I have just fallen in love with...

loltim · 4 Oct 2010 at 17:48

breadturbo said:
i like that, apart from the dodgy alloys

alloys look great imo :confused:

BigglesPiP · 4 Oct 2010 at 18:01

@OP you sure it's not Uma Thurman you're in love with?

[TW]Fox;17504283 said:
I do love how the design studio always forget most of the world mandates front numberplates until after they sign the design off. Doh!

It's intended to be a styling cue in countries that need a front plate. Vintage cars often had a deep grille and off-centre plate.

p0ss3s3d · 4 Oct 2010 at 18:18

Personally I love it. I think they're great looking cars. The new Mito and the Giulietta both look great to me.

Shame we don't get 3.2V6's in the Giulietta. That would've been great. (They never handle the power, they don't really go round corners either. But it's for some odd reason awesome none the less)

MarkDavis · 4 Oct 2010 at 18:48

Very fugly.

Grille looks all wrong. Bug eyed head lamps with silly Christmas tree lights, lower front bumper out of Halfords etc. Basically a 147/Bravo but much uglier.

Last good looking Alfa was the GT and 8C. But they seem to have lost the plot with these maintream models.

Witor · 4 Oct 2010 at 19:37

p0ss3s3d said:
Personally I love it. I think they're great looking cars. The new Mito and the Giulietta both look great to me.

Shame we don't get 3.2V6's in the Giulietta. That would've been great. (They never handle the power, they don't really go round corners either. But it's for some odd reason awesome none the less)

only if the 3.2v6 in question was made in the arese plant, not that soulless gm 3.2...

MarkDavis · 4 Oct 2010 at 21:28

^^^ Alfa stopped making that V6 years ago. Every current V6 now is GM derived. Agree with you though - that old V6 sounded amazing. Pretty reliable as well.

I really don't know why they don't stick the GT body onto the Giuletta platform. One of the best looking shapes of any cheapo coupe of recent times (also listen to that V6 soundtrack):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOWANDQ-XJ0&feature=fvw

Shame that this Giuletta (as with any mainstream Alfa) will have completely disintegrated by the time it hits 100k.

BigglesPiP · 4 Oct 2010 at 21:41

It's better looking than the MiTo at least, and it's not a Bravo underneath, not until the Bravo gets replaced using this new floor. Autocar called it the best handling in it's class, I need to try one.

I want to see the new Giulia, and I want to see it rear drive and light weight. What? I can dream...

MarkDavis · 4 Oct 2010 at 21:48

'Best handling car in class' is probably stretching it a bit far. Evo:

The Giulietta's chassis engineers rate the Audi A3 highly and think a Ford Focus poor, which tells you a lot. The QV should be a rival for that Golf GTI and Mégane 250 but it lacks their dynamic sparkle. Instead it's good A3 or BMW 1-series alternative, which is what Alfa Romeo wanted. As far as the mainland European market is concerned, Alfa is probably right.

Looking at the design some more, I definitely think they got the grille all wrong - its too wide triangle shaped instead of being more a shield shape:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Alfagiulietta.jpg

I wait for the day that Alfa produce a genuine all round great, reliable, well built car, but I suspect that I'm going to be waiting a long time....

[TW]Fox · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:15

BigglesPiP said:
Autocar called it the best handling in it's class, I need to try one.

What? What Autocar actually said was...

Autocar said:
Should I buy one?
Not if performance and handling are top priorities

What’s it like?
That rather depends on your expectations. If you’re looking for a focused hot-hatch then you’ll be mildly disappointed.

I guess you could interpret that as meaning 'it is the best handling car in its class' if the class contains only the Alfa Giulietta 1750TBi.

PardonTheWait · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:24

Amazing from the back, not quite right from the front.

I don't like the front of the Mito either, it's the lights. Too... big.

MarkDavis · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:36

[TW]Fox;17509684 said:
I guess you could interpret that as meaning 'it is the best handling car in its class' if the class contains only the Alfa Giulietta 1750TBi.

I'm intrigued. If you were spending say £15k of your own money on a new hatchback, where would your money go?

[TW]Fox · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:38

That seems like a completely unrelated question given a 1750TBi is considerably more than that but I'll answer it anyway.

I think I'd probably end up with a Mini Cooper and a therapist. Even a decent spec Golf or Focus costs more than £15k.

MarkDavis · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:41

Mini Cooper? LOL. Nothing personal, but that's pretty gay!

grudas · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:46

MarkDavis said:
Mini Cooper? LOL. Nothing personal, but that's pretty gay!

i don't see how a car can be gay? unless it clearly states on the side "I AM GAY AND SO IS MY CAR" and ye i would get mini over that any day..

BigglesPiP · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:53

[TW]Fox;17509684 said:
What? What Autocar actually said was.
I guess you could interpret that as meaning 'it is the best handling car in its class' if the class contains only the Alfa Giulietta 1750TBi.

LOL, epic consistency from Autocar then, when they tested the 1.4 multiair Turbo they said:

The car has class-leading grip, plus neatness and poise in the corners and will throttle-steer neatly when driven hard. Body roll is present in modest quantities but the Side support of the comfortable seats negates it completely.

Either the reviewers don't agree or 235bhp with a really wide power band has undone all the progress.

iaind · 4 Oct 2010 at 22:58

Not understanding the criticism of the number plates? The front is how alfa have always done it and the back looks perfectly normal

[TW]Fox · 4 Oct 2010 at 23:01

BigglesPiP said:
LOL, epic consistency from Autocar then, when they tested the 1.4 multiair Turbo they said:

Either the reviewers don't agree or 235bhp with a really wide power band has undone all the progress.

Class leading GRIP - not handling. Grip and handling are NOT the same thing no matter how many times people confuse the two.

[TW]Fox · 4 Oct 2010 at 23:01

MarkDavis said:
Mini Cooper? LOL. Nothing personal, but that's pretty gay!

What else are you supposed to buy?! Pretty much every sub £15k hatchback is gay. It's a question I'd never have to ask myself as I'd never buy a sub £15k brand new hatchback anyway. I'd have a used Golf or A3 or 1 Series or something.

BigglesPiP · 4 Oct 2010 at 23:08

[TW]Fox;17510043 said:
Class leading GRIP - not handling. Grip and handling are NOT the same thing no matter how many times people confuse the two.

Regardless; they certainly did't ftake a dim view of it back then. But I suspect you're hung up on the details because you missed the 1st result google shows and jumped to being an arse about it.

[TW]Fox · 4 Oct 2010 at 23:15

BigglesPiP said:
Regardless; they certainly did't ftake a dim view of it back then. But I suspect you're hung up on the details because you missed the 1st result google shows and jumped to being an arse about it.

No, I'm just pointing out you were wrong, thats all. It's no deeper than that. You quoted a source as saying something which in reality they never did.