This time, I didn’t do what I was supposed to, I admit. In regular car tests, especially for vehicles with sporty ambitions, we usually try to at least push the dynamic envelope. To test the car at its limits, see how it performs under stress when all its components are being challenged. Does the steering fight back in acceleration out of a turn? Do the brakes provide the confidence needed to perform time and again? Does the chassis hold up even when it has to balance tire grip with lateral forces threatening to pull the car off its path?
None of that happened this time, almost none of it. This time, I drove these two cars in a daily, regular, moderate way — and in their case, the right way. For a moment, I became Lorenzo or Giovanni, finishing a short work week in a Milan suburb and heading north on a two-and-a-half-hour drive, including an espresso stop, to the Cervinia ski resort and back. And like them, all I wanted was a car that would do it comfortably, quietly, with the necessary comfort features, and, if possible as a bonus, with a bit of fun.
As of today and until further notice, the Giulia and Stelvio are the only Alfa Romeo models truly worthy of carrying the logo and name. They are the last remaining relics of the brand’s independent iteration — and this may be one of the last times they’ll receive an anti-aging treatment before disappearing from the market as well.
Within three years, according to Alfa Romeo’s strategic plan, both will be replaced by new models bearing the same names but built on Stellantis’s STLA platform, which will be used across the group’s entire lineup, rather than the excellent, dedicated Giorgio platform. To summarize the impact of this change: imagine making pizza in a microwave that can do many things versus the aromatic, precise result of a dedicated pizza oven with a hot stone.
These two models are already quite old, having been introduced in 2016 and 2017. Their competitors have already gone through a new generation or at least a mechanical and cosmetic facelift in that time, while Alfa Romeo has mostly stuck to polishing and shining.
A free day during the launch of the new Milano and the opportunity to drive these two cars back-to-back under the same conditions was something both my colleague and I decided was too good to pass up. So we asked for recommendations for good mountain roads and set off. And if you think I’m skipping over the changes, don’t worry. I just know they’re brief enough to only require a few sentences.
Externally, the main difference is the lighting units, now with a U-shape similar to the Tonale, and some changes to the grille that only a sharp, trained eye would notice. Inside, there's a 12.3-inch fully digital dashboard, an 8.8-inch multimedia system with Android and Apple compatibility, and more. Mechanically, only the 2.0-liter engine with 280 hp remains, paired with all-wheel drive, adaptive dampers, and a limited-slip rear differential.
Given the short time and long drive ahead, I decided to save my impressions of the cabin for the road and simply started the engine with the button on the steering wheel. The sound, I must say, wasn’t particularly musical despite the forgiving acoustics of an underground parking lot. This didn’t change under load, where the engine struggled to produce the internal combustion sounds we’ll eventually miss. I’m not talking about overly loud exhausts with exaggerated “turbo blow-offs” and fake “backfires,” but rather the pleasant melody of a good gasoline engine revving up.
Even after their update, the interiors of these two cars remain their Achilles' heel. While there are some very pleasant-to-touch materials (steering wheel, paddle shifters, seat upholstery), there are also too many parts, like the climate control and central console, whose plastic finish wasn’t very impressive when they were first introduced, let alone today.
The 8.8-inch screen is too small to provide a proper display for phone-mirrored maps, and the black plastic surrounding it only amplifies its small size. The digital dashboard is excellent, with comfortable and efficient displays, including one I particularly liked that shows the numbers in Alfa Romeo’s historic font. The rear seat space is also unimpressive. It’s reasonable in the Stelvio due to the upright seating position and ease of entry and exit, but not great in the Giulia, which adds an uncomfortable entry point to its limited legroom.
Despite being equipped with 19-inch wheels (Giulia) and 21-inch wheels (Stelvio), ride comfort was excellent in the vast majority of situations. This is due to the excellent base tuning of the dampers, and if that wasn’t enough, the adaptive dampers that can be manually set to their soft mode added even more comfort. Except for one situation where nothing could help: large wheels and low-profile tires always lose to potholes. There were a few particularly bad ones where I could already imagine us having to change a tire in the middle of that mountain road and crawling back at 80 km/h in agony.
