Alfa Romeo Giulia TI repeats its grand entrance

The Alfa Romeo Giulia TI matches its external beauty with potent performance and superb handling.

By John Gilbert

   At the world-wide introduction of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, I had the good fortune to be among the assembled journalists summoned to Milano, Italy — Milan, to those who haven’t been there — when it was rolled out on stage.  World-famous Italian tenor Andre Bocelli strolled on stage with it, serenading the room with a spectacular love song and putting the whole scenario over the top as a highly emotional event.

    Those Italians know how to do emotion. Their magic is how they transform that quality into their cars!

    Over the succeeding year, and numerous stops and starts that delayed the Giulia from reaching U.S. showrooms, it has finally made it. I’ve already written about the follow-up Stelvio, Alfa’s companion and the company’s first SUV, based on the Giulia.

   Finally, I got to get bucket-seated inside a Giulia TI painted  “Rosso Competzione Tri-Coat” red, to drive home from Chicago to Duluth, Minnesota. The wait was easily worth the reward.

   I’ve always tried to suppress the hyperbole and press-release cliches when I write about cars, even though the bar has been raised so high by the always-improving new crop of vehicles, and so few deserve criticism nowadays. But restraining my impressions of the Giulia is more difficult, if not impossible.

   Let’s start off by explaining that many of my friends have asked me, over the years, “OK, you drive new cars every week; what is your favorite of all time?” I always have checked my bet and explained that I have favorites in every style and type of vehicle, and in every price range, and here are a half-dozen…

   Now I don’t have to hesitate. The Alfa Romeo Giulia TI is, without a doubt, my favorite car from the vast 50-year array of new cars I’ve driven.
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• About the Author

  John Gilbert is a lifetime Minnesotan and career journalist, specializing in cars and sports during and since spending 30 years at the Minneapolis Tribune, now the Star Tribune. More recently, he has continued translating the high-tech world of autos and sharing his passionate insights as a freelance writer/photographer/broadcaster. A member of the prestigious North American Car and Truck of the Year jury since 1993. John can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11am on 610 KDAL(www.kdal610.com) on the "John Gilbert Show," and writes a column in the Duluth Reader.
  
  For those who want to keep up with John Gilbert's view of sports, mainly hockey with a Minnesota slant, click on the following:
  
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• Exhaust Notes:

  PADDLING
  More and more cars are offering steering-wheel paddles to allow drivers manual control over automatic or CVT transmissions. A good idea might be to standardize them. Most allow upshifting by pulling on the right-side paddle and downshifting with the left. But a recent road-test of the new Porsche Panamera, the paddles for the slick PDK direct-sequential gearbox were counter-intuitive -- both the right or left thumb paddles could upshift or downshift, but pushing on either one would upshift, and pulling back on either paddle downshifted. I enjoy using paddles, but I spent the full week trying not to downshift when I wanted to upshift. A little simple standardization would alleviate the problem.
  
  

  SPEAKING OF PADDLES
  The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution has the best paddle system, and Infiniti has made the best mainstream copy of that system for the new Q50, and other sporty models. And why not? It's simply the best. In both, the paddles are long, slender magnesium strips, affixed to the steering column rather than the steering wheel. Pull on the right paddle and upshift, pull on the left and downshift. The beauty is that while needing to upshift in a tight curve might cause a driver to lose the steering wheel paddle for an instant, but having the paddles long, and fixed, means no matter how hard the steering wheel is cranked, reaching anywhere on the right puts the upshift paddle on your fingertips.
  
  

  TIRES MAKE CONTACT
  Even in snow-country, a few stubborn old-school drivers want to stick with rear-wheel drive, but the vast majority realize the clear superiority of front-wheel drive. Going to all-wheel drive, naturally, is the all-out best. But the majority of drivers facing icy roadways complain about traction for going, stopping and steering with all configurations. They overlook the simple but total influence of having the right tires can make. There are several companies that make good all-season or snow tires, but there are precious few that are exceptional. The Bridgestone Blizzak continues to be the best=known and most popular, but in places like Duluth, MN., where scaling 10-12 blocks of 20-30 degree hills is a daily challenge, my favorite is the Nokian WR. Made without compromising tread compound, the Nokians maintain their flexibility no matter how cold it gets, so they stick, even on icy streets, and can turn a skittish car into a winter-beater.