REVIEW | 2025 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce

In a world dominated by crossovers, sport utility vehicles and pickups, sports sedans are a rare breed.

Alfa Romeo only offers one – the Giulia – Italian for “jewel” – in our case, specifically the 2025 Giulia Veloce.

Alfa is part of the Stellantis family that also includes Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Maserati and Fiat. The Giulia has been offered since 2017, and its days may be limited. But the Italian carmaker swears that this won’t be the last sport sedan in its portfolio, although no solid word other than the next Giulia will be electric.

So let us see what this emerald jewel has for us.

Just over 2,300 Giulias were sold stateside last year, down from 3,400 in 2023.

Body: Since its beginning, the Giulia’s basic curvaceous shape has stayed the same. It’s been tweaked over the years as the marque reduced trim levels to one, only adding a spicier Veloce option than we had. So the Giulia’s steel body, with aluminum fenders and doors, keeps its almost trademark triangular central grill with classic man-eating snake and cross badge.

Last year, the grill and frame went gloss black, the V-shape stabbing low between large mesh intakes and low outer corner air dam winglets. LED DRLs frame headlights and turn signals housed in black. It’s an aggressive face to remember.

Flared fenders frame 19-inch Pirelli Cinturato rubber on lacy “telephone dial” Dark Estrema 5-hole wheels that show red Brembo brake calipers. The doors gain gentle design lines over flared lower sills, while the higher rear deck gets a hint of a spoiler lip over new LED taillights under smoked lenses.

The design may be familiar, but in that Verde Fangio Metallic (green) with exotic wheels, the Alfa got noticed, subtly different from other sedans.

Interior: Nicely bolstered black leather sport bucket seats that hold you in nicely get manual thigh support and power adjustments for a great driving position. The stitched leatherette dashboard is a gently flowing arch over inset Italian dual-cowled instruments, changed from analog to full digital. You can show simple displays, or classic 200-mph speedometer and 7,000-rpm (5,350 rpm redline) gauges. In between there’s a color display for digital speedometer, radio station, G-force display and more.

The Guilia’s swoopy roof means tall folks have to duck a tad to get in back, where head room is fine, but leg room is at a premium. The trunk is deep, expandable with folding split rear seats.

Controls: The flat-bottom steering wheel is thick, with an inset start/stop button. No manual gearbox is offered, but there’s long alloy paddle shifters behind the wheel – a tad close to turn signal and wiper stalks.

The central navigation screen is angled at the driver, a smallish display that also shows audio, phone, apps and settings. It can wash out on sunny days; the graphics are a bit dated; and voice command of navigation and phone took multiple comments.

The console’s stubby electronic shifter can be tapped for manual shifting mode. A central twist/tap/nudge knob handles main screen menu items easily. A smaller knob handles volume and station search for a solid 14-speaker Harmon-Kardon audio system.

Infotainment: USB ports are abound in the console and under the center armrest, with an inductive phone charging slot. But when my phone was connected, the main screen popped up reminders that it was charging every few minutes – too much. And it only had wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Performance: Full disclosure – I own the Giulia’s grandfather – a 1988 Milano Verde sedan with a 182-hp V-6. Our Giulia did not have the Ferrari-designed twin-turbo V-6 with 505-hp. But its turbocharged 2-liter 4-cylinder engine had a decent 280 hp and 306-lb.ft of torque, hooked to all-wheel-drive with an 8-speed automatic with manual/paddle shifting.

This turbo four is just fine, even if it’s less powerful than the heavier V-6. There’s Dynamic, Natural and Advanced drive modes that adjust power level, shift action, steering feel and economy setting. Dynamic sharpens up brake and steering feel with more aggressive drivetrain and throttle tip-in, a bit more snarl in the exhaust. Natural is ideal for commutes with a firm steering feel and slightly less energetic throttle response. Advanced dials back throttle response more to reduce fuel consumption.

Natural was my daily go-to, a bit languid at throttle tip-in, then boost cleanly comes in at just over 2,000 rpm en route to 60 mph in 6.3 seconds. Dynamic was my favorite – quickest throttle reax, snappier shifts, steering and exhaust snarl as it hit 60 mph in 5.3 seconds, brief throttle blips to smooth downshifts. The auto-engine off feature helped fuel mileage a bit – we averaged 25 mpg – but was a bit slow refiring the engine when we came off the brake pedal.

FYI, the V-6 hits 60 mph in 5.1 seconds, and the exhaust snarl is heavenly.

Double wishbone front suspension, and an Alfa-link rear axle design gave a taut yet comfortable ride, supple and very Italian as it absorbed bumps with buffered rebound. Alfa claims near perfect 50/50 weight distribution, and it showed in curves, especially with the rear-wheel-drive biased all-wheel drive.

The Alfa was very neutral on expressway ramps under power, a gentle bit of body roll as it just carves cleanly around. A sinuous road saw it easily and flatly handle curve after curve, with nicely sharp steering full of feel. Pushed hard in curves, we got 1.07 Gs in steady-state cornering – very good. It’s very agile, a steering flick and throttle tucking a cornering line back in again .

As for stopping, 13-inch front discs with four-piston Brembo calipers, and single piston Brembo calipers on the 12.5-inch rear discs saw only minimal fade after repeated stops – and 1.G in stopping power. Smart cruise control handles stop and go traffic, resuming with a button tap.

Price: Built in Italy, the base Giulia starts at $43,075; our Veloce trim starts at $45,995 with lots standard except: $2,000 green paint, $1,600 Veloce option with limited slip differential, paddle shifters, black grill and red calipers and a bit more for a total of $55,340.

Bottom line: Call me biased, but the Guilia Veloce is an almost practical sports sedan with just enough power, great handling and a bit of Italian spice. It is still a jewel, with some tiny flaws.

2025 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce specifications:

• Vehicle type – midsize four-door, five-passenger rear-wheel-drive Italian sports sedan
• Base price – $43,520 (as tested: $55,140)
• Engine type – SOHC 16-valve direct-injection aluminum in-line with turbo
• Gas engine displacement – two liters
• Horsepower (net) – 280 at 5,200 rpm
• Torque (lb-ft) – 306 at 2,000 – 4,800 rpm
• Transmission – eight-speed automatic with manual and paddle shifters
• Wheelbase – 111 inches
• Overall length – 182.8 inches
• Overall width – 73.2 inches
• Height – 56.5 inches
• Front headroom – 38.6 inches
• Front legroom – 42.4 inches
• Rear headroom – 37.6 inches
• Rear legroom – 35.1 inches
• Cargo capacity – 17 cu. ft.
• Curb weight – 3,522 lbs. estimated
• Fuel capacity – 15.3 gallons
• MPG rating – 24 mpg city/33 mpg highway