2024 Alfa Romeo Giuila Veloce new car review

This premium European new car brings style and flair that few other vehicles can match and it’s just had a big price cut.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia was well received by critics when it launched here back in 2018, but the acclaim hasn’t translated into sales.

Here are five things to know about the Italian sedan.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia oozes Italian style and flair.

It’s gorgeous to look at

In a sea of boring boxes on wheels, the Giulia stands out with movie-star looks. Its long bonnet, low stance and bulging haunches create the illusion of going fast even when it’s standing still. The Giulia is one of very few cars that inspires you to stand back and admire it in the driveway. It attracts plenty of attention as well, especially in our test car’s deep red paint scheme. The traditional Alfa styling hallmarks are well executed, including the shield-shaped, triangular front grille emblazoned with the brand’s Biscione badge, which looks like an ancient coat of arms.

It’s a sharp steering car, too.

The class carries into the cabin

The Alfa feels undeniably Italian from the driver’s seat. The perforated, genuine leather seats smell fantastic and grip you tightly through corners, the steering wheel feels great in the hands and the splashes of imitation carbon fibre and aluminium throughout give the car a genuinely sporty feel. The centre screen is small but the graphics are sharp and the new customisable driver display mimics the traditional dials and gauges of a sports car. A discreet Italian flag blends into the centre console and the Alfa logo is embossed into the headrests.

There’s character in spades

There aren’t many cars that can match the driving rewards of the Giulia for the price. It’s a superbly balanced machine that feels exceptionally light on its feet through the bends. It turns in sharply, the steering provides excellent feedback and the firmish suspension keeps the car well tied down and impressively poised, even on bumpier roads. The 206kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo four delivers strong performance off the line but also feels lively at the top end of the rev range. The transmission instinctively plucks the right gear for the occasion, maximising your drive out of corners. In dynamic mode, the throttle response, gear shifts and steering become more urgent, upping the fun factor further. If the Veloce’s not enough to satisfy your need for speed, roughly $165,000 buys you the Quadrifoglio model with its ferocious, Ferrari-derived twin-turbo V6 that pumps out 375kW and 600Nm.

The cabin is classy and has plenty of tech.

There’s a clearance plate deal

Giulia prices rose steeply when the new, better equipped model arrived with a more modern interior in the middle of last year. The sporty Veloce model costs $77,350 plus on roads, a big jump from the $71,950 of the previous model. That translates to roughly $84,000 on the road, but the brand is offering a $5000 bonus on 2023-plated models, almost wiping out the price bump. There’s a catch, though. Order any colour other than white and it’ll cost you $1990 for premium paint and a whopping $3095 for “Etna” red.

Premium paint comes with a premium price tag.

It’s not perfect

The new Giulia has a more hi-tech modern feel inside, thanks to the new centre screen, wireless smartphone charging and customisable driver display, but navigating the screen can be a fiddly process and the smartphone interactivity can be patchy. It’s not the roomiest sedan, either. Taller rear passengers will be begging the driver to move their seat forward, while the twin sunroofs cut into headspace. Storage is at a premium in the cabin, too, while the boot struggles to fit in a set of golf clubs without folding the rear seats.