A beautiful drive that happens to be practical for the family too!
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BabyDrive Verdict
I have spent a fantastic week with the VERY beautiful 2022Â Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce sedan. Let's take a look at how it gets on as a BabyDrive…
Well, the Giulia attracts A LOT of attention! Firstly it looks fantastic and the bottle green exterior is stunning!
The interior is just as beautiful as the exterior, with tan leather upholstery and dash and contrast stitching. The dash is minimal and clutter-free.
The rear seats are just as well detailed and quite sculpted, with ISOFix in the two outer rear seats and top tether anchorages behind the headrest of all three rear seats.
Two Infasecure child seats fit really nicely in the back of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, I installed the Infasecure Attain More rear-facing and the Infasecure Aspire More forward facing. A third child seat wouldn't fit between them as the rear seats are quite sculpted.
Legroom is especially good in the Alfa Romeo Giulia; we found a 186cm passenger could fit in front of a rear-facing child seat or a 180cm driver.
Rear passengers also get modern comforts like aircon vents, heated seats and USB-C sockets which are great for keeping rear passengers big and small happy.
Storage is quite minimal in the back of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, with net map pockets and small door bins and two cup holders.
In the front, storage is still compact but a little more thorough. A small central console box houses USB/USB-C/AUX sockets and a wireless phone charging dock.
There are two cup holders in front of the gear lever and a space for glasses. The glove box will fit my wallet with the manual and the door bins are still small in the front and will only house a disposable water bottle.
There are double sunroofs in the ceiling of the Giulia which we really enjoyed with our kiddies, we'd open their panel in the evening so they could look out at the sky at night.
When it comes to boot space the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia is surprisingly generous. It will hold twelve shopping bags from empty which is one less than the Kia Stinger holding thirteen. Two less than the BMW 3 Series Sedan 330i which holds fourteen and three less than the VW Arteon which holds fifteen.
A twin pram will fit in the boot with a little room on top of it for bags etc.
You can't put a dog in the boot of the Alfa Romeo Giulia because the parcel shelf is fixed.
The Giulia is a beautiful car to drive. It is particularly good fun around roundabouts and out on the open road and the fact it fits the kids and their pram in the back really comfortably is a huge bonus.
It has a small turning circle making it lovely and easy to park and manoeuvre and to drive around town. Visibility is really tricky out of the rear side windows and you have to rely heavily on the side mirrors.
The media system in the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia is nice and modern and simple to use. It is controlled using a rotary dial down in the central console and has Apple CarPlay.
You can control the climate through the media screen while driving.
The Giulia media system has sat-nav and you can customise a lot of the driver assist safety settings too.
The reversing camera image is lovely and clear but very small on the screen and you can turn the parking sensors off with a button by the driver's right knee.
Overall the Alfa Romeo Giulia makes a fantastic family sedan. Great boot space and interior space, meaning generous legroom with rear-facing child seats.
The interior is just as beautifully crafted as the exterior making it a very enjoyable environment to experience.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia has been given a five star ANCAP safety rating. It has six airbags as standard; dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting curtain airbags.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How big is the boot of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia?
The Alfa Romeo Giulia has a slightly smaller boot than its competitors. It will hold twelve shopping bags from empty which is one less than the Kia Stinger which holds thirteen. Two less than the BMW 3 Series Sedan 330i which holds fourteen and three less than the VW Arteon which holds fifteen.
The twin stroller fits in the boot of the Giulia with no shopping bags, you could fit some things on top of the pram.
A modular, tandem stroller fits in the boot of the Alfa Romeo Giulia with two shopping bags beside it.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Bub’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
A single pram fits in the boot with four shopping bags beside it.
The compact stroller fits in the boot of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia with seven shopping bags beside it.
You can't put a dog in the boot of the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan because the parcel shelf is fixed. You can do an emergency nappy change in the boot!
How good is storage inside the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan?
The storage inside the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan is compact but practical for parents and families. There are two cup holders in the front central console that will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and in front of them is a small space good for your sunglasses and there is a 12V and USBC socket there.
The central console storage box is quite small and has a USBC/US-C and AUX socket inside as well as a wireless phone charging dock.
The glove box is small and will only hold my wallet with the manual.
The front door bins are small and will only hold a small disposable water bottle.
Rear door bins are even smaller and only hold a small disposable water bottle.
There is a fold-down armrest in the central seatback of the Giulia with two cup holders that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup.
In the back of both front seats are net map pockets that will hold but not conceal an iPad. There is a small shelf and two USBC sockets in the back of the central console box too.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan?
