We thought it would be relevant to start with the famous Lebanese saying that dragged through the generations: “Shtri Alfa w rkod khalfa”.
For years now, Alfa Romeo has been the car your parents Warned you about. The transmission problems, the short warranty period, the pricey parts…
Gargour Automotive recently took over the Alfa Romeo brand and is aiming to shatter that shabby image that’s been dragging around for many years now once and for all.
During the launch ceremony of the Giulia Mr. Gargour said “Shtri Alfa w Gargour khalfa”.
Now we know you’re probably thinking: Yes okay nice play on words but what really changed?!
Well, we had a quick chat with some friends over at Gargourand they cleared many concerns we had about the brand:
-The transmission problems Alfa used to have in the past are now solved with the new generation of the 8speed automatic transmission from ZF Friedrichshafen (German-made).
-The 2 year warranty you used to get onAlfa Romeo in the past is now extended to 5 years/ 120,000KM in order to prove their goodwill and keep their promise (the warranty almost covers everything related to powertrain and electronic issues inside of the vehicle)
-They made the part prices a little more reasonable and if you need to order a part you are likely to receive it within 20-25 days instead of waiting endlessly for months.
-Alfa Romeo is leaning more towards the premium luxury segment and so the overall positioning of the brand is completely shifting towards delivering a flawless ownership experience overall.
Interior & Exterior Styling:
There’s no arguing about the design and styling of the Giulia, it’s fairly modern and it screams Italian!
The swoopy gorgeous exterior comes with a wide panoramic roof that adds a little bit of black to that hot read Italian beauty.
It also has the Alfa Romeo timeless shield-shaped radiator grille with the floating Alfa Romeo emblem in the center.
The exterior styling of the Giulia is pretty simple and subtle and so is the interior; a little goes a long way! The interior is all black with chrome finishing on the doors, steering wheel, dashboard, controls and even pedals giving it a discrete yet luxurious feel.
Its sporty leather multi-function steering wheel also includes the start/stop button which is a pretty nice and unusual placement of that button. The paddle shifters are fixed on the steering column which might need some getting used to.
The feature that we love most about Alfas is the “driver-centric” cockpit that is slightly leaning towards the driver. The only turn-off is the fact that the screen does not respond to touch but I guess we could get over it…
Engine & Performance:
You can start by feasting your eyes on what’s under the hood of the Giulia, the engine looks so good it will get all Alfistas out there drooling.
The whole “Italian” feel that the Giulia has going on is great but the Italian-made engine is even better.
This beauty is available in three trims:
.... because who needs manual transmission when you’ve got shift paddles!
The handling is pretty impressive, it’s sharp on bumpy corners and it confidently owns the road at high speeds.
The steering of the Giulia is very firm and precise which sets the bar very high for its Audi, BMWand Mercedes-Benz rivals. There’s no slack in the steering of the Giulia, every command or movement from the driver happens promptly and intuitively.
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