Giulietta Brakes

[alfaricho]

Hello again. Another small problem with my "new" Giulietta 1.4 Turbo. It has only done 21,000km and the first owner was an elderly lady. The brakes are really "fierce", so you can just about put your foot gently on the pedal and it does start to slow down. However, if you put on any further pressure, it's like an "emergency stop" in the old driving test. This makes coming up to traffic lights very tricky, I don't want the following driver to ram into my boot. I did change the brake fluid, but this made no difference. Any help will gratefully received!

[Colin Edwards]

Hi alfaricho,
"Google" Alfa Romeo brake pre-fill. 
If you get out of the accelerator very quickly, the control system assumes your next action will be to hit the brakes so the brake pre-fill kicks in.  Is this what is happening?  Is it "worse" in Dynamic mode? Does the car track straight ahead when you brake hard or does it pull to one side initially?
The last Giulietta's we had were all 1750 QV's or Veloces with the big Brembos.  These all had brake pre-fill.  I always left foot brake on a 2 pedal car.  We got used to the brake response very quickly.  That what I liked the most with the QV / Veloce - great brakes! 
Soft sole shoes can help.  Maybe take it to an Alfa specialist for a second opinion?     
 

[alfaricho]

Hi Colin
Many thanks for your help and advice. It may be my imagination, but I think that it is worse in dynamic mode, as you suggest. It also happens sometime after I have released the throttle, and I am attempting to make a smooth stop (i.e. at traffic lights). It can really grab in that final little push to bring the car to a stop. I don't know if my 1.4 has the prefill, although it is the same engine as in the Fiat current Spider, so it may. I have found a very Alfa-literate mechanic in Cairns, who has extensive experience with Alfas and in particular the Giulietta, he is taking a look next week. I will mention those things to him.