Alfa Romeo Giulietta launched in Malaysia
Sime Darby Auto Italia Sdn Bhd has officially launched the Alfa Romeo Giulietta for the Malaysian market yesterday. More choices have been promised for the future, but for now, the sole variant of the range would be the 1.4 TB MultiAir mated with the Fiat Group’s own 6-speed twin clutch transmission.
Its price, however, is not cheap; at RM178,888 before factoring in on-road costs, it is about RM20k more expensive than the Volkswagen Golf 1.4 TSI – a vehicle of comparable size and power. What the Giulietta has on its side, however, is the Alfa brand’s lustful allure, something that the sober VW does not quite grasp.
To justify its premium pricing, Auto Italia has opted to fully spec-up the Giulietta, offering bi-xenon AFS head lights, Bluetooth connectivity, voice control, USB/MP3 compatability, steering-mounted controls, rain sensors, parking sensors, electronic folding wing mirrors, and electrochromic rear view mirror.
It also boasts an array of safety features that includes stability control, cornering brake control, Dynamic Steering Torque (DST), hydraulic brake assist, and torque vectoring control. It is equipped with six airbags, and is certified with a five-star rating by Euro NCAP, scoring an overall 87 points out of 100.
The Giulietta is built on the Fiat Group’s new generation Compact platform, which is a €100 million re-development of the previous generation C-platform. It features all-independent suspension with aluminium components that helped reduce 4kg of weight from the MacPherson struts up front and 10kg from the multi-links behind. Alfa was also able to overcome the usual space constraints of a multi-link setup to liberate 350 litres of luggage space.
Powering the Giulietta is an engine featuring Fiat’s award-winning MultiAir technology, which performs continuous adjustments of inlet valve opening times and angles without the need of a throttle valve. This enhancement has increased the engine’s outputs from 155hp and 230Nm in previous application in the Alfa Mito to 170hp and 250Nm here in the Giulietta.
This enhanced engine has allowed the bigger and heavier Giulietta to go marginally faster than the Mito (which had manual transmission, mind you) and be significantly more frugal. Top speed of 215kph and century acceleration of 8.0 seconds of the Mito is bettered slightly by the Giulietta at 218kph and 7.7 seconds. Yet, the bigger car records 20% better fuel consumption – 5.2 l/100km vs 6.5 l/100km.
The Giulietta is sold with a choice of three colours – Ghiacco White, Alfa Red, and Black. After sales is backed by a 2-year unlimited mileage warranty.
Further Details:
– Alfa Romeo Giulietta price and specifications.
– List of official Alfa Romeo dealerships.
