70 wheelsmag.com.au
ROM A high-point of undisputed
reverence and sporting excellence
in the 1960s and ’70s, Alfa Romeo’s
gradualslide down the automotive spiral
towards fashionable mediocrity has been a drawn-
out and painful one, especially for true believers in the
107-year-old Italian marque’s mystique.
But rising from the ashes of failed joint ventures and
broken dreams comes a shining message of hope in the
form of the Giulia. Rear-wheel drive and new from the
ground up, courtesy of billions of development Euros,
this medium-sized premium sedan (and its forthcoming
Stelvio SUV offshoot) is what Alfa Romeo’s salvation
depends on. No pressure, then...
This latter-day Giulia is Alfa’s first rear-drive sedan
for 25 years, but derives its name from a one-time
superstar – the original Giulia sedan, launched in 1962
and the progenitor of the most prized Alfa Romeo
models of the modern era, including the 105-series
coupes (1963-77), the rear-drive Spider (1966-93) and
the slightly larger Berlina sedan (1968-77).
So we thought we’d bring along a heritage Giulia- in this case, a stunning 1970 Giulia Super – to put
the hottest new turbo four-cylinder Giulia, the 206kW
Veloce, in perspective.
Alfa Romeo claims that the original Giulia sedan
(1962-77) established five principles that its all-new
namesake adheres to – Italian design; advanced
technology; performance; lightness and efficiency; and
a unique spirit – and there’s little reason to dispute
much of that. The new Giulia was designed in-house at
Centro Stile in Italy (tick), and incorporates loads of
up-to-date tech to enhance its agility, efficiency and
performance (tick, tick and tick).
But what about the spirit part? Without the twin-
turbo V6 QV version’s trick torque vectoring and eye-
widening thrust, will the four-pot Veloce expose some
weaknesses in Alfa’s all-new ‘Giorgio’ platform and its
game-changing ability for the Italian marque?
We know Alfa Romeo can do engines. Trying to think
of a dud Alfa donk is like attempting to criticise Rome
for being too old, and the Giulia Veloce’s feisty 1995cc
turbo-petrol four certainly fits its sporting aspirations.
Featuring all-aluminium construction, direct fuel
injection and a twin-scroll turbocharger, this all-new
2.0-litre engine stars in the Veloce as well as the base
Giulia and Giulia Super. In the Veloce, however, its
outputs are significantly greater – 206kW at 5250rpm
(versus 147kW at 5000rpm) and 400Nm at 2250rpm
(versus 330Nm at 1750rpm) – for an impressive power-
to-weight figure of 138kW per tonne.
Mated exclusively to a slick ZF eight-speed automatic
’box in Australia (Europe also gets a six-speed manual),
the Veloce’s punch is impressively urgent. Alfa claims
the Veloce will crack 100km/h from rest in 5.7sec
(versus 5.8sec for an Audi A4 2.0TFSI quattro and
6.3sec for an Ingenium-engined Jaguar XE 25t), yet
its performance is about more than just numbers. It’s
about bottling the induction music for which great Alfa
Romeo engines are famed, and making it work in 2017.
Thankfully, the Veloce hits the mark, but not in the
manner you might expect. There’s no trick acoustic
plumbing trying to mimic the post-4000rpm blare of
the old twin-Weber, twin-cam Giulia Super. Instead, the
Veloce serves up an ample platter of forced-induction
meat, overlaid with a subtly sporting rasp that sounds
both natural and satisfying, uncorrupted by low-class
turbo whistle.