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan is a lovely quiet car to drive. You are very cocooned from the outside world and any road noise. The media system is nice and easy to use and navigate.
It has Apple CarPlay which I find great for accessing my phone and its messaging, listening (Spotify and kids' podcasts for example) and navigation apps while driving.
There is a good page where you can customise your Driver Assist which I particularly like.
You can adjust the climate through the media screen as well.
The reversing camera image is lovely and clear but it is also very small on the screen. You can turn off the parking sensors with a button down in the central console.
The doors and windows of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan close gently, so they are not baby waking.
The doors close quite easily with a gentle close, which was surprising for a car of this size. With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!Â
You can lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many Infasecure child seats fit in the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce sedan?
There are top tether anchorages in the fixed parcel shelf behind all three rear backrest headrests of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan. I found them quite easy to access to access and connect to.
There are ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats of the Giulia Sedan, that are within plastic guides and nice and easy to connect to.
Two Infasecure child seats fit nicely in the back of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan. I installed the Infasecure Attain More rear facing and the Aspire More forward facing. There wasn't room for a third child seat in the middle because the rear seats are quite sculpted.
Legroom is good in the Giulia Sedan and with a rear-facing child seat installed in the back, we could just a 186cm passenger or a 180cm driver.
Posting Bub into their child seat was quite easy from outside the Giulia sedan even though the roofline is quite low and the ceiling is quite high in the back so it is easy to post them in from inside too.
Australia being a country of weather extremes; blazing sun and torrential rain, mean you may find it easier to put Bub into their seat from inside the car sometimes. If it’s hot you can get the air-con going, cool the car down and not stand out in the sun while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction!
There is plenty of room to feed Bub in the back of the Giulia Sedan if you only have one child seat installed!
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce Sedan? And How good is the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce Sedan to drive?
The interior of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia is a very enjoyable place to be! The seats are lovely and comfortable and easily adjustable using the controls on the side of the seat bases. The seats are a lovely tan leather with perforated seat base panels for the heated seats.
Stamped with the Alfa Romeo branding in the headrests which aren't adjustable but I found I could wear a ponytail while driving!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get this ponytail just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
For a mum travelling in the back with Bub, the rear seats are extremely comfortable. The central seat has a firmer backrest where the fold-down armrest is and you do have to straddle the mound in the footwell in the central seat.
Legroom is good in the back and I had plenty of legroom behind a 182cm driver and I'm 162cm.
For the first year of my Bub's life when we would go out as a family, if I wasn’t driving, I would travel in the back with Bub so it’s important to check the back seat comfort as you may be spending a lot of time in them! They were never something I gave any thought to before but I definitely notice a good or bad back seat now!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
Across the front dashboard, there are four air-conditioning vents, two vertical underneath the media screen and two round ones at either end of the dashboard.
They can be easily controlled using the buttons on the central dash, below the media screen. Or through the climate page in the media screen.
In the second row, there are air-conditioning vents and heated seat controls in the back of the central console box and two USB-C sockets.
I could reach the vents to adjust them for my children while driving and the climate can be adjusted through the media screen controls.
Visibility is really difficult out of the rear side windows of the Giulia sedan and I have to rely heavily on the side mirrors and reversing camera when parking.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Bub has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. The Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan, was pretty easy to park in our tight apartment block carpark.
The 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan is a memorable car to drive, it has fast acceleration, clings to the corners and is nice and smooth as it does it. I found it to have a small turning circle making it easy around town s well as out on the open road and to maneuver and park. Great for the school run!
Scoring a total of 98% or 37.4Â out of 38 for adult occupancy. Broken down into 8Â out of 8Â for the full-width frontal crash test, 7.80Â out of 8Â for the frontal offset test. Full marks for the side impact test and 7.88 out of 8 for the pole test.
For Child Occupancy protection the Giulia Sedan scored 39.7 out of 49 which is 81%. ANCAP said of the testing:
In the frontal offset test, protection of the head and chest of the 10 year dummy was GOOD with ADEQUATE protection provided to the neck. Protection of the 6 year dummy head was GOOD with MARGINAL protection for the chest. In the side impact test, protection of both child dummies was GOOD for all critical body regions.
Six airbags come as standard in the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sedan; Dual frontal, front side chest, front and rear side head-protecting curtain airbags are standard.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
Hmmmmm… The Toyota Corolla! It was not going to win me over!!! If I hadn’t been a designer in my previous life I may not have been so offended by Toyota’s use of fonts! And if I hadn’t grown up in the 80s I may not have shuddered every time I used the shiny silver plastic gear stick that was a definite replica of my first computer joystick!! Read More
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