The stylish good looks of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta make it a very attractive family hatchback and it looks set to rival the Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf.
The Giulietta is available in four models and there are three choices of engine. These are the 1.4 litre turbo charged petrol, the 1.6 litre diesel and the 2.0 litre diesel. The model is attractive, well equipped and the controls are very user friendly. The five door Giulietta has rear door handles in the windows which makes it more like a coupe than a hatchback.
This is a fun car to drive and it handles well on twisting road as well as in the city streets. There are three driving modes: Dynamic, All Weather and Normal.
The sporty setting is the Dynamic and the other two modes are self explanatory. The models with twin clutches come with a semi automatic transmission box with paddle controls on the steering wheel.
Whilst the 2.0 litre diesel is a little noisy, the 1.6 litre diesel is slower than you would expect so you can opt for speed and noise or slow and economical. The position of the pedals is not quite central and this could prove to be a problem for some people.
Inside the cabin, the model is quiet with very little road or wind noise but the previously mentioned pedals position makes it hard to get into a comfortable driving position. Visibility is also poor with wide door pillars and a small rear window making it hard to see through the rear. Headroom in the back is also lower than in the Focus and could make comfort difficult for tall passengers.
While the model did rate 23rd in the Driver Power survey for 2012, some of the materials could do with improving but it did score 5 stars in safety tests. The boot is small with 350 litres of luggage space although seats do split 60:40 to make a larger space.
The lip on the boot makes it a little hard to load luggage. Restricted rear viewing makes parking a bit of a challenge in the Giulietta and in view of this and the other small problems it looks as though it will be hard for the company to reach out to customers who normally buy Ford or VW.
This model is priced higher than either of its rivals but it does come with a high spec that includes air con and electric windows in all models. Of course, there will always be those who crave the Alfa marque and who are willing to pay the higher price to achieve the status that it confers.
