100%. But the reason I posted in this forum is because I would like to hear everyones thought process in purchasing the Giulia. I know what A4 owners will say and I used to own an Audi so I know Audi's very well but I want to hear from Giulia owners how they decided that although Audi has better tech, smoother ride, better reliability history, they chose the Giulia. That's all ?.

 

I was just kidding, sorry ? been watching a lot of Larry David recently. I would totally recommend the Alfa. I had also test driven a C63 before and the Alfa is definitely more alive than that. I have a Mercedes slk too and I haven't driven it for the last few months. On the other hand I wake up early mornings some days just to take the Alfa for a spin. Of course I am little hesitant to take it on long drives since it did die on me the first week itself. But then it was because of a known issue, a bad battery. With the new battery I haven't had any issues at all. People will say the infotainment system is not comparable. But since 2018 you get Android auto and apple car play anyway. And as an audiophile I can vouch for the Harmon kardon sound system. So it shouldn't be a deal breaker. If you care about the pure driving pleasure I would definitely recommend the Giulia.

 

Years ago Cadillac did some tests and determined that most people confuse ride quality and road noise.

Giulia's ride is pretty smooth, at least if you have the adaptive suspension in soft mode. However, the car does telegraph quite a bit of road noise, especially if you have the Pirelli Cinturato RFTs inflated fully to the recommended pressure. The noise will likely be worse if the tires are over inflated to the delivery pressure. There may be some variability from car to car also. For example the Giulia I test drove had a lot more road noise than the car I ordered and bought, even though the equipment was nearly identical--or maybe the sunroof that was on the test drive car increased noise a lot.

 

I would have thought road noise would be related mostly to the tires (and the road surface) and wind noise the aerodynamics of the car.

When I was shopping around for my previous car I test drive an A4. I found the ride generally ok however there was a lot of thump from the rear when going over expansion joints. I ended up going for a Bmw 435 instead.

 

My wife has a 2009 A4 Avant Quattro with the 2.0 turbo. It now has 135k miles and has been mostly reliable except for blowing a rear main seal and needing a new cam variator (common problem) after 100k. The current models are basically the same chassis and engine, except the 6 speed auto is replaced by a 7 speed DCT and the steering is now electric instead of hydraulic. We drove the 2017 Audi A4 and Giulia back to back the same day. After driving the Giulia the Audi felt like a truck! In fact both my wife and I found the new Audi to be worse than the 2009 we still own! The steering is completely dead and the transmission is jerky. Seats were hard and the ride was worse (this is the crossroads model, you can't get a normal Avant in the US any more). Handling, power, sound, interior and exterior design, and build quality were all superior in the Alfa in our opinion.

 

We drove the 2017 Audi A4 and Giulia back to back the same day. After driving the Giulia the Audi felt like a truck! In fact both my wife and I found the new Audi to be worse than the 2009 we still own! The steering is completely dead and the transmission is jerky. Seats were hard and the ride was worse (this is the crossroads model, you can't get a normal Avant in the US any more). Handling, power, sound, interior and exterior design, and build quality were all superior in the Alfa in our opinion.

Funny you say that. My wife has a 2018 traverse and after driving the Audi I was thinking man, this traverse is like the Audi. Comfortable, quiet, lol. The Alfa is so much more fun. But.... The tech, the luxury, it's a luxury car after all you want all the bells and whistles. That's where the decision gets hard. The drive, feel, no questions asked Alfa wins. But it just feels like you're in a better quality car sitting in the Audi that's why it's such a hard decision.

On another note, my wife is 5'8" and she had a hard time sitting in the passenger side because it felt like she was too tall her head was almost at the roof. Anyone have any issues with passengers?

 

Another thing beyond the ride, the comfort, the performance, handling, etc., would be to consider the long-term cost of ownership. Maybe if you're going to lease, no problem, but if you buy it, it's another factor.

I don't know what that would be for the Giulia 2.0, but the A4 came in as the 8th most expensive in this list: https://www.autoguide.com/auto-news...sive-cars-to-maintain-over-10-years.html?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=exchange

It was beaten (as in even more expensive to maintain) by a BMW 328i which came in second place :surprise:

 

I don't have much personal experience with Audi though I did take an S3 for a test drive a couple years ago. I thought it a fine car, no bad feelings, but it didn't excite me either. Drove a Panamera right after that; same experience. Those cars at least didn't leave a negative impression, unlike the recent MY BMWs I've driven (numb). The Giulia is the only contemporary sedan which I think is fun and would make me look forward to my commute, which for me is the paramount consideration, as I spend a lot of time in cars commuting. I also far far prefer both the exterior and interior styling of the Giulia to the Germans, as tasteful and handsome as Audi's cars tend to be.

Re reliability, there's plenty of data from Europe over the last ten to fifteen years that puts Alfa on par or even slightly ahead of the Germans. There was nothing wrong with the 159 and the Giulia is better yet. Don't believe the hype.

