Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.6 JTDm TCT: review

An Italian car with Italian styling and brio, but with sensible emissions and fuel consumption – could that be a good combination for the fleet car buyer? Alfa Romeo are certainly hoping so. To this end, they’ve revamped their family hatchback, giving it a new look led by that new Italian nose.

With the looks come a range of engines, including a 1.4-litre Multiair and a 1.6-litre JTDm diesel. We’re looking at that latter engine, combined with a six-speed dual clutch TCT auto transmission. On paper that gives 118bhp and 236lb ft of torque, and it should manage 74.3mpg and 99g/km of CO2. A tempting combination.

It’s not a big engine, but it works pretty smoothly and even sounds rather good. Power actually feels higher than the quoted figure, so the Giulletta gets going with some alacrity and performs well. This is helped if you use the higher of the DNA drive selector modes.

The auto box is smooth and blends the gears together. If you switch out of Normal and into Dynamic mode, this sharpens the gearshifts and you can use the paddle shifts with some confidence.

There’s plenty of grunt available, without any noticeable lag, so progress can be fairly swift. However, the handling, for an Italian car, does surprise. The steering is rather vague so it’s hard to set the car up properly, and it’s impossible to corner with any elan. It all feels a big dead and uninvolving.

However, for a fleet buyers that lack of drama is probably going to be viewed as a good thing. Certainly this does represent a very sensible choice with low levels of emission and consumption.

The interior is smart and stylish and this doesn’t scream ‘fleet car’ like so many others. If you wanted a roughly comparable Golf you’d be looking at finding another £4,000 or so, which is a thought in these cash-strapped times.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.6 JTDm TCT

On sale: April

Price: £21,000 (est)

Engine: 4cyl, 1598cc, diesel

Power: 118bhp at 3750rpm

Torque: 236lb ft at 1750rpm

Gearbox: 6spd dual-clutch auto

Kerbweight: 1320kg; 0-62mph 10.2sec

Top speed: 121mph

Economy: 74.3mpg (combined)

CO2 rating & BIK tax band: 99g/km, 17%