2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia: First Impressions
It’s been years since we’ve had a mainstream Alfa Romeo performance car in the U.S. market. Yes, the brand has officially been “back” for two years, but the 4C coupe is an extremely limited edition model. The 2017 Giulia sedan, however, is meant to be different. Its mission is to spearhead Alfa’s return to the U.S. luxury market in force, with volumes that will make it a far more common sight on American roads as it takes on BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Cadillac.
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As to when that’s going to happen, there’s still some debate — the car has been delayed multiple times — but Alfa is apparently confident enough now that it has shown the U.S. version at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show.
At first glance, the shape is rather familiar — the silhouette and proportions easily recall the BMW 3 Series, as do the headlight forms. It’s softer than many Alfa Romeo designs of recent years, with none of the unusual angles that made the Italian brand stand out. The Quadrifoglio version, which typically denotes a higher-content trim in Alfa nomenclature, features four real exhaust pipes out the back that look positively menacing. It’s a muscular shape, like an athlete stuffed into a T-shirt a size or two too small. It looks like it’s going to be fast.
Pop open a door and you quickly realize that this is most definitely not a typical German luxury-sport sedan. This is an Italian sport-luxury sedan, with the more important of the aspects labeled first. The seats are heavily bolstered and wafer thin, barely a step off of racing-style seats, but they’re still comfortable despite manual adjustments.
The steering wheel is much thinner than just about any modern sports car I’ve seen in years; it almost feels retro in its form. The gauges, buttons and controls are dark, somber and businesslike. It’s a beautiful interior, but parts of it feel a little flimsy — hopefully this is just preproduction assembly quality and not indicative of a reason Alfa Romeo has repeatedly delayed the car’s introduction.
Room and visibility are not a problem, with even the rear seats providing adequate legroom for real-sized humans. Hopefully Alfa Romeo can iron out any issues and get the new Giulia to market as promised, as it should provide a fun alternative to the current limited definitions of luxury and sport.
