Savior Giulia

Alfa Romeo is taking the fight to the likes of Porsche, Mercedes and BMW with its new Giulia.

- Derek Watts

Piloting the new Alfa Romeo Giulia along a four-lane highway, you may suddenly be transported to a game drive in Madikwe. That’s if you don’t keep to your lane.

Lane assist is always alert to make sure you don’t stray from the path and emits a sound resembling a warning call from the hippo pool if you cross the dotted line.

I was about to attack the “settings” department to see if there was an alternative sound. But then decided that the imitation hippo was a lot more refreshing than the common beep!

And there is much about the Giulia, runner-up to the Peugeot 3008 as Europe’s Car of the Year, that is refreshing – apart from the name.

Would Lady Gaga have 66 million Twitter followers if she was Lady Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta? And would there be as much mystique and anticipation about the new Alfa Romeo Giulia if it was called a C-class, 3-series or A3?

Compared to the boring Teutonic monikers, the Italian name conjures up images of passion, style and performance. But does the four-door Giulia sedan deliver?

On the wallet front the Giulia is very well placed among its obvious rivals in a cash-strapped global economy. The base price for the perky two-liter petrol with 8-speed automatic transmission is a touch over $40,000.

In terms of ABS (Adrenalin Boost per Second), the rear-wheel drive Alfa probably shades the base models of the pretenders to the throne, with acceleration of 6.6 seconds for the traditional 100.

In the style of some airline meal options – yes or no – you don't have to spend too much time considering kilowatt alternatives; the petrol is the only engine choice for now.

Where you have a world of choice is with the trim levels taking you from Giulia Base, through Super to the top-of-the range Stile Pack, with more features than you can throw a memory stick at, for an additional $10,000.