Photo: Dragos Savu for Alfa Romeo Romania
Having driven the Giulia Quadrifoglio and 2.2-liter turbo diesel-powered model, I fell in love with the path Alfa Romeo decided to thread on from here on in. But things aren’t rosy for Alfa Romeo despite the efforts it put into developing the Giorgio platform.
As a genuine lover of all things with four wheels, I consider myself not a part of the “Oh, Italian cars are garbage because their reliability is bad” crowd. On the flip side, Alfa Romeo has many issues to take care of if it wants the Giulia to be genuinely attractive as an alternative to the German establishment. Specifically, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and BMW 3er.
Road & Track made mincemeat of the Giulia’s faults in a lengthy write-up by editor-at-large Sam Smith, in a story that was originally titled “Alfa Romeo Is Failing the People It Should Impress.” Other than the limp mode Smith had experienced on the track repeatedly after a single lap in Race Mode, the story also cites other publications who took the Giulia for a test drive only to find out it’s riddled with various issues.
The Giulia in the Consumer Reports stable had to visit the dealer service three times since it was bought. Piston Head’s sedan crapped out on the track despite the fact the Merc and Bimmer did not. Internet forums are full of technical service bulletins, and the list goes on and on and on.
If I may add an experience I had with the Giulia, the manual-equipped Quadrifoglio I tested at the track suddenly began to spew out smoke from its clutch despite the fact all the motoring journalists present at the event didn’t abuse the vehicle to 100 percent of its capacity. Far from it, in fact.
In response to all this negative press about the model that spearheads the resurrection of Alfa Romeo as a whole and in the U.S. market, global boss Reid Bigland had something to say about the matter to Road & Track. Pointing out that more than 500 journalists have reviewed the car on a worldwide basis, a vehicle that has 70 awards to its name, the official said:
"I want to apologize for providing a vehicle that fell short of expectations, and that, frankly, is not even recognizable as the Alfa Romeo Giulia that I've come to know. (…) I genuinely believe we're a lot better than that."
If you’re better than that, then please prove it ASAP. Signed, everyone.
Road & Track made mincemeat of the Giulia’s faults in a lengthy write-up by editor-at-large Sam Smith, in a story that was originally titled “Alfa Romeo Is Failing the People It Should Impress.” Other than the limp mode Smith had experienced on the track repeatedly after a single lap in Race Mode, the story also cites other publications who took the Giulia for a test drive only to find out it’s riddled with various issues.
The Giulia in the Consumer Reports stable had to visit the dealer service three times since it was bought. Piston Head’s sedan crapped out on the track despite the fact the Merc and Bimmer did not. Internet forums are full of technical service bulletins, and the list goes on and on and on.
If I may add an experience I had with the Giulia, the manual-equipped Quadrifoglio I tested at the track suddenly began to spew out smoke from its clutch despite the fact all the motoring journalists present at the event didn’t abuse the vehicle to 100 percent of its capacity. Far from it, in fact.
In response to all this negative press about the model that spearheads the resurrection of Alfa Romeo as a whole and in the U.S. market, global boss Reid Bigland had something to say about the matter to Road & Track. Pointing out that more than 500 journalists have reviewed the car on a worldwide basis, a vehicle that has 70 awards to its name, the official said:
"I want to apologize for providing a vehicle that fell short of expectations, and that, frankly, is not even recognizable as the Alfa Romeo Giulia that I've come to know. (…) I genuinely believe we're a lot better than that."
If you’re better than that, then please prove it ASAP. Signed, everyone.
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