Yahoo Autos 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. It’s far from the spiciest Giulia available, but if anything, I’d say the Quadrifoglio overshadowed just how enjoyable the base car is.
This was the most time I’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. It’s quick and feelsome with a terrific wheel to grip. Let’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 it’s perfect – utterly spot-on and natural. That weighting then lightens as you keep turning through tighter turns, which means the car isn’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 you’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 you’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 don’t usually notice brakes unless they’re especially good or especially bad/weird. These fall in the former category, and what’s even more impressive, is that they’re brake-by-wire. The Giulia and Stelvio were two of the first production cars to get such a system, which effectively sends artificial responses through the pedal since there’s no mechanical connection. Robot for the win.
3. Where are the shift paddles?
Again, a manual would probably make me go out and buy one right now. As it is, though, the eight-speed automatic is very smart. I didn’t notice it upshifting prematurely or unnecessarily when driving in D mode in the mountains, and it always seemed to be in the right gear for me. No issues in regular driving in N mode, either.
That said, why are there no shift paddles? There were times when I want to anticipate a downshift just for grins and I’d reach for a paddle that wasn’t there. That’s possibly because there’s a noticeable vestigial gap between the wheel rim and turn/wiper stalks due to the big, beautiful paddle shifters available on the Veloce, Estrema and Quadrifoglio trim levels (pictured above). I know some things need to be left for upper trims, but come on. If you’re going to make the rest of the car’s controls so delightfully responsive and driver-oriented (and not offer a manual), why be half-assed here? If a Subaru Crosstrek can have shift paddles, every damn Alfa Romeo Giulia should have shift paddles.
