Alfa Giulietta in UK
In the 1950s the Alfa Giulietta caught the imagination of the driving public with its sporty appeal, attractive looks and accessible pricing. Now, over 50 years later, the Italian sporting car manufacturer is celebrating its centenary with an all-new namesake which goes on sale here on Saturday 24 July.
The latest incarnation of the Giulietta has been designed to beat the best in the mid-size C segment. That’s no easy task considering the excellence of the competition in a category that now contributes one out of every four new cars sold in Europe.
To take on this challenge Alfa Romeo has penned an all-new car that sits on an all-new Compact platform. This employs a combination of advanced engineering and sophisticated technical solutions to ensure the Giulietta can accommodate the needs of all customers in this category. The result is a model that combines impeccable safety credentials, Italian style, comfort and functionality with the dynamic qualities taken for granted in Alfa Romeos.
In addition, every customer can adapt the new car to their specific driving requirements thanks to Alfa Romeo’s D.N.A. selector. But this is just one of the electronic systems that the Compact platform was designed to integrate and exploit. Others, fitted as standard to every model in the range, include the Electronic Q2 differential and the VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control) system.
A range of five new engines - three petrol and two diesel - all of which are turbocharged and Euro 5 emissions-compliant, gives the Giulietta further flexibility and makes it best in class for emissions, acceleration and fuel consumption. Even the smallest capacity, a 1.4-litre, has a lusty 120bhp. The new 1.4-litre TB MultiAir 170bhp offers the lowest emissions and fuel consumption in its class for petrol engines of this power rating.
The 105bhp JTDM-2 engine is a flexible and economical diesel that uses second-generation MultiJet technology to combine extremely low fuel consumption with a responsive drive. The 2.0-litre is another second-generation MultiJet diesel and has the highest performance in its sector courtesy of a hearty 350Nm of torque available at just 1750rpm. All these engines combine Start&Stop technology (excluding the 1750 TBi Cloverleaf version) and a gearshift indicator to enable drivers to achieve the best economy possible.
The most powerful engine in the range is Alfa Romeo’s new 1750 TBi petrol unit, which offers the performance of a three-litre but has the fuel consumption of a 1.6 litre four cylinder, employing revolutionary technology to ensure strong acceleration at low engine speeds with minimal turbo lag.
But the Giulietta isn’t just about being fun to drive. Each model, from the entry-level Turismo specification to the range-topping Cloverleaf, has a very high level of standard equipment. Electric windows all-round along with manual air conditioning and electrically heated and adjustable door mirrors are all standard. Move up to the Lusso model and you get dual zone automatic climate control, fog lights, leather steering wheel with audio controls and the Blue&Me hands-free infotainment system.
Both these cars come with the ‘comfort’ chassis specification. For a sportier drive the Veloce model features sports suspension, whilst the Cloverleaf sits on suspension that’s been lowered by 10mm for a more involving drive and a racier appearance. The Veloce also gets darkened headlights, fog lights, plus aluminium kick plates and pedals. The Cloverleaf model gets all this plus dark tinted windows, sporty red brake callipers, Visibility Pack, and 18” spoke design alloy wheels with a dark titanium finish.
Whichever the model, owners will get one of the safest cars on the road.
The new Alfa Giulietta was recently awarded a Euro NCAP five-star crash safety rating and an overall score of 87/100: an impressive result that makes it the safest compact car built to date.
The rating is even more significant considering that since 2009, Euro NCAP has adopted new judgement criteria composed of four areas of accident assessment, namely Adult Occupant, Child Occupant, Pedestrian Protection and a new area: Safety Assist. Injury avoidance and mitigation functions, such as seat belt reminder, ESP and speed limiter, are also rated. Achieving a five-star rating will become increasingly tough year by year (2009, 2010-2011, 2012). In this scenario, the rating achieved by the Alfa Giulietta (97% Adult Occupant, 85% Child Occupant, 63% Pedestrian Protection and 86%Safety Assist) means that the car will also have a five-star rating in 2012 when the assessment system will have reached maximum severity.
This major accolade yet again confirms Alfa Romeo’s special commitment to all aspects relating to the protection of all road users. The Alfa Giulietta was designed and built to obtain maximum passive and active safety performance. Evidence of this, for instance, is provided by the adoption of the most advanced electronic dynamic control systems (for braking and traction): the Vehicle Dynamic Control system which manages key functions like Hill Holder, traction control and emergency braking; the MSR system which prevents wheel locking when the throttle is released; the DST (Dynamic Steering Torque) system; Electronic Q2 which electronically simulates the presence of a self-locking differential, and the brand-new Pre-Fill system, which alerts the braking system that the accelerator pedal has been released, to decrease intervention time and consequently braking distance.
Thousands of hours of virtual simulations have gone into the creation of the new Compact platform, which is making its debut in the Giulietta. The quality of virtual design has been materially confirmed by running 200 tests on components and subsystems, some 150 Hyge slide shock test simulations and more than 80 crash tests (frontal impact, side impact, roll-over and shunting, taking various speeds, different types of obstacles and the need to protect occupants, physically very different from one another, into account). These numbers confirm Alfa Romeo’s profound commitment to making the new Giulietta one of the safest cars in Europe by ensuring that it contains the most advanced safety systems.
Six airbags are standard (two of which are Multistage), plus three-point seatbelts with double pretensioners and load limit limiters, and SAHR (Self Aligning Head Restraints), a new second-generation device built into the backrests of the front seats that moves the head restraints closer to the occupants’ heads in the event of an impact, to lessen the effects of whiplash. There is also a highly significant contribution to occupant and pedestrian protection provided by the body, the bonnet, the doors and the dashboard crossmember, in addition to the seats and steering column.
The efficacy of all these systems is maximised by a three load line front structure that guarantees structural uniformity and consequently uniformity of response in the event of frontal impact, regardless of the type of obstacles or vehicle that the car is in collision with. This is a breakthrough in partner protection, because the vehicle is less ‘aggressive’ when crashing into the front or side of another vehicle, and in self protection, because uniform deformation makes the retaining systems more effective, regardless of the type of accident.
Finally, in the field of preventive safety, the new Giulietta uses headlights with Daytime Running Lights that are automatically switched on when the engine is started – to meet a specific European standard that will come into force in 2012 – and LED tail lights, brighter than conventional bulbs, for extra safety.
The Giulietta has a full complement of airbags plus an array of electronic devices designed to let drivers extract the maximum from their Alfa Romeo while staying safe at all times. There’s ABS anti-lock braking with Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD); Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) - Alfa Romeo’s interpretation of Electronic Stability Programme; Cornering Brake Control (CBC), Dynamic Steering Torque (DST), Hydraulic Brake Assistance (HBA) and the new Pre-Fill function for the brakes.
It ensures that drivers can concentrate of getting maximum pleasure out of their driving while safe in the knowledge that the car is looking after them.