 

. The Giulia is the only contemporary sedan which I think is fun and would make me look forward to my commute, which for me is the paramount consideration, as I spend a lot of time in cars commuting. .

So would you say the Giulia is more comfortable/same/less comfortable then the Audi? And same for the road noise. If I'm going to be doing a lot of highway driving is the noise/fun ride going to get old and become loud and annoying? ?

 

A professional comparison between A4 and Giulia.
https://youtu.be/WV5ltdDAWY4

 

Did it have a sunroof?

Yes

 

That could be why the headroom was too low

 

I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I don't have too much time to play with the infotainment system while I'm driving. I get my "technofix" when the Alfa perfectly rotates around a decreasing radius off ramp at 30 over the limit.

 

No issues with headroom on driver or passenger side and I’m 6ft and have a sunroof. Maybe she had the seat too high.

 

For me the test drive gives me a glimpse of not only the car but the dealership when I see how much driving they let me do. For my area Jaguar was the best right off the bat when the gave me some keys and told me to bring it back when I felt I had covered enough miles. Audi was worst with the dealer doing most of the driving and only letting me cover a few miles. Also I know a lot of people rave about the Audi virtual cockpit but I hated it and it ended up being one the reasons I didn’t get an A4.

If the fun of driving matters to you and as others have pointed out it may not and that’s OK, but if it does you should drive both the AWD and RWD Giulias if possible, ditto with and without paddles. Hope you find the car that really works for you.

 

Personal preference is what it’s all about. If you like vanilla ice cream, get the Audi. Everyone likes vanilla. If you like pistachio gelato, get the Alfa. Both great cars but I have had many German cars and am now enjoying my Alfa. Don’t think Ill go German again.

Max Tenet

 

If you want to see yourself coming and going then get the Audi. If you want a great driving experience and drive something that people will break their necks looking at get the Giulia.

 

I owned an A4 and let me say this about what I remember (it got totaled out from under me in 2012, so it's been a while):
1. Very comfy - more adjustability in the seats than the Giulia. But to say the Giulia sport seats are NOT comfy is a lie.
2. Very quick - but the Giulia is faster.
3. I had the FWD with CVT, and I found that could do almost anything I wanted a car to do in terms of drivability, road-holding, spirited driving, etc. The Alfa does it better.
4. The Audi sunroof started popping off its little shoes that slide in the roof at about 50,000 miles. The little parts are not sold, only the full sunroof assembly.
5. The Audi interior adhesives started giving up the ghost at about 30,000/two years in the desert sun. That did NOT inspire confidence regarding the use of adhesives in their structure.

Bottom line -- I dropped $50k on a car 18 months ago, and it doesn't have four interlocking rings on it, it has St. George's cross and a biscione.

 

Bottom line -- I dropped $50k on a car 18 months ago, and it doesn't have four interlocking rings on it, it has St. George's cross and a biscione.

its not a St George cross btw, it is the Flag Of Milan derived from the Flag Of Genoa, and attributed to St Ambrose- the English adopted the Flag of Genoa in the 11th century to allow their ships to enter the Mediterranean and on to Genoa - it has been in use as the Flag Of Milan since the 10th century


the Duke of Kent in 1992: "The St. George's flag, a red cross on a white field, was adopted by England and the City of London in 1190 for their ships entering the Mediterranean to benefit from the protection of the Genoese fleet. The English Monarch paid an annual tribute to the Doge of Genoa for this privilege."


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Milan

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genoa#Flag

the St George cross was attributed to the Crusades and came later in the 13th century, the English entries in the Wiki article also acknowledge it to be a different cross

The red-on-white cross used extensively across Northern Italy as the symbol of Bologna, Padua, Genoa, Reggio Emilia, Mantua, Vercelli, Alessandria, is instead derived from an older flag, called the "Cross of Saint Ambrose", adopted by the Commune of Milan in 1045.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George's_Cross

we had an extensive discussion about the Alfa Romeo emblem some time ago - suffice to say it has a lot more tradition and Italian roots than an incomplete set of olympic rings
but i know what you meant ...

 

I think this one is a very unbiased review. I guess unless you get the Ti sport or the QV, the A4 is definitely worth considering.
https://youtu.be/wPFHlggOlJc

 

Let's see, front wheel drive German car vs rear wheel drive FCA. Hmm, a few years ago this would have been consider Bizarro world.
As for the review the front wheel drive average looking one wins. I will stop right here people.

 

5 time audi owner here.
1998 A4 1.8t 2002 A4 1.8T,2006 a4 2.0t avant,2007 audi a3 3.2q ,2009 audi a4 avant 2.0t

I loved all my audis. The A3 was by far my favorite. As audi continued to define thea3, they took all the sport out. They took a lot of nice german thoughtful things out and cheapened it to compete, while also adding luxury bits for an aging demographic. The latest a4 is a snooze.

The latest a3, while still basic isnt any different from the a4. The s3 I was cross shopping is not available anywhere so I couldn't compare it to the giulia.

