Alfa Romeo shows warmed-up Giulia Veloce before Paris debut ~ station of gear

Executive saloon is a halfway house between basic cars and bonkers Quadrifoglio models. It offers improved performance plus four-wheel-drive

2016-09-21 15:00

Alfa Romeo’s saloon cars ought to have performance to match their stunning looks, so buyers may have been disappointed to find the new Giulia didn’t have anything in between the sub-200bhp cooking models and the crazy 503bhp Quadrifoglio version. Alfa is getting ready to remedy this, though, with the new Giulia Veloce, which will go on display at the Paris Motor Show with two new engine options. Unfortunately, it looks unlikely that this car will come to the UK.

The Giulia Veloce will be available with a choice of petrol or diesel power. The 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol pushes out 276bhp – putting it well ahead of the 197bhp version in the standard car. This petrol engine will be available across the Giulia range in the US, but in Europe it will be confined to the Veloce models.

• Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio review

The 2.2-litre diesel is less powerful, with 207bhp – but that’s still quite an upgrade over the maximum of 178bhp available in the standard car. The diesel unsurprisingly offers more torque, though – with 470Nm, compared to 400Nm in the petrol.

Both engines are mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox, but bigger news is the addition of a new four-wheel-drive system which Alfa is calling Q4. The system behaves like the standard rear-wheel-drive car most of the time but if the car loses traction, up to 60% of the engine’s power can be transferred to the front wheels through a dedicated transfer case.

• Paris Motor Show 2016: preview

Alfa Romeo claims this new system will give the Giulia class-leading body control in the bends, but won’t negatively affect fuel economy – the added weight over the two-wheel drive car is just 60kg.

Styling-wise, the Giulia Veloce marks itself out from the crowd thanks to tweaks over the standard car. Unique bumpers front and rear mate with glossy black trim, while inside sees black leather sports seats and aluminium inserts on the dashboard, centre console and door panels. A new colour will also be shown off – the stunning Blue Misano in these pictures.

If Alfa did have a change of heart and decided to offer the car to the UK market in its current form, it would compete with the likes of the BMW 3 Series xDrive and the Jaguar XE AWD. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce will go on display at the Paris Motor Show alongside similarly restyled models of the Giulietta and Mito.

What do you think of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce? Let us know in the comments below...

Tom Wiltshire

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