Alfa Romeo Giulia

THE AUTO PAGE

By

John Heilig

• MODEL: 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti AWD
• ENGINE/TRANSMISSION: 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4/8-speed automatic
• HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 290 hp @ 5,200 rpm/306 lb.-ft. @ 2,000-4,800 rpm 
• WHEELBASE: 111.0 in. 
• LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT: 182.6 x 73.7 x 56.5 in. 
• TIRES: P225/40R19 
• CARGO CAPACITY: 12.0 cu. ft.
• ECONOMY: 24 mpg city/33 mpg highway/24.8 mpg test 
• FUEL TANK: 15.3 gal. 
• CURB WEIGHT: 3,695 lbs. #/HP: 12.7
• TOWING CAPACITY: Not recommended 
• COMPETITIVE CLASS: Acura TLX, BMW 3 Series, Cadillac ATS
• STICKER: $50,035 (includes $995 delivery, $9,045 options
• BOTTOM LINE: In many ways the Alfa Romeo Giulia is as quirky as a Saab 900, but its primary assets are fantastic Italian looks and stirring performance. 
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            The last time I drove an Alfa Romeo Giulia was back in Alfa’s previous iteration in the States. I remember that at that time pieces fell off the car and I couldn’t get the radio to work. No pieces fell off this version of the Giulia, but I still had radio problems. Tuning is a challenge, even after browsing through the owner’s manual several times. So we locked on to a SiriusXM channel that was preset and acceptable. Also, the on/off/volume control knob was located way back on the center console. It matched the engine start/stop button located on the steering wheel.

            I also recalled driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia for my navigator/owner Vic Wallder in New Jersey rallies back in the day. That was a fun car to drive, and Vic would never let me upshift, preferring to keep it in a lower gear to hear the engine whine. Hey, it was his car.

            This Giulia had a similar sound. It seems to want to go on forever when you’re accelerating. Alfa claims 0-60 mph times of less than 5.1 seconds and I won’t disagree. 

            Of course, this is an Alfa Romeo, and as such it wears great Italian styling behind its distinctive grille. The Giulia is low-slung with a pronounced wedge shape. My wife felt the entry was too low, but I enjoyed it. Entry and egress are aided by four assist handles over the doors.

            Once inside, the heated red leather seats ensconce you, gripping you nicely in the kidney area to make cornering more fun.  There’s also a great wheel to hold on to. The 8-speed automatic transmission has large column-mounted paddle shifters designed to shift gears in less than 100 milliseconds. However, the paddles are large and almost get in the way when you’re not using them. Hitting the turn signal stalk can be fun. There are also unique wiper controls on the right stalk that take some learning. 

            Instrumentation in the swoopy dash consists of clear analog dials with an information panel in between that we set for a digital speedometer. The infotainment screen is too small.

            On the center console are three knobs. The smaller one is the radio on/off/volume. The large center one works the menus, radio (supposedly) and navigation. On the left is once labeled dna, with settings for “d” for dynamic sports driving mode, “n” for normal driving mode, and “a” for advanced efficiency. A button in the middle of the knob adjusts the calibration of the suspensions in “d” mode.

            The Giulia has what I call a modern shifter. You park by pushing the “P” button. Pull the shifter toward you with your finger on a button to shift into drive and push it forward to hit reverse. You can’t go from park straight to reverse, but must go to drive or neutral first.

            While the front seats are comfortable, rear set legroom is tight. There’s also a high center hump to preclude thing a third passenger back there. However, the rear seats are comfortable. But, once seated, your feet are under the front seats and it can be difficult to extricate them. In fact, it can be danged dangerous in an emergency situation. Out back is a useful trunk, but the rear seat backs apparently don’t fold to increase cargo capacity.

            Overall, the Alfa Romeo Giulia is a performing mid-size sedan on the small end of the scale. It brought back both good and not-so-good memories of previous Giulia's I have driven.

(c) 2018 The Auto Page Syndicate 

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2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, Where is the Wow?

THE AUTO PAGE

By

John Heilig

• MODEL: 2018 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport 2.4 SEL AWD
• ENGINE: 2.4-liter four 
• TRANSMISSION: CVT 
• HORSEPOWER/TORQUE: 168 hp @ 6,000 rpm/167 lb.-ft. @ 4,100 rpm
• WHEELBASE: 105.1 in.
• LENGTH X WIDTH X HEIGHT: 171.5 x 71.3 x 64.8 in
• TIRES: P225/55R18 
• ECONOMY: 23 mpg city/28 mpg highway/15.8 mpg test 
• FUEL TANK: 15.8 gal.
• CURB WEIGHT: 3,285 lbs. #/HP: 19.6
• TOWING CAPACITY: 
• COMPETITIVE CLASS: Jeep Compass, Subaru Outback, GMC Terrain, Toyota RAV4
• STICKER: $29,110 (includes $940 delivery, $2,275 options) 
• BOTTOM LINE: The Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is a perfectly serviceable small SUV. It just lacks the Wow factor.
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          The small sport utility segment is one of the more crowded among the various market groups. Therefore, in order to stand out, a vehicle has to have what I call the Wow factor. This is some feature that makes the individual vehicle stand out from the crowd.

          For example, the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport is a nice small SUV. It has a 2.4-liter engine delivering 168 horsepower and a decent pounds-per-horsepower rating of less than 20, which doesn’t put it in the performance car segment, but doesn’t mean it’s a slug, either.

          The engine tends to be buzzy at all speeds, though. It isn’t an offensive fuzziness, but it’s still there. I was disappointed with our test economy of 15.5 mpg, far below the EPA estimated 25 mpg overall. I’m willing to attribute this to the time of year of our test drive (winter) and numerous short trips versus longer ones. 

          The Outlander Sport offers a firm ride without the benefit of good handling. Let’s face it, the vehicle is a sport utility and not the kind of vehicle you buy for its handling prowess. The suspension is a fairly conventional McPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear.

          While I decry then lack of Wow, the Outlander Sport does have its own redeeming qualities. Since our test vehicle wasn’t equipped with SiriusXM, my prime choice of entertainment, we had to resort to Bluetooth streaming from my phone. Audio quality was good when I could get the radio to listen to my phone. However, the phone connection to the 7-inch infotainment screen was good. The screen offered a GPS map function, but there was apparently no navigation function. 

          Front seats are comfortable and heated, which is an asset in cold weather. Rear seat legroom is tight with passengers’ knees butting up to the rear of the front seats. There’s good rear visibility. Between the rear seats is a fold-down armrest with a pair of cupholders. However, there is no room in the rear doors for water bottles as there is in the front doors.

          At the base of the center stack are two USB outlets, heated seat controls, the traction control switch and a 12-volt outlet. 

          The main center console is small, but inside it has a shelf plus a 12-volt outlet. The cargo area is good size at 21.7 cubic feet with the rear seat backs up. This expands to a functional 49.5 cubic feet with the seat backs down. 

          The Outlander Sport has a very good heater that not only kept us warm, it did a good job of defrosting the windshield. I like the three-knob HVAC controls - one for temperature, one for fan speed and one for air flow direction. 

          Our Outlander Sport was equipped with 4-wheel drive. The button to shift into 4WD is located on the console ahead of the shifter. It’s a good location and it’s clearly marked.

          Dimensionally, the Outlander Sport fits in with the competition. In fact, since I get to drive a variety of small SUVs, there were times I forgot exactly which vehicle I was driving.

          Overall, the Outlander Sport is a nice vehicle that fits well into its segment. Sadly, I failed to find the Wow factor.

(c) 2018 The Auto Page Syndicate