Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV 2014 Review

Heavy turbocharging is required to extract such figures, and this manifests itself in the Alfa's distinctive power delivery. There is reasonable urge down low, however, once the turbocharger comes properly on-boost over 3000rpm, it makes for a rapid run towards the horizon. This is reflected in its 50-70km/h split, which was fastest of the lot, despite difficulties with off-the-line traction resulting in a 0-100km/h time of 8.4sec – 0.9sec off the Nissan Pulsar SSS.

Despite running trick 225/40-series 18-inch Bridgestone Potenza RE050A rubber, the Giulietta rides well with acceptable (but by no means outstanding) refinement levels.

It's in the corners where the tyres make themselves known, gripping tenaciously despite the inherent softness in the chassis tune – plenty of bodyroll suggesting the Alfa might fall off-line, but for the tyres' purchase.

Inside-front wheel spin is prevalent; better to use a higher gear to maximise the Alfa's strengths. Driven thus, the Giulietta rewards with the fastest lap time of the group (1:03.0).

Just don't look at the fuel gauge; the Alfa recording 11.2L/100km on test, to trail the field.

Fit and finish
Alfa Romeo does a pretty good job of meeting quality expectations with the built-in-Italy Giulietta. If some criticisms tend to sound like nit picking, it needs to be pointed out they are judged in the context of generally high-class competition. You have to dig to find faults on all of these cars.

So, when you are greeted by a nice, soft-touch upper dash and a generally classy-looking, cosy interior, it's not unreasonable you'd expect those impressions to continue through to the finer details.

And they do, with just the odd aberration such as the upper door panels that look a bit scuff-prone and a prevalence of hard-touch (good quality) plastics. The joins on the steering column shroud are nice and clean on the left side but less than perfect on the right.

The inner doors are neatly finished with no ugly welds and a nice, thick gloss finish to match the quality exterior paint. The panel gaps are consistent, too, except for the upper edges of the bonnet where there's a slight misalignment at the junction with the front quarter panels.

And if the heart of an Alfa Romeo lies under the bonnet, the Giulietta rises to the cause with hydraulic stays to hold the lid open (it's the only car here that doesn't use a bonnet prop) and, shall we say, a meaningful-looking engine bay presentation with slightly less focus on cosmetics than most of the competition.

Technology
The Guiletta brings a good level of technology as standard, but in a less cohesive execution, seeing it settle towards the bottom of the pack with the Kia pro_cee'd GT.

At first inspection, it feels like the Guiletta is lacking much of the gadgetry seen across its rivals – but it's not. It's just not delivered as well.

On paper, standard inclusions such as dual-zone climate control, hands-free telephony and sat-nav keep the Alfa in the points. But closer inspection reveals a variety of platforms parading as one, making it a less than seamless gathering of equipment.

The sat-nav takes the form of a dash-top plug-in TomTom screen – it's a bit like popping your iPhone in a dash cradle. It's not what we'd call 'integrated'.

Initialising Bluetooth telephony was a little fiddly – using the steering wheel buttons to scroll through the information display located in between the instrumentation binnacle – and it wasn't the most obvious pathway.

Alfa Romeo's Blue&Me technology supports the voice command system for telephony and TomTom navigation. However, it doesn't facilitate wireless audio streaming – but a USB port in the glovebox solves that. On the upside, the Giulietta does have a 10-speaker BOSE sound system.

The Alfa's dual-zone climate control is one of the few on test to afford a directional air-vent to second row passengers. It's also got lighting well covered, with bi-xenon headlights, daytime running lights and front and rear fog lights, as well as two illuminated vanity mirrors.

Regaining some ground, the Alfa offers three drive modes to select from – Dynamic, Natural and All-Weather – together with rain-sensing wipers and headlight washers. But, it falls again with the absence of a reversing camera.

Value for money
At $39,150 (plus on-road costs) the Giulietta QV has its work cut out to impress, being nearly $7000 pricier than the next vehicle on test. Thankfully its vivacious driveline offers 23kW more than the next-best here.

In many respects it falls between the 'proper' hot hatches and our otherwise 'warm' selection.

The tech equipment listed above is included standard, as are 18-inch alloys and leather seat bolsters. Powered and heated leather pews are available optionally, as is metallic paint ($500).

Alfa Romeo currently offers a 36-month/150,000km warranty with roadside assistance complimentary for that period. There is presently no capped-price servicing arrangement, and service intervals are set at 12 months or 15,000km (whichever comes first).

According to RedBook.com.au, an Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV's estimated resale value is 53 per cent after three years' ownership. That equates to $20,750 based on this example.

Purpose
The Alfa undoubtedly exudes an air of class entirely in keeping with its upmarket heritage (and relatively higher price tag), but it makes many compromises in passenger space and general utility.

Glaringly obvious is the Italianate driving position: The Giulietta may be an awful lot better in this regard than Alfas of yore, but the ghosts are still present. Vestiges of the short-legged, long-arm wheel/seat/floor pedal relationship remain, as do the too-tight grouping of clutch, brake and accelerator – even if your feet/shoes aren't particularly large.

Cramped space means no left footrest for the driver either.

But the seats are well shaped with supportive, comfortable padding, and both front backrests offer infinite rake settings via (albeit hard to reach) rotating knobs on the outboard sides, as well as power-adjustable lumbar support.

How cosy you are in the back depends on your size. If you're reasonably tall and sitting behind someone of similar size you'll struggle to get your knees in behind the Giulietta's front seats. The back seats themselves are generally supportive and headroom is at least acceptable, although the small, tapered-up side windows and heavy C-pillars restrict rear three-quarter vision for the driver.

General ergonomics prove intuitive enough, once you get your head around the tiny TomTom sat-nav sitting on top of the centre dash – a bit of a stretch away, and fiddly to work. The left-side cruise control stalk is out of sight but actually easy to operate.

The tight interior is matched by a small(ish) 350-litre boot expandable by a 60/40 split-fold backrest and equipped with tie-downs to secure luggage. When tumbled, the back seat squab does not fold flat.