Alfa Romeo: Giulia Q4 Veloce
The Alfa Romeo Giulia is a compact executive car produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo. Known internally as the Type 952, it was unveiled in June 2015, with market launch scheduled for February 2016, and it is the first saloon offered by Alfa Romeo after the production of the 159 ended in 2011.
The Giulia is also the first mass-market Alfa Romeo vehicle in over two decades to use a longitudinal rear-wheel drive platform, since the 75 which was discontinued in 1992.
The Giulia was second in 2017 European Car of the Year voting and was named Motor Trend Car of the Year for 2018. In 2018, Giulia was awarded the Compasso d’Oro industrial design award.
The new Giulia was unveiled to the press at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, on 24 June 2015, at an event which involved only the top-of-the-range Quadrifoglio variant and a rendition of “Nessun dorma” by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
The occasion coincided with the company’s 105th anniversary, and also saw the company debut a restyled logo for all future Alfa Romeo models.
The Giulia was also presented under the new La meccanica delle emozioni slogan (“the mechanics of emotions” in Italian).
The Giulia is the first model in the company’s relaunch plan, which involves a €5 billion investment for an eight car line-up and a worldwide sales target of 400,000 by 2018 — up from 74,000 in 2013.
It is underpinned by an all-new, longitudinal-engine, rear-wheel drive platform developed for Alfa Romeo — codenamed “Giorgio”. Development of the Giulia, along with development of the entire “Giorgio” project, has been overseen by the technical director of Ferrari, Philippe Krief.
Veloce and Veloce Ti
The Giulia Veloce was presented at the 2016 Paris International Motor Show held in October. The Veloce offers the choice of two engines: the 2.0-litre turbo petrol and the 2.2-litre diesel inline-4 engines, both equipped with an 8-speed automatic transmission and Alfa Q4 all-wheel drive system (rear-wheel-drive in the UK).
The Veloce has specific bumpers and a glossy black door trim; it has also various performance components like special rear extractor with double exhaust pipes and optional 5-spoke 19-inch alloy wheels (the 19-inch option is not available in the UK).
On the interior, it has black, red or tan leather sport seats and a sports steering wheel with a suede grip, aluminium inserts on the dashboard, central tunnel, door panels and Xenon headlights.
The new four-cylinder petrol engine is rated at a maximum power output of 280 PS (206 kW; 276 hp) at 5,250 rpm and a maximum torque of 400 N⋅m (295 lb⋅ft) at 2,250 rpm. It has MultiAir electro-hydraulic valve activation system along with “2-in-1″ ” turbocharger system and direct injection with a 200-bar high pressure system.
The 210 PS (154 kW; 207 hp) diesel all aluminium straight-4 engine comes with MultiJet II technology and electrically operated variable geometry turbocharger.
The Alfa Q4 Veloce all wheel drive system behaves like a rear-wheel drive vehicle: 100% of torque is distributed to the rear axle.
As it reaches the wheel adherence limit, the system transfers up to 60% of the torque to the front axle.
To ensure maximum speed of response in re-distributing torque, the system exploits a high mechanical over slippage (up to 2.5%) between the two axles, which translates into segment-beating vehicle control in terms of traction and directional stability on bend.