The second issue that accompanied us was noise. Although it’s hard to blame the car for this, as in northern Italy at the end of the ski season, the cars were still equipped with relatively noisy winter tires. But even through the noise, you could tell that the Stelvio generated more wind noise than the Giulia, and that its five-door structure transmitted more resonance from the trunk to the cabin, while in the Giulia, the completely separate trunk better insulated against the noise.
The engine in both cars is the same 2.0-liter producing 280 hp. I know, that doesn’t sound like much today when an electric family car like the BYD Seal packs 312 horses in its base model, but these two cars have no trouble moving quickly on a daily basis, thanks primarily to their very low weight compared to their competitors. The Giulia weighs just 1,620 kg, and the Stelvio 1,755 kg — that's 250 kg less than a BMW 3 Series in the Giulia's case, and even the Stelvio is lighter.
How does this happen? With aluminum-made fenders, doors, suspension components, and engine, and a carbon fiber drive shaft. How does it drive? Wonderfully, like only a lightweight car can. There’s a certain lightness that has become rare in modern, weighty cars. This lightness is felt in the response to the pedal during mid-range acceleration, like when overtaking a truck on the A4 highway, and in the ease with which it picks up speed between curves on the winding mountain road to the ski resort, where the Matterhorn peak — the mountain most people recognize from the Toblerone wrapper — appears and disappears between the bends (I forgot to buy some again).
And even though, as I declared, there was no edge-pushing, aggressive driving this time, partly due to road conditions, the heavy traffic with Italian drivers liberally crossing lane dividers, and the use of winter tires — it was impossible to ignore how fundamentally good these two cars are. How good the chassis is at communicating exactly, but exactly, what’s happening beneath it, and how fast, precise, and great the steering is. As of today, even in this all-wheel-drive Q4 version, it’s one of the best sedans for driving I’ve encountered (the other being the Genesis G70), and I’ll even risk saying that even after it’s replaced in two years, it will still be the benchmark for me. These compliments apply to the Stelvio as well. Sure, it’s a bit taller, sure, the driving position isn’t as perfect as the Giulia’s, but it’s still a gem among the clumsy SUV crossovers around it. Technically, both cars also have a limited-slip differential, though conditions didn’t allow us to fully test its capabilities. But we won’t give up on checking that out locally.
Bottom line:
These two cars are truly becoming archaeological relics. If anyone thought that the European Union's hypocrisy and interference were limited to politics, here’s an update: they’re meddling in the automotive industry as well. The pace at which they’re pushing the industry to shift toward electric, and fining manufacturers that don’t align with what they imagine to be the correct pace, simply doesn’t match reality. The result is that cars like the Giulia and Stelvio are becoming burdens for their manufacturers, who are just waiting for the chance to move them onto a generic platform and send them off with electric drivetrains.
I don’t want to sound like someone opposed to electric propulsion, because I truly believe in its importance. But until the auto industry proves that it can provide a worthy replacement for cars like these — cars that make you want to drive and do such a great job of casually moving you at 150-160 km/h on the highway, and then dancing through the curves with the ease of shedding dozens of kilograms and years of age — I’ll reserve my right to be grumpy but will be happy to be proven wrong.
But the bigger issue for these cars right now isn’t environmental threats, but rather pricing. While they aren’t exactly competitively priced in other markets either, here in Israel, the Giulia and Stelvio are priced at NIS 340,000 and NIS 370,000, respectively. This is comparable to their rivals, like the BMW 3 Series and Genesis G70 for the Giulia, or the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 for the Stelvio. However, as a respected brand that still struggles to be recognized as part of the luxury group, targeting an already niche audience makes their journey even harder from the start.
The writer was a guest of Alfa Romeo in Italy.