2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia

Between its “scudetto,” or shield grille and rounded lines, the Giulia looks like nothing else in the class. The grille is the central part of a face that includes large, wide lower air intakes and horizontal cat’s-eye headlights. The car’s sensuous curves emerge from the grille with subtle, rounded character lines on the hood and flanks, and resolve at the rear in a rounded, kick-up spoiler over horizontal taillights. Available wheels with five rounded spokes play off both rounded lines and the Quadrifoglio’s four-leaf clover logo. 

The body also has sporty lines, with a low stance, a long hood, a set-back cabin, and a short deck.

The exterior theme extends inside with rounded dash lines and door inserts, and circular gauges and vents. Sporty elements include three versions of sport buckets, a small-diameter steering wheel, and aluminum pedals. The design is driver-focused, too, with the dash controls and 8.8-inch center screen tilted toward the driver. 

The high-performance Quadrifoglio comes only with rear-wheel drive, and the other models offer optional all-wheel drive. 

How fast is the Alfa Romeo Giulia?

It’s quick with its base turbo-4 and lightning fast with its twin-turbo V-6. 

The base 2.0-liter turbo-4 makes 280 hp and 306 lb-ft of torque, which vaults the Giulia from 0-60 mph in just 5.1 seconds. It has good power both down low and at highway speeds, and it’s always delivered smoothly. 

The Quadrifoglio’s twin-turbo 2.9-liter V-6 ups the output to 505 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque, which rockets the car from 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds and pushes it all the way to 191 mph. A Ferrari powerplant, the V-6’s max torque arrives at a relatively high 2,500 rpm, which can prompt drivers to dig deeper into the throttle to feel the thrill of the ever-building power. The wicked sound when pushed can have the same effect.

A quick-shifting 8-speed automatic transmission helps get the best out of both engines, and its shifts become even quicker in the Dynamic and Race modes.

Drivers can feel that the Giulia is special with the first turn of the steering wheel. An ultra-quick 11.8:1 ratio conspires with a stiff platform, a double-wishbone front suspension, and perfect 50/50 weight balance to yield quick turn-in reactions, amazing agility, and mostly flat cornering. That all gets amped up with the Quadrifoglio’s performance-tuned suspension, which is the only model that may ride too firmly for some drivers. 

The Giulia’s only dynamic flaw is the brake-by-wire system, which has a wooden feel despite strong stopping power from the standard Brembo brakes.

The second row has a decent 35.4 inches of leg room and 37.6 inches of head room, but small door openings make it difficult to slide in. 

While owners don’t have to lift cargo very high to put it in the trunk’s wide opening, it has a modest 13.4 cubic feet of space. 

Every Giulia gets standard leather upholstery, and plastic, wood, aluminum, or carbon-fiber trim based on the chosen model. The materials are appropriate for the Giulia’s luxury-car positioning, but they don’t stand out in a class that offers several wonderfully appointed cockpits.

The Giulia gets top “Good” ratings in all IIHS crash tests and for its headlights, and a top “Superior” rating for its forward collision mitigation system, but it hasn’t been subjected to the new tougher side crash test, so it doesn’t earn a Top Safety Pick award.

The standard safety features include automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, active blind-spot monitors, adaptive automatic high beams, and front and rear parking sensors. Also offered are active lane control, and systems that control steering, brake, and throttle in limited traffic jam and highway situations.

The Veloce model has much of the sinister look of the Quadrifoglio and some important performance equipment that fits with the sport sedan mission. For $50,185, the Veloce gets sport seats with 14-way adjustments for the driver and 12-way for the front passenger, a heated steering wheel, a sunroof, aluminum interior trim, a mechanical limited-slip differential, and 19-inch wheels.

How much is a fully loaded 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia?

The Giulia Quadrifoglio tops the line as a performance beast. It runs $80,755 and comes standard with carbon-fiber interior trim, front performance seats with Alcantara inserts, extended leather upholstery, a 14-speaker Harman Kardon audio system, a carbon-fiber front splitter, a rear diffuser, a carbon-fiber hood and roof, a carbon-fiber rear spoiler, adaptive dampers, larger Brembo brakes, an electric torque-vectoring rear differential, a two-mode performance exhaust system, and summer performance tires.

Giulia infotainment

The Giulia got a new infotainment system for 2021, with an 8.8-inch touchscreen, to join a center console rotary dial and voice commands. It’s easier to use than the awkward initial system, but systems from other automakers are more straightforward and have more functionality.

Add all-wheel drive, and the turbo-4 Giulia drops slightly to 23/31/26 mpg.

The Quadrifoglio isn’t too thirsty given its power. It’s rated at 17/25/20 mpg. 

Required premium fuel adds to the cost of owning every Giulia.