Road Test of the Year 2017: Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce

Alfa Romeo is in an unenviable position. Decades ago it built a rich heritage through motorsport and then backed it up by building consistently gorgeous cars.

And it’s not just high-end stuff like the 8C Competizione that stole admiring glances – even its run-of-the-mill models stand out from the crowd thanks to pretty styling and that famed Italian flair.

However, while Alfas of old were at home on the race track, their modern equivalents are at home on the hard shoulder, hazards flickering away as the owner sighs deeply in the direction of an open bonnet.

So to the new Giulia. The eye-catching saloon has spearheaded something of a resurgence in the Alfa Romeo brand, and with it there’s a lot of weight on its shoulders.

This is the Veloce model with a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine making a healthy 276bhp with power going to the rear wheels. When it comes to exciting Giulias, everyone’s been ogling the ballistic 503bhp Quadrifoglio, so is the Veloce a second-best offering?

Shunting negative thoughts to the back of our minds, we hop in. As with the rest of our RTOTY cars, our test is taking place in the stunning Brecon Beacons where the roads and scenery are epic and the traffic light – the perfect place to find out what this Veloce is really like.

The road ahead is a peach, undulating with rolling hills, twisting and turning with no rhyme or reason. It’s the kind of route you dream of and even the weather is playing ball, with clear skies and cool autumnal air combining to deliver ideal driving conditions.

There’s a DNA dial on the centre console, which selects driving modes. There’s Dynamic, Normal and Advanced Efficient. In ‘N’ and ‘A’, the Giulia is docile and would make an ideal commuting companion. But rotate the dial to
D and the car wakes up, instantly feeling more urgent and alive. Most noticeable is the fact that the engine and throttle are more responsive, but it also subtly reduces traction control interference to make the Alfa more playful.

Plant your foot on the throttle and there’s a prominent shove in the back as the rear tyres bite into the road. It’s not ballistic, and could be underwhelming if straight-line pace is held in isolation, but then the turns come.

It’s said there’s Ferrari DNA in the Giulia’s blood, and that comes to the fore as soon as you turn the wheel. It’s direct – too direct, some may think – but once you tune in, it gives an agility you might not expect from a four-door saloon.

So far, so good, but this being Alfa, it’s not all rosy. The interior is a little disappointing. Over time you start to appreciate the simplicity of the dash design, but there’s no denying it’s a bit dull.

The knobs and buttons feel like they’re straight out of the 90s and the centre console looks like it was designed by someone who considers creativity a dirty word.

Fortunately, the bits that really matter are spot- on. The steering wheel size is perfectly judged and the leather is soft to the touch, while the long aluminium paddle-shifters are just so Ferrari.

It’s easy to gloss over the Giulia’s inadequacies, though. What’s most impressive out here in the wilds of Wales is that you’re never left wanting more, and that’s the sign of a brilliantly set up car.

It might only be a four-door saloon with hot hatch power, but the chassis is beautifully judged. With shadows getting long and the outside temperature dropping into single digits it’s time to call it a day. We stop for a moment in the bleak but beautiful Welsh countryside and take in the Giulia’s curves one last time, then thumb the wheel-mounted starter button to break the serenity.

The rear tyres chirrup as we pull away, headlights filling the dusky scene ahead.

It remains to be seen if this much-loved Italian car maker can shake its reliability issues, but let’s hope it does. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce is a fantastic understudy to the ballistic Quadrifoglio, and it might just be the best day-to-day saloon out there.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

Price (as tested): £39,205
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo petrol
Power: 276bhp, 400Nm
Top speed: 149mph
0-60mph: 5.5 seconds
Fuel economy: 46.3mpg
Emissions: 141g/km