So why did I go w Giulia? The power, the simple layout, the refined interior luxury. It hit everything I wanted minus the 5doors, but nobody is making a good 5 door. The transmission not as good as the 6 speed dsg from the a4 but better than the auto one in the a4. It's the same as my wife's x3. When I drove it it reminded me of my first a4. Everything you want in sport, still really nice inside, no compromises to get performance. Small company feel to the experience.

Audi lost their way with their sport and tech lean. Alfa is taking their place.

Audi dealer and service also has gone downhill, so I won't miss that. The oil sludge issue, the airbags, the coil packs . Not that alfa wont have issues but I don't want to get insulted everytime i come in with the same issue that I know about to find audi isnt as knowledgable, willing to acknowledge the issue and repair it the first time. Hopefully alfa will do better.

If they bring an awd giulietta here then I will have all the boxes checked.

 

I've had an Audi S4 manual and now have the Giulia. Get the Giulia unless you plan to put a ton of miles on the car in a reasonably short period of time. None of us know if the Giulia will hold up mechanically. So far most if not all the problems have been software related. I like the Giulia on trips (Q4 with adaptive cruise in N mode, don't put the car in D mode and cruise control, the computer doesn't like that and will probably throw an error and set the car to limp mode). Carry a cheap OBD II reader with you to reset the car if needed (not as bad as it sounds, quite easy).

 

I live in South Africa and drive my 4th Alfa Romeo, which is the Giulia 2 litre (in South Africa at the moment the 147 kW version).
If you look at YouTube tests, then you will find that German testers take about three quarters of the time to look at the car, and a bit at the end to drive the car. And it is generally accepted that German cars have better interiors - larger screens, nicer buttons, and so on, so their is a lot to look at.
But other testers are the other way around - have a quick look, and then actually drive in the car. And that is where Alfa Romeo comes in - there are 2 instruments looking at you - a rev counter and a speedometer, both with zero at the bottom, and working area at the top, and the rest of the instrumentation and hardware is for practical convenience, and not to sit and look at.
Comments already made - the Alfa Romeo has direct and sharp steering (the lowest ratio of any production car), brakes are equally responsive, throttle response in D (of the DNA) is immediate, and you have full control over the gearbox in D and Manual. All this needs getting used to - you have to learn to use the controls in order to drive the car efficiently and smoothly, much more so than in an Mercedes Benz or a Lexus, but the end result is satisfaction that is without peer.
By this time you know my thoughts - buy the Alfa Romeo!

 

I have had four Audi A4's in a row. The 2018 was going to be my next car. Mainly because I knew what I was getting, and I always got a good deal. This time no good deals. I started looking around and the Alfa kept coming around. Great deal, great sales guy, great fun car. The Audi is a safe bet. Hits all the right buttons. But, you see them all over. Conservative is what I think. Where are you in life? Do you want the same old thing or new and exciting? How about this. A4 equals wife/husband Alfa equals girlfriend, (mistress)/ boyfriend. I'm single.

 

Mainly because I knew what I was getting, and I always got a good deal. This time no good deals.

Every dealer I looked at within 500 miles was marking up their A4 sport pkg leases at least $100 a month over what they should have been given the residual, MF, and promotional credits. I thought the slow death of sedans would help even more, but Audi didn't get the memo. Ended up in my Alfa and am HOOKED.

 

I had one Audi and also found it bland.

 

Depends if you're a LEADER or a FOLLOWER.....Traded my S 5 for a Quad....No comparison between the two....If you are comparing A 4 to Q 4 Giulia Ti Sport...remember, the Audi is a gussied up VW ...no two ways about it...the Giulia Ti is a detuned Quad, which in turn is a detuned Ferrari....I hope this helps...

 

A4 is a guised up VW? Come on now I expect Audi bashing in an Alfa forum but there isn't a single VW branded car sharing the A4's underlying MLB platform. The last time a VW used an Audi platform was the Passat from 15 years ago when they used a stretched out older B5 platform when the Audi A4 was about to move on to the newer B6 platform. The Porsche Macan, however, shares the current A4's underlying MLB platform. I love the engine in the Ti but calling the 4-cylinder a "detuned Ferrari" is as far a stretch as calling the A4 a VW, since there isn't a single 4-cylinder, (or for that matter, a 6-cylinder) in the Ferrari road car lineup. It might be based on a prancing horse engine but significant engineering rework beyond "detuning" is required when you lose cylinders.

 

I think I would be bored as **** after getting four of the same car in a row.

 

There is absolutely no car on the road today that drives like the Alfa, whether it be an A4, Jag XF,XE, Mercedes C, CLA, E. I have had them all during my lifetime and , if you enjoy driving, the Giulia is your car. I was on the highway yesterday tooling at 80mph and the sensation is so unique, like you are floati g on a cloud...hard to describe. No other car has ever come close to this feeling.

 

Floating on a cloud is the exact description that has come to my mind

 

Why are we even having this conversation?>

 

I know, I suspect the OP has purchased and sold several cars by now....

 

There are quite a bit of ZF parts in the QV. You can think of as a Italian-German car