horses in its entry version - but these two cars have no problem with daily progress mainly thanks to low weight Very much compared to their competitors and in general - 1,620 kg for the Giulia and 1,755 kg for the Stelvio - these are 250 kg less than the BMW 3 Series in the case of the Julia and in fact even the Stelvio is lighter than it.
How does that happen? With wings, doors, suspension parts and an engine made of aluminum and a drive shaft made of carbon fiber. how does it go Great as only a car that weighs little can drive. A kind of lightness that becomes a rare component in modern cars loaded with weight. It's a lightness that comes in response to pressing the pedal in intermediate accelerations of overtaking a truck on the A4 highway and it's a lightness in which it picks up the pace between turns on the curving mountain road to the ski resort, the one between its twists and turns the Matterhorn peak appears and disappears - the mountain most people will recognize from the cover of the Toblerone (again I forgot to buy).
And although, as I stated - there was no extreme driving here, also due to the condition of the roads, the load of drivers who treated the lane separation line with Italian liberality and the use of winter tires - it was impossible to ignore how good these two cars are at their base. How good this chassis is at communicating exactly, but exactly what's going on underneath and how fast, accurate and good this steering wheel is. As of today, even in this dual drive version the Q4 is one of the two best driving sedans I've come across (the other being the Genesis G70) and I'd even venture to say that even with its replacement in two years it will still be the benchmark for me. These compliments also apply to the Stelvio, right, a little higher, right, with a driving position that isn't as perfect as the Giulia. Still, a tzaddik in Sodom of all the clumsy SUV-crossovers around him. Technically they also have a limited slip differential, not that the conditions allowed to stimulate its capabilities, not that we will give up on a local inspection of this event.
The Bottom Line
These two cars are really becoming an archeological exhibit, if anyone thought that the hypocrisy of the European Union and sticking its nose into matters in which it does not understand a thing and a half is limited only to the political field - below is an update - it is also doing it in the automotive field. The pace at which he demands the industry change in the electric direction and fines the manufacturers who do not align with what he imagines as the right pace to do so, simply does not correspond to reality. The result is that cars like the Giulia and the Stelvio become a burden to their manufacturers. And these are just waiting for the opportunity to take them, load them on a generic platform and send them equipped with electric drive to the streets.
I don't want to sound like someone who opposes the electric drive, because I really believe in its importance. But until the automobile industry proves that it knows how to provide a worthy replacement for these cars, which simply make you want to drive and are so good in this story of moving you with casual comfort at 150-160 km/h on the highway and then dancing around the twists and turns with ease as if it shed tens of kilograms on it and tens of you Years of age - I will reserve the right to grumble, but
the environmental threat is not their biggest problem at the moment, but mainly the pricing problem, not that these cars are priced very competitively, but here in Israel the prices of the Julia and the Stelvio are. on NIS 340 and 370 thousand respectively - this is equivalent to the prices of their competitors such as BMW 3 Series and Genesis G70 in Julia or BMW X3 and Audi Q5 in Stelvio - but in their case, as a valued brand but honestly, One that is still struggling to be recognized as belonging to the luxury group, the appeal to a limited clientele to begin with makes life not easy for them already at the starting line.
The reporter was a guest of Alfa Romeo in Italy