giulia – Car-ED.com

Brand Deep Dive: Alfa Romeo

Brand Deep Dive: Alfa Romeo Alfa's back, and they're ready to rumble By Randy Lioz, Editor, Car-ED.com | June 2018 The Alfa Romeo brand—say “Alfa Ro-MAY-o”—has over 100 years of history, with a strong heritage of racing and sports cars. It’s the marque that gave Enzo Ferrari his big break before he started his own company. Jeremy Clarkson, the prominent BBC and Amazon automotive TV host, said, “you can’t be a true petrolhead until you’ve owned an Alfa Romeo.” And its badge was affixed to the hood of the flashy red convertible that Dustin Hoffman drove in The Graduate, cementing its identity in the minds of American consumers. What does this brand stand for? Image credit: FCA Alfa Romeo has always been about sportiness. From nearly the beginning, ALFA, which stands for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili, was involved in auto racing, which helped to set its course through history. For most of that time it hewed to the performance car standard of rear-wheel drive, though more recently the brand’s offerings had been built with the more cost-effective front-wheel drive layout, particularly for its small hatchbacks. These were never sold in the U.S., however. Alfa has been owned by Fiat since 1986, being positioned as a step up from that more affordable Italian brand. The company’s Maserati marque competes in the higher reaches of the luxury market, while Ferrari represents the ultimate [...]

2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti RWD

2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti RWD Standing out among performance luxury sedans has never been so fun! By Nick Kurczewski, Car-ED.com | May 2018 What is this vehicle? Let’s get it out of the way, because we know you’re dying to ask: The Alfa Romeo Giulia turns heads and is a thrill to drive, but rival compact luxury sedans from BMW, Lexus, Mercedes and Audi represent more sensible car buying choices. So, is it worth taking a chance on this fun-loving Alfa? The answer: an emphatic ‘Yes!’ (but with a couple caveats added into the mix). We can’t give away the entire plot in the first few lines of a car review, right? The Giulia is the Alfa Romeo brand’s attempt at cracking into the compact performance luxury sedan field, which is currently dominated by cars like the BMW 3-Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Lexus ES, Cadillac CTS and Audi A4, to name a few. Available in rear- or all-wheel drive format, the Giulia comes powered by 280-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, which is coupled to an 8-speed automatic transmission. A range-topping performance model, called the Quadrifoglio, has a total of 505 horsepower and is the only Giulia model not to offer the option of all-wheel drive. Who is this vehicle for? You’re not exactly shy if you’re considering the Alfa Romeo Giulia, that’s for certain. The Giulia is a sport sedan for someone who [...]