Executive cars behind their familiar badges and dark windows can be anonymous but that is never the case with the Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Launched in 2016 as the latest four-door saloon from the AR stable it has won numerous European styling and performance awards and it led to the development of the Stelvio SUV as well.
The Giulia range in the UK is fairly small but significant with rear wheel drive and four-wheel-drive models for everyday and enthusiastic owners.
Our mid-range Giulia benefitted from the recent upgrade to an 8.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, full wi-fi function with remote phone charging and over the air upgrades, emergency and call assist functions. Luxury touches now wrap the steering wheel and automatic selector knob in leather.
It looks stunning inside and out but more importantly it is also a very good drive. The familiar four-cylinder multijet petrol engine packs a good punch of 400Nm at 1750rpm if you want to use that.
Driven with restraint it is brisk but that changes when you floor the throttle to overtake slower traffic and the power pours out, quickly hitting the national speed limits accompanied with a delightful roar from the rear.
The absolute performance is very good and it still managed over 30mpg, sometimes heading towards 35mpg.
The 2.0 litre engine was not only strong but for most of the time was very smooth and generally quiet, but on a few occasions when steady running it suddenly and inexplicably dropped about 400rpm and to all intents and purposes had a misfire.
Much of the liveliness of the Giulia is down to the excellent set of gear ratios in the eight-speed automatic transmission ideally matched with 400Nm of torque which always seemed to have something to exploit a situation, whether easing through urban traffic or extending the car on longer cross country trips and the column paddles were delightful to use when desired.
