Guilietta Diesel

[colcol]

From the AGE, Drive, Tester, Matt Campbell,
CAR POOL, The Car-Alfa Romeo Guilietta JTD-M,
The Price $40,990, + on road costs.
Vital Statistics-2 litre turbo Diesel 4 cyl, 125 klws, 350 NM Torque, 6 speed, dual clutch Automatic transmission, 4.5 litres per 100klms, Front Drive.
Why we are driving it, The Alfa romeo Guilietta impressed us in petrol form last year, and in 2012 the Italian brand released a new Diesel version, we spent a few days with it to see what it was like.
LIKES - The 2.0 litre engine has plenty of mid-range shove when you plant your foot, especially in Dynamic mode, excellent claimed fuel use, sporty suspension, but comfortable ride, excellent steering, funky switchgear is nice to touch, decent rear seat space, looks great.
DISLIKES - The engine has turbo lag, which is exacerbated by the duel clutch transmission, some torque steer, some suspension noise and road noise, brakes lack progressive feel, lots of creaks from the interior, no reverse camera, no satnav, expensive in class.
WOULD I BUY ONE? - I like the Guilietta and its diesel engine, but i couldn't live with that automatic transmission, better diesel options include the Audi A3, VW Golf GTD or BMW 1 series, perhaps i would even wait for the Mercedes A class.
Reprinted from the AGE by Colin.

[Paul Gulliver]

Col,
Some interesting observations. I have just come back from Italy and we had a Guiletta Diesel as a hire car. All be it one that was nearly 2 years old and had 70,000 clicks on it and a manual. After about 2500km in a week ( Lake Como near Milan down to Korcula in Croatia and  back, my impressions of the car were as follows

1. That largely it is a well executed car, technically very competent but just let down by that crap interior.

2. The cabin space my my 159 is much nicer.  After the initial novelity I would much rather be sitting behind the wheel of my 159 than the Guiletta if it were for  any length of time.

3.Like all diesels, once you get the thing wound up the torque and mid range punch is prodigious . Touring capabilites were also very impressive. Italy is limited to 130 klms per hour but everything goes at that speed  on the A4 rat race from Milan to Venice  . But on the A1 in Croatia ( Rijeka to just south of Split) cruising at 140 - 150 @ 2500 rpm's was effortless.  No complaints from the war office sitting next to me either so it must have been good.

Gully

[DAMO1A]

I am in the UK for two years and have bought a 2010 Guilietta Diesel Veloce (2.0l, 170hp, 6 Spd manual).  It has similar equipment and trim to the QV model in Australia.  I have not had much experience with a diesel before, Alfa or otherwise, but once I became used to using the torque (ie. not over reving) I have found it to be a very enjoyable experience.  It does not suffer from lack of either power or torque and I actually leave it in the DNA "normal" mode most of the time as that is perfectly sufficient for my daily commute.  It is quite something else in the DNA "Dynamic" which is nice to use occasionally as it transforms the car. 

The cabin is comfortable and quiet on the road without a noticeable diesel engine noise.  I only really notice it is a diesel from the amount of torque available at such low revs.  In the "normal" mode, the gear change indicator on the display encourages you into 5th gear at 60km/h which it does quite happily.

Apart from the car's styling, the most impressive feature of the diesel is the amazing fuel economy. I have averaged around 7l/100 which is higher than the Alfa claimed fuel economy but still pretty good compared to my 3ltr V6 166 at home.  The Start/ Stop feature has a mind of its own but seems to work most of the time in city traffic.

As far as the interior is concerned, I think it is pretty good quality.  The car is two years old and everything looks and works as it should.  My only real fault with the car so far is the fuel filler lid which does not pop out when you press on it.  I have to prise it out with my Alfa key ring.  This is apparently a common fault with the car and when I get a spare day I will book it into an Alfa Dealer for warranty repair.

If you are considering a Guilietta and are interested in good fuel economy, I would highly recommend a look at the Diesel.

[colcol]

Hey damo, how many twin carb Suds have you come across?, not too many with all the salt and wet weather, if you get the chance go and see Peter Web at Alfasuds online, i don't know the address, the stop / start feature was in a MiTo i drove a few months ago and takes a bit of getting used to as i didn't trust it to start as quick as it did, fearing a belt up the backside if it didn't work quick enough, but it worked fine, i actually fixed a fuel filler lid last week, same problem as you are having, there is a flat piece of spring steel under the cap that 'springs' the cap out when it is released from the locking latch, i just took the assembly out and rebent the spring out,...and it worked, though it would take forever, fixed in about 10 minutes, often wondered how they worked, keep up the good reports from the UK, and go to EB Spares and tell them to start selling parts for Suds and 33's!, Colin.

[DAMO1A]

Col, Thanks for the advice on the Guilietta fuel filler lid.  I will have a go fixing it straight away.  We are about an hour away from the nearest Alfa dealer so it will save me a trip.

I have not seen any Suds at all on the road but I did come across a few very nice examples at the Spring Alfa day.  I think the remaining ones are very well kept and probably don't go on the road in the winter.  I also saw an amazing Series One 77 Sud ti that looked like it had just come out of the show room.  If I can work out how I will put some photos on the 900 series forum.

I have bough a few bits and pieces from Peter at Alfasud online.  He is very good to deal with and the prices have been very reasonable.  I am gathering a small collection of spares for both my Sud and 166 to take home with me .

Cheers
Damo