Alfa Romeo Giulia review

It might not be an obvious choice, but the Alfa Romeo Giulia offers a stylish alternative option for anyone who's searching for a new executive car but is bored of the familiar German saloons that dominate the class.

The Giulia – unlike some previous Alfa Romeo models – shouldn’t be dismissed as an oddball or irrational choice either. You see, it has rear-wheel drive, allowing it to sit more comfortably next to its driver-focused rivals. Plus, the use of lightweight aluminium in the car’s structure and bodywork is good news for fuel efficiency and cornering poise.

To keep up with the likes of the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes C-Class, Alfa Romeo has continually made tweaks, updating the interior, infotainment system and petrol engines. You now have a choice between this 276bhp regular version or the 512bhp Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (which we've reviewed separately).

There’s no hybrid version, which is a shame for company car drivers, but does the Alfa Romeo Giulia have enough good stuff for you to overlook that fact and buy it over a rival exec car? Let's find out...

What's new

- June 2023: Facelift brings new nose design, new digital instrumentation (12.3-inch display) and adaptive matrix LED headlights
- February 2020: New infotainment system introduced along with fresh driver assistance technologies
- August 2018: High-spec Veloce Ti joins range with many of the Quadrifoglio's standard features such as 19in wheels, leather/Alcantara heated sports seats and carbon interior trim. All Giulias get an 8.8in display plus Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, and diesel engines now rated at 158bhp or 187bhp
- April 2017: 280bhp Giulia Veloce joins range
- October 2016: Giulia goes on sale in the UK with 197bhp 2.0-litre petrol or 2.2-litre JTDm-2 diesel engines, the latter with 148bhp or 178bhp. All have an eight-speed automatic gearbox
 

The standard Alfa Romeo Giulia comes with a 2.0-litre petrol engine with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. It's a fantastic engine, and from behind the wheel the car feels even quicker than the official 5.7-seconds 0-62mph. There's little noticeable turbo lag so it responds to the accelerator promptly.

The Giulia has large metal paddle shifters behind the steering wheel, making the act of flicking up and down the gears an absolute joy. Indeed, they make you want to leave the auto gearbox in its manual mode all the time.

Left to its own devices, the gearbox is a little slow to change gears when you put your foot down, which can hinder progress if you want to accelerate sharply or go for a gap at a roundabout.

The entry-level Giulia Sprint comes on 18in alloy wheels, while the Veloce and Intensa sit on 19in wheels.

Regardless of wheel size, the ride is smooth and fluent ride with wonderfully balanced handling. Those qualities really distinguish it from the less-involving Mercedes C-Class.

Top-spec Intensa is the only trim that comes with adaptive suspension, allowing you to soften and firm up the ride at the touch of a button.

Even the entry-level Sprint model has a beautiful handling balance and is fun through corners, thanks largely to its quick and direct steering.

Some drivers might find it less reassuring than the slightly heavier steering of the BMW 3 Series but once you’ve got used to the Giulia’s quick responses its steering is glorious.  

For even better handling, the Veloce and Intensa version have a limited-slip differential as standard, helping to increase grip levels as you accelerate out of corners.

The Giulia suffers from a bit of wind noise around its door mirrors at motorway speeds, but when we measured it against the 3 Series at our private test track, the decibel meter showed it was a quieter cruiser overall.

Thanks to a brake pedal that’s well-weighted and reacts naturally as you press it, slowing the Giulia to a stop is a really easy and smooth affair.

To read about the performance version see our Giulia Quadrifoglio review.

"I found the metal gearshift paddles were a joy to use but took some getting used to at first. I kept catching my fingers on them when reaching for the stalks." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

The Alfa Romeo Giulia’s driver’s seat is set low and allows you to adopt a sporty, hunkered-down position, and is electrically adjustable on Veloce and Intensa trims. The one annoyance is that the unusually large gearshift paddles sit quite far back behind the wheel, so the indicator and wiper stalks are even further back, forcing you to stretch to use them.

Sitting behind the slim steering wheel you’ll find a 12.3-inch digital driver's display. It can show your sat-nav map and has a choice of three lay-outs: Evolved, Relax and Heritage, each placing more or less emphasis on particular information.

Everything on the dashboard is sensibly positioned, with all the relevant knobs and buttons housed where you’d expect. You get physical controls for the air-con so it's easier to make adjustments than in rivals, which put them on the infotainment touchscreen.

Seeing out of the front of the Giulia could be easier – it has thick windscreen pillars and high-set wing mirrors that can restrict your view at junctions and roundabouts.

Large rear windows mean that the view over your left shoulder is good and you can easily see your blindspot. Things are not quite as good over your right shoulder because the B-pillars sit quite far forwards and obscure your view.

Every Giulia has front and rear parking sensors, and a reversing camera to make parking easy. You also get adaptive matrix LED headlights that bend their light around approaching vehicles, allowing you to leave your high beams on.

Every Giulia has an 8.8in infotainment screen that you can control by touching the screen or using a dial mounted between the front seats. That makes it much easier to make changes on the move than the Mercedes C-Class, which relies on you tapping the screen or using the fiddly buttons on the steering wheel.

