Louth Motoring: Does a petrol Alfa still have it?

Time was when you got an Alfa Romeo you were in for a motoring treat. All the other brands were trying to make a name for themselves whereas Alfa Romeo already had one.

It has a very rich racing history that translated into sporty road cars that majored in handling and excelled in style.

The style factor alone would have you in an Alfa Romeo even if it drove like a snail. I exaggerate, but they were always gorgeous looking cars and always passed the “look at that” test.

Today it is a different story. Take the Junior Ibrida – which in Italian means hybrid and sounds much cooler.

It is the petrol engined, mild-hybrid version of the car with 136hp from a 1.2l, 3-cylinder engine & mated to a 6-speed DCT automatic gearbox. Oh, but to have a manual gearbox in it.

It has a decent helping of 230Nm of torque too. But if you want performance in the 0-100km/h space then competitors using all electric platