2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Rwd on 2040-cars

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9 thoughts about the Alfa Romeo Giulia Lusso

The 2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Lusso is the type of car that reminds you why you love cars in the first place … and why everyone has perhaps gotten a little too practical in their automotive tastes. This is a car filled with life and joy, with controls that speak to you in ways that most other cars and their brands have long ago forgotten. ItÂ’s far from the spiciest Giulia available, but if anything, IÂ’d say the Quadrifoglio overshadowed just how enjoyable the base car is. This was the most time IÂ’ve spent in any Giulia, and whether I was driving my son to school, making the L.A. freeway trek down to the VW ID. Buzz reveal, or whisking through the Santa Monica Mountain roads, the Lusso made the experience extra special. Here are 9 thoughts on the Alfa Romeo Giulia Lusso. 1. All-star steering The steering is just incredible, one of the main reasons I find the Giulia so desirable. ItÂ’s quick and feelsome with a terrific wheel to grip. LetÂ’s talk about D mode, which is the sportiest of the three “DNA” drive modes (N is normal and A is eco). A subtle amount of extra weighting on turn-in is added, and itÂ’s perfect – utterly spot-on and natural. That weighting then lightens as you keep turning through tighter turns, which means the car isnÂ’t fighting against you and allows you to genuinely feel the road free from excess weighting as you make minute adjustments. Steering in N mode is still relatively firm on center, but that turn-in weighting is just a bit lighter. Still great during most of the times youÂ’re driving, but D mode is so, so, so good. All-star, Top 10 board with various Porsches, Mazdas and the surprisingly great Aston Martin DBX on my scorecard. 2. Hey, I actually noticed the brakes! Sadly, the Giulia is not available with a manual transmission. Like a giant tease, though, the brake pedal is closer in size and shape to one from a three-pedal car. Pedal aside, wow are the brakes it's attached to ever good. Wear thin shoes and youÂ’re able to delicately brush the pedal, feeling the calipers brush the rotors in kind. So beautifully modulated. I could see someone finding them a little too responsive resulting in jerking stops, but either stop wearing work boots, try harder or buy a Lexus ES. I donÂ’t usually notice brakes unless theyÂ’re especially good or especially bad/weird. These fall in the former category, and whatÂ’s even more impressive, is that theyÂ’re brake-by-wire.

Watch Alfa's 4C storm up Goodwood's hillclimb course quicker than a Corvette

Alfa Romeo's gorgeous 4C remains a car that we in the United States are forced to admire from afar. Thankfully, our petrolheaded brethren in the UK and Europe seem all too happy to flaunt the 4C at most every opportunity. Take this video of the team at Goodwood, running the mid-engined Alfa up the estate's historic hill. Watching the 4C run the course while belting out its adorably angry engine note is plenty entertaining on its own. Of course, it gets better when the Goodwood folks lay down some serious rubber following the car's 61.1-second lap. That number bests the wet time of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, by the way. Have a look below for the full video from the team at Goodwood.

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us