2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0T review: The enthusiast’s choice, to a fault

The compact luxury sport sedan section has very long been one particular of the most competitive in the field, at minimum from the point of view of journalists and enthusiasts. Whilst the BMW three Collection was normally the go-to, no-brainer option, it got softer in the 2000s, letting other models to claw their way to the top rated. Then, in 2015, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio burst on to the scene and shook every thing up, immediately turning into the coolest and finest-driving sport sedan on sale.

The 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio is just not the only Giulia you can get, although. The foundation Giulia 2.0T takes advantage of a turbo-4 engine that’s far eliminated from the Quadrifoglio’s Ferrari-derived V6. Does the small-conclude Giulia really feel just as magical as the higher-efficiency version? It does to an extent — but it’s largely to the car’s detriment.

Over 5 decades soon after its debut, the Giulia is nonetheless breathtaking. It’s conveniently one particular of the finest looking sedans in its class even without having the Quadrifoglio’s bigger intakes and wider stance. I appreciate the silver 19-inch wheels on my test car, which are standard on the Ti Sport trim, and the red brake calipers are a no-charge choice. This Giulia’s typical red-above-tan shade combo is fantastic, although I might skip the $2,two hundred Rosso Competizione Tri-Coat metallic paint and pick the superb Visconti Eco-friendly for $600 rather.

The interior nonetheless appears fantastic, as properly. Run leather-based seats are standard, and the Ti Sport receives heated buckets. This Giulia has a $700 package that wraps the upper dash and door panels in leather-based with contrasting stitching, much too. For 2020 the Giulia got a redesigned heart console with upgraded resources and new knobs, and the shifter is now wrapped in leather-based. Alfa says it has bigger cupholders and storage cubbies, but the heart console nonetheless has a great deal of wasted room and there is certainly only one particular USB port (with two more less than the armrest). 

Sporty earlier mentioned all else

Staying an Alfa Romeo the Giulia should really push as properly as it appears, and it unquestionably does. The steering is tremendous immediate and sharp, with more really feel than pretty a great deal any other sedan on the sector. But it’s a little much too mild for my liking and helps make the car a little bit tiring on the freeway. The slim-rimmed steering wheel alone is fantastic, owning been redesigned for 2020 to be far better looking and more ergonomically welcoming. The Ti Sport has its own steering wheel structure with perforated leather-based.

Even with the optional all-wheel-push method, the Giulia is fantastic exciting to chuck into a corner, and Ti Sport models arrive standard with a confined-slip rear differential. The Alfa feels mild and playful, and the traction control just about in no way kicks in even when I’m pushing. My test car has the $995 adaptive suspension, which is properly damped and in no way much too stiff, although the cabin does get a little bit shuddery above negative highway surfaces. The standard Brembo brakes are sturdy, and in spite of getting sensitive with brief pedal vacation, they’re effortless to modulate all over town.

The Giulia 2.0T takes advantage of a turbocharged 2.-liter inline-4 with 280 horsepower and 306 pound-toes of torque, and it’s exceptional. There’s some first lag even when flooring it, but ultimately the Giulia is brief as hell, with Alfa indicating h60 mph normally takes just above 5 seconds to hit. The ZF-provided eight-speed automatic transmission is brief to shift and has superb paddles that are mounted on the column, the proper way to do it.

Contrary to other turbo fours of identical output the Giulia’s engine sounds pretty awesome, much too, albeit not nearly as unbelievable as the Quadrifoglio’s twin-turbo V6. At 26 miles for every gallon merged, 23 mpg city and 31 mpg freeway, the Giulia 2.0T AWD is near the base of the section when it arrives to gas financial state, and I saw nearer to twenty mpg in general.

Excellent tech, but not fantastic tech

The Giulia (and its Stelvio sibling) got a key infotainment overhaul for 2020, incorporating a standard eight.eight-inch touchscreen with a fresh new card-based functioning method. It equally appears and feels far better than the previous method, particularly now that you no lengthier have to use the knob on the heart console to control it, but it can nonetheless be pretty laggy and it’s perplexing and aggravating to use. The new, standard seven-inch display screen that sits involving the gauges is fantastic, although.

The Giulia is nonetheless plagued by strange ergonomics, much too. In addition to the small storage cubbies on the heart console, there is certainly not a great deal of area for stuff in the door cards. I’m only 5 toes, nine inches tall, but obtain my knees hitting the dash, and the Ti Sport’s standard panoramic sunroof cuts into my headroom. There are bodily buttons for some of the climate controls, but others are buried in an infotainment menu. And equally the rear seat and trunk are pretty tight on room.

My Giulia has the $one,695 Active Guide 2 package that bundles automobile-dimming mirrors jointly with driver-support features like adaptive cruise control with targeted visitors-jam support, blind-place support, targeted visitors signal recognition, automatic higher beams and lane-holding support, and it’s a package I might definitely skip. Whilst the adaptive cruise is pretty fantastic, the lane-holding support is overly sensitive and won’t present a vibrate choice, so it’s possibly off or it’s on and much too obtrusive. The entrance and rear parking sensors are also way much too sensitive, and there is certainly no 360-diploma digicam on present.

For 2021 Alfa Romeo streamlined trim levels and built more features standard, but the Giulia is a little bit pricier than ahead of. A foundation Giulia 2.0T Sprint is $forty,745 which includes vacation spot, with AWD tacking on $2,000, positioning it smack in the middle of the levels of competition. Just about every Giulia has features like dual-zone automatic climate control, Apple CarPlay and Android Automobile, a power trunklid, 17-inch wheels, forward-collision warning with automatic braking, rear parking sensors, passive entry and keyless go.

Upgrading to the top rated-trim Ti Sport like this one particular fees $6,450 more than a foundation Giulia. It receives you individuals superb 19-inch wheels and the aforementioned steel paddle shifters and sport seats, as properly as navigation, the panoramic sunroof, black window trim, unique grille mesh designs, a black headliner, aluminum sport pedals and aluminum interior trim. With other possibilities like a $250 wireless charging pad and $995 bi-xenon headlights, my Giulia arrives to $fifty eight,080.

Not the rational option

When it arrives to the Giulia Quadrifoglio, that car is so phenomenal to push that it’s effortless to overlook the relaxation of its flaws. Absolutely sure, the infotainment may well suck and the interior could be nicer, but hey, it’s got a freakin 505-hp engine. When it arrives to this 4-cylinder model, having said that, as fantastic as the driving working experience is, the Giulia’s discomfort points are a great deal harder to dismiss. It just won’t really feel special ample in daily predicaments.

The Giulia’s difficulties are particularly compounded when set up towards the other automobiles in its class. The BMW three Collection and Genesis G70 are nearly as exciting to push though getting way easier to dwell with day-to-day, and the Audi A4 and Mercedes-Benz C-Course handily defeat the Alfa in conditions of refinement and tech. Hell, the Volvo S60 may well even have the Alfa defeat in the appears section.

If you might be looking for a luxury sport sedan that’s elegant and exciting to push earlier mentioned all else, the Giulia is it. No other car in its class is more exciting on a fantastic highway, and you can relaxation effortless realizing you built the coolest option. It’s just not a option I would want to dwell with daily.