Motoring Discussion > Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? Miscellaneous
Thread Author: WillDeBeest Replies: 22
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 16:33 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - WillDeBeest
I'm looking at this and being curiously tempted. Not by the vacuous-looking blonde in the magazine advert - wrong note altogether if you ask me - but by the machine itself. I've even run up an online config (metallic Alfa Red with a 'natural' leather interior, since you ask), which I wouldn't often bother to do.

Can't afford to replace the Volvo drive-to-work car anyway until the savings recover from moving house, but how would one of these be as a daily drive for a 40-minute A-road and M4 commute? And would I fit my cricket bag in the boot on Saturdays?
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 16:39 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Woodster
Wild speculation? I'd fancy a drive of the 1750 turbo petrol, but then you'd owe it to yourself to drive other cars at the same price. Driving almost any new car in isolation is likely to be a little seductive. Quite stylish I reckon. Depreciation??
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 16:44 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Zero
Only if its one of these

www.alfaromeo1.net/alfa-romeo-giulietta.htm
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 16:59 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Bagpuss
You beat me to it Z.

Autobild in Germany tested one of the new Giuliettas recently. One of the testers had a bit of a heavy right foot and managed to bend the (plastic) throttle pedal whilst giving it a bit of welly which caused the pedal to get jammed on a piece of trim causing the throttle to jam open.
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 17:03 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Mike Hannon
I'd be interested in opinions or experiences as well. It's the only thing I've seen in a long time that looks even slightly tempting to me. It would be the petrol turbo or - as this is France - the 2 litre diesel I guess.
Having said that, the Alfa dealer near me has a low kilometrage very late model 1.9 diesel 156 Sportwagon that is tempting me as well. I still think it's the best looking Alfa of recent decades. It's not a bad price, in a country where used cars aren't cheap, but it has 17in wheels with 40 profile tyres which i really don't want. I think it's actually the car they had in the showroom 5 years ago, when I was considering buying new, and fell out with the salesman because he wanted to sell that one rather than order me one and I didn't want the 17in wheels then either.
I dunno...
Last edited by: Mike Hannon on Mon 2 Aug 10 at 17:05
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 17:51 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Bellboy
sensible review here
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YubXQh-CYwY
he mentions the steering so im assuming its electric so you really need to do a minimum mixed 100 mile drive of a b and motorway driving to really see if you are happy the way it steers because on my 4 mile test drive any old cart can be made to feel good but everey electric setup i try really tires me out after an hour
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 18:19 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - madf
Electric steering on an Alfa..

That's ANOTHER reason not to buy one.

It WILL fail at the worst moment.. raining etc...
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 18:29 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - PR
I sat in one and had a play around (with the car!) at Goodwood. Its a lovely car, far better looking in the flesh, though it does need at least 17" wheels or it looks a bit weedy. Inside might divide opinion but I thought it was a great place to be. Im trying to persuade the GF to trade the Bravo in for one but she aint playing ball!!

The German test where they managed to trap the pedal was investigated by Alfa and they conlcuded it could only be done with repeated heavy blows in a deliberate attempt to damage it!

Engine wise compared to the equivalent Golfs it is more powerful (with multiair) and with the 170 diesels is around 10% more efficient.

Madf, you are joking arent you??
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 19:02 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - DP
Electric power steering is awful, reliable or not.

The problem is, try finding a car without it these days.
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 19:06 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Skoda
>> Electric power steering is awful, reliable or not.

