"Alfistis are so passionate about Alfas I was really looking forward to driving the Giulietta in order to experience the sheer devotion to the brand myself.
But instead I felt conned. The Alfa Giulietta is a terrible car with no redeeming features, except its beauty."
It got a ton of comments on Twitter and Kinja.
What was interesting was that aside from a couple of people who sought to tear the review, and me, to shreds most Alfisti weren't surprised. I was told the Guilietta isn't a true Alfa but a Fiat in disguise. They told me about the older models that attract them to the brand - and said the 4C, not the Giulietta, was a true Alfa.
Here are some sample comments:
"Forget that pile of crap. Test drive a 4C & put an Alfa smile back on your face"
"Good read but was slightly disappointed with ur findings. I/you/usThe world,expected good things from the ride,Not so!"
"Can you give the 4C a try? You'll see what real Alfa fans love"
"This just proves what everyone knew all along: The 164 is the last Alfa. After the 164, there are only impostors"
"I drove the diesel 1.6 a few but furious miles ( with big phone wheels ) and it was not a drivers car. The engine managment was weird, too laggy and then too abrupt like the early tdis. Like you maybe i was expecting too much."
See? Alfa fans know that modern Alfas aren't real Alfas, but that the 4C seems to be a return to form. They have more realism and resilience than I give them credit for. I wanted the Giulietta to be great but it wasn't, which was disappointing.
What was also disappointing were the two idiots who saw a bad review of a car they like and sought to sully the review with cheap shots:
"Speedmonkey you are dead wrong. Claiming the ride got worse in Dynamic shows you don't know what you are talking about. The DNA switch doesn't affect the ride. I'll just leave you with a review of a professional at Evo Magazine: http://bit.ly/aV1x6u"
I asked the first commenter exactly how I was copying Jeremy Clarkson, given I don't read other reviews of a car before I write my own, for exactly the reason I might subconsciously copy some aspects. His response was "Whole section about annual servicing is something that TG mentiones every time they talk about AR", which is rather silly.
The second commenter was right in that the ride doesn't change when you press D, but the Alfa press guy told me the car "hunkers down" when you press the button, which is what made me think it did. My mistake. His point about the Evo review being professional was laughable. Evo has a massive base cost, to print magazines, for which it relies on advertising from car companies. Evo cannot completely slate a poor car because that company might withdraw advertising. My poor review has no commercial implication simply because Speedmonkey does not rely on advertising to exist.
Aside from these two delusional chaps the Alfa community turned out to be a thoroughly reasonable bunch.
I'll leave you with this fantastic video of Alfa GTA engine noise, as recorded by @brizinorth. Turn it up loud and listen to the 3.2 V6. It'll make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. A true Alfa indeed.
Article by Matt Hubbard