Even so, the Giulia’s infotainment system feels a bit outdated, with grainy graphics and a fairly slow reaction to your inputs. The menus are, at least, simple, but that probably won’t be enough to pull you away from plugging in your smartphone to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay (included as standard). 

As a result, the BMW 3 Series – which also uses a rotary dial controller, but has much sharper graphics – is the best executive car in this area.

Interior finish has always been a bit of a sticking point with Alfa Romeo models but the Giulia’s level of build quality is perfectly respectable. There are plenty of soft-touch surfaces, and metal inserts in prominent locations, such as around the leather-clad gear selector.

The ergonomic and quality quibbles that blighted early Giulias have been addressed thankfully. The infotainment dial, which felt a bit loose on earlier versions, has a solid click to it, and the cupholders are further back from the dashboard, allowing for a larger bottle.

There’s an Italian flag motif at the base of the gear shifter to remind you of the country's reputation for luxury goods and craftsmanship, but even with its smart touches, the Giulia can’t match the quality of the 3 Series and C-Class.

"When we tested an Intensa model we were quite impressed by the punchy upgraded Harman Kardon stereo that comes as standard. Given its price as an option, we’d probably avoid it on the other trims." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

With a fairly low roofline and low-set seats, the Alfa Romeo Giulia isn’t the easiest executive car to get into, but once you are in you'll find that it caters for larger adults fairly well. There's lots of head room all round unless you're way over 6ft tall.

The front seats are quite wide, adjustable and comfortable, although they could use a little more under-thigh support. With Veloce and Intensa trims you get more heavily bolstered seats for a snugger fit.

Shoulder room and elbow room are decent, and there are cubbyholes for stowing your odds and ends, including a sizeable space under the centre armrest and a wireless phone-charger.

There’s a decent amount of back-seat leg room and good head room for those under 6ft. It’ll start feeling a bit tight if you’re a six footer though, especially compared with the BMW 3 Series and Skoda Superb. 

As for storage, the rear door pockets are quite small, but you can still get a small bottle of water in there. You also get a pair of cupholders in the rear armrest and a couple of USB sockets between the front seats.

Entry-level Sprint models get a manually adjustable front passenger seat, while both the other trims upgrade that to six-way electric adjustment.

The back seats split and fold in a practical 40/20/40 ratio. That configuration gives you the option of putting people in the rear seats while carrying a longer item such as a pair of skis.

The Giulia's boot is rather short and narrow compared with the 3 Series’ boot, and as a result it can take only six carry-on suitcases, compared with seven for that rival. 

If you want an even bigger boot and are prepared to sacrifice the premium badge, have a look at the Skoda Superb which took 10 carry-on cases when we tested it.

Better still, that rival has a much larger hatchback boot opening, making it easier to load tall items than the Giulia’s small saloon boot opening.

"I found it really handy that the Giulia has levers in the boot to drop the rear seats. It’s far more convenient than having to open the rear doors and pull the seats down from there, especially when you’re loaded up with luggage." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

If you’re a cash buyer, the Alfa Romeo Giulia will cost you lots more than the Skoda Superb, a little more than the BMW 3 Series and less than the Mercedes C-Class. To make up for the price, even the Giulia's entry-level Sprint trim comes with lots of standard equipment and a powerful petrol engine.

The problem is that the Giulia is not expected to hold on to its value as well as its rivals, potentially pushing up monthly PCP finance payments. What’s more, with no hybrid or plug-in hybrid (PHEV) in the range, it sits in a higher BIK tax bracket, making it less cost-effective as a company car.

With official fuel economy figures sitting at 37.7mpg, the Giulia is decent but not as efficient as the 3 Series 320i (43.5mpg) or C-Class C200 (45.6mpg). The Superb, meanwhile, can manage up to 55.4mpg, making it way more efficient than all three.

Keeping things simple, there are only three trims to choose from for the Giulia (unless you count the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV).

Entry-level Sprint comes with 18in alloy wheels, active cruise control, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, a leather steering wheel and gearstick, aluminium gearshift paddles, aluminium trim inserts, parking aids and touchscreen infotainment. 

Veloce – our favourite trim – comes with 19in wheels, heated and electrically adjustable leather seats with a memory function, sportier exterior styling and a limited-slip differential.

Intensa adds adaptive suspension, a Harman Kardon sound system, a leather-wrapped dashboard and privacy glass.

Historically, Alfa Romeo hasn't been known for its stellar reliability and the Giulia hasn’t done much to counter that image. In our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey the model finished towards the bottom of a 20-strong field of executive cars.

Alfa as a brand didn’t do much better, claiming 30th place out of 31 manufacturers. Only MG did worse, while Mercedes placed in 22nd and BMW much higher in eighth.

You’ll get some peace of mind from Alfa Romeo’s three-year warranty with unlimited mileage, but that duration is fairly standard among executive cars.

The Giulia scored five stars out of five in its Euro NCAP safety tests but that was back in 2016 and the rating has since expired. That’s because the testing standards become more stringent every year. 

At least all versions come with plenty of safety tech, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, tyre=pressure monitoring and traffic-sign recognition.

"I think it’s a shame that there isn’t a version of the Giulia that would appeal to company car drivers as it’s a good car to spend a lot of time in. Luckily, an electric version is expected to go on sale next year and might be worth waiting for." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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