On track at the Rockingham Motor Speedway recently
I was given the chance to get behind the wheel of the new Alfa Giulietta
Cloverleaf. When I was given the keys for the day I was incredibly excited. Not
having had a lot of Alfa experience before I was hoping for something pretty
special - a mini Ferrari or Maserati experience were my possibly too high
expectations. The looks from the exterior definitely indicate that this is
something a bit different and oozes the Italian style that Alfa are famous for.
The clean lines are certainly eye catching and although in general not my cup
of tea there are definitely some nice touches such as the gaping front grill,
multispoke wheels and stylish rear brake lights. Inside however is a little
uninspiring. Although very sheek and generally good quality the overall feel
was a little cold and mundane for an Italian stallion.
The Guilietta’s engine is the 1.8-litre, direct-injection turbo unit already as used
in the 159 and Brera, which uses extremely variable valve timing to scavenge
combustion chambers for great low-speed torque and minimal turbo lag.
What’s it like to drive?
Out on track the first thing to notice is there is not much feedback
through the steering wheel, which is not conducive to confident, fun driving.
After a few laps though we began to explore the limits of the car further and
were left a little disappointed. The throttle response is not the best and you
certainly don’t get the same kind of connection between your right foot and the
engine that one experiences with a Golf GTi or Focus RS.
The overall balance is very conservative - try as
I may it was very difficult to get the rear to step out of line, which OK is
not a bad thing, but it led to a very under-steering and slightly boring
experience.
The car is very stable however and pulls up
nicely when you lean on the brakes, which should contribute to good B road
driving. Also when the engine has finally got the message that your foot is
planted to the floor it does have a good amount of get-up and go.
The sport mode makes a slight difference in
firming up the suspension and improving the throttle response - but still does
not go nearly far enough in creating the kind of experience I was hoping for.
So in conclusion this was not the experience I was hoping
for. While it doesn’t do anything particularly poorly, neither does it excel in
any area and lacks the sparkle you expect from the iconic Italian brand!