Depends on the system, Fiat one scared me. The VAG one's reasonable, although there's a fair bit of castor in the setup so that helps. No worse than steering box type hydraulic PAS IMO (vs steering rack type hydraulic PAS).
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 19:09 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Bagpuss
>> The German test where they managed to trap the pedal was investigated by Alfa and
>> they conlcuded it could only be done with repeated heavy blows in a deliberate attempt
>> to damage it

Italian video of it here, the guy driving is light footed compared to me. Reminds me of how the pedals in my old Uno felt.

www.zercustoms.com/news/Alfa-Romeo-Giulietta-Sticky-Accelerator-Pedal-Video.html

The Alfa PR people in Germany have promised a modification and a recall for those few already sent to customers.
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 19:23 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Collos
Alfas must have the most lovely of all badges.
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New Mon 2 Aug 10 19:32 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Dog
I wouldn't touch an Alfa with a Roach pole,
The Giulietta looks odd (to me) and bares no relationship to the original beaut,
The full frontal looks like a woman's thingy, so that's a plus point, I suppose.

Er indoors has spoken, she says it don't look odd, it looks 'space-age' :-}
Last edited by: Dog on Mon 2 Aug 10 at 19:36
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New Tue 10 Aug 10 23:38 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - mattbod
Absolutely beautiful car: drove one at my Skoda (also an Alfa ) dealer as launched same day as Fabia VRS. Feels well made, handles well and the 170 bhp 1.4 Multiair is an absolute gem: go try one
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New Wed 11 Aug 10 10:01 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - PR
It stacks up well numbers wise vs the "class leading" golf....

Golf 1.4TSi 160PS 44.8 mpg CO2 145
Alfa 1.4MA 170PS 48.7 mpg CO2 134

And the diesel

Golf 2.0TDi 170PS 55.4mpg CO2 134
Alfa 2.0MJ 170PS 60.1mpg CO2 124
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New Wed 11 Aug 10 15:08 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Londoner
I hope that the new Alfa is a big success. I love Italian style and Alfa are one of the best exponents of it, IMO.

If they can fix their perceived quality weakness then surely most fair-minded people will give it a chance and add it to their shortlist when they are next looking for a car.
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New Wed 11 Aug 10 19:57 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - PR
Well its off to a good start, they have taken 22,000 orders for it so far (total, not UK!!)
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New Thu 12 Aug 10 14:54 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - DP
Whether Alfa have turned a corner in terms of reliability and customer support remains to be seen, but surely their biggest issue is the tragic depreciation. On most Alfas to date you can kiss goodbye to 2/3 of your money over three years.
A friend of mine very nearly bought a 156 2.4 JTD Veloce new a few years back. It was the tragic depreciation that ultimately put him off. Not the car, which was lovely, or the dealer, who was super-helpful.
Last edited by: DP on Thu 12 Aug 10 at 14:55
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New Thu 12 Aug 10 15:02 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - PR
They have turned the corner on that too if you believe the guides. The MiTo is mini-esque in its depreciation levels. The 159 / Brera / Spider are fairly good too.
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New Thu 12 Aug 10 22:59 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Avant
Matt - did you have a strong preference for the Alfa or the Skoda? Similar size and power of engines. I've tried the Fabia vRS and liked it a lot, but I don't think I've ever driven an Alfa. Not my sort of car, I've thought, but maybe I should look again.
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New Thu 12 Aug 10 14:52 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - L'escargot
I test-drove an Alfa Romeo 146 many years ago and turned it down largely because I couldn't find a comfortable driving position. At the time I assumed that the problem was that (understandably) it had been designed to be driven by people with the bodily proportions of Italians, and not British. I may test drive a Giulietta to see whether the situation is still similar.
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New Fri 13 Aug 10 16:02 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - Zhukov
Does anybody know if they are bringing out a 140 bhp (ish) diesel ?

I quite fancy one of these as a company car but I am put off by the reviews of the lower powered diesel and the lease rates for the 170 one are too high for me.

For the market segment it sits in, the lack of a middle of the road diesel seems strange.
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New Fri 13 Aug 10 18:36 
 Alfa Romeo Giulietta - opinions...experiences...wild speculation? - PR
AFAIK there are no plans for a 140BHP (ish) diesel. Slightly stranger is the fact that the 1.6MJ engine is available in the MiTo in 120BHP form..

I have read a review that says the 1.6MJ feels faster than it appears to be so its probably worth a test drive before ruling it out.
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