Joined
·
501 Posts
Just figured I'd share with fellow Alfa owners the experience of the Giulia on my first road trip. With some of my closest friends we took a five hour drive up to Montreal, Canada a couple of weekends ago for a bachelor party and I figured it was the perfect excuse to get to experience the Giulia on a long distance trip. We decided to do it Top Gear style. I left with one of my closest friends the night before and went westbound toward Niagara Falls and we drove around Lake Ontario (stayed overnight just outside Toronto). Then the others went the regular way eastbound the next morning the same time we left. There were some reasons we decided to go the opposite way that I wont delve into at this time, lol.
I must say that the actual trip through Ontario headed toward Quebec from Niagara Falls, through Toronto and to Montreal was quite scenic and a pleasing drive, at least up until the end of the Lake. The only sinfully boring segment was the last 30-45 minutes following the St. Lawrence heading into Montreal. I've been to Toronto dozens of times if not over 100 times in my life, but never to Montreal. If anyone wants to visit perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing and cultural city in North America (IMHO), I highly recommend you do so. Anyway, onto the drive.
I've had the car since April 7th, and as I commented the first week I bought it, I can't stop finding reasons to drive it. No difference on this road trip. Taking a long trip around Lake Ontario was one of the most rewarding drives I've ever done in the Giulia. I hit 120mph or so twice on the QEW and the fastest I hit so far was 132. Other than some obvious road noise (tires help, the Pirelli run-flats) the car handled the speed like a champion and kept enticing me to push her even more. A lot of the drive was done back and forth from A mode to N mode, though every so often I wanted to open the taps in D mode and was rewarded. The section of the QEW from Toronto to around Kingston, Ontario (end of the Lake) was excellent, with three lanes, hardly any traffic, elevation changes and decent turns. I will say the Giulia is the queen of "Whoah, I'm going 94mph I better slow down a bit" while I was chatting on the road with my friend.
I'm not a vein person, but it was quite pleasing to get thumbs up at every turn (even from someone driving a Gallardo Super Leggera!), especially at rest stops. I think it's because I love that people appreciate the gorgeous looks. Once we arrived in Montreal there was a ton of construction and a lot of traffic (though the drivers were mostly calm and collected) and the Giulia handled it all beautifully.
I guess the best review I can give for this trip (total mileage I think was just over 900 when I got home) is my friend who rode with me. He didn't stop praising the car incessantly to the others when we all met up and even the next two days at various points. He commented on the incredibly smooth ride considering it's a sports sedan with 19" wheels. He loved the chassis balance and handling and thought it was the most comfortable seat he ever sat in a car. He's a huge VW fan and said he couldn't imagine an Audi being this pleasing of a ride. I must say that the sport seats (I have the Ti Sport) were incredible comfortable as I never was sore. We took about 3-4 rest stops because we both drank a lot of water and coffee and I generally like to get up and walk around a bit. But my friend is in love with the car and he said it even reinvigorated his passion for cars. We both drive as daily drivers a Toyota Yaris and he gave me props for pulling the trigger on getting such a sexy sporty car.
All in all the Giulia is an absolute gem of a machine. I've had her for nearly two months and I've put just over 2,500 miles thus far. Long distance, city driving and everything in between is handled in beautiful Italian fashion. I will echo some auto journalists' sentiments. It absolutely is the most well-balanced sports sedan in the world. Comfort, chassis-control, handling, acceleration, fuel economy.....She has everything. For any prospective buyers out there, this car is perfectly suited for any kind of driving. Daily driving, road trips and track days.
EDIT: Coming back through the border up near the Thousand Islands in NYS was nice but the car was absolutely destroyed by bugs and it took two washes to clean them off. Definitely researching the best and most effective DIY wash/wax kits as I don't have an unlimited car-wash budget.
I must say that the actual trip through Ontario headed toward Quebec from Niagara Falls, through Toronto and to Montreal was quite scenic and a pleasing drive, at least up until the end of the Lake. The only sinfully boring segment was the last 30-45 minutes following the St. Lawrence heading into Montreal. I've been to Toronto dozens of times if not over 100 times in my life, but never to Montreal. If anyone wants to visit perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing and cultural city in North America (IMHO), I highly recommend you do so. Anyway, onto the drive.
I've had the car since April 7th, and as I commented the first week I bought it, I can't stop finding reasons to drive it. No difference on this road trip. Taking a long trip around Lake Ontario was one of the most rewarding drives I've ever done in the Giulia. I hit 120mph or so twice on the QEW and the fastest I hit so far was 132. Other than some obvious road noise (tires help, the Pirelli run-flats) the car handled the speed like a champion and kept enticing me to push her even more. A lot of the drive was done back and forth from A mode to N mode, though every so often I wanted to open the taps in D mode and was rewarded. The section of the QEW from Toronto to around Kingston, Ontario (end of the Lake) was excellent, with three lanes, hardly any traffic, elevation changes and decent turns. I will say the Giulia is the queen of "Whoah, I'm going 94mph I better slow down a bit" while I was chatting on the road with my friend.
I'm not a vein person, but it was quite pleasing to get thumbs up at every turn (even from someone driving a Gallardo Super Leggera!), especially at rest stops. I think it's because I love that people appreciate the gorgeous looks. Once we arrived in Montreal there was a ton of construction and a lot of traffic (though the drivers were mostly calm and collected) and the Giulia handled it all beautifully.
I guess the best review I can give for this trip (total mileage I think was just over 900 when I got home) is my friend who rode with me. He didn't stop praising the car incessantly to the others when we all met up and even the next two days at various points. He commented on the incredibly smooth ride considering it's a sports sedan with 19" wheels. He loved the chassis balance and handling and thought it was the most comfortable seat he ever sat in a car. He's a huge VW fan and said he couldn't imagine an Audi being this pleasing of a ride. I must say that the sport seats (I have the Ti Sport) were incredible comfortable as I never was sore. We took about 3-4 rest stops because we both drank a lot of water and coffee and I generally like to get up and walk around a bit. But my friend is in love with the car and he said it even reinvigorated his passion for cars. We both drive as daily drivers a Toyota Yaris and he gave me props for pulling the trigger on getting such a sexy sporty car.
All in all the Giulia is an absolute gem of a machine. I've had her for nearly two months and I've put just over 2,500 miles thus far. Long distance, city driving and everything in between is handled in beautiful Italian fashion. I will echo some auto journalists' sentiments. It absolutely is the most well-balanced sports sedan in the world. Comfort, chassis-control, handling, acceleration, fuel economy.....She has everything. For any prospective buyers out there, this car is perfectly suited for any kind of driving. Daily driving, road trips and track days.
EDIT: Coming back through the border up near the Thousand Islands in NYS was nice but the car was absolutely destroyed by bugs and it took two washes to clean them off. Definitely researching the best and most effective DIY wash/wax kits as I don't have an unlimited car-wash budget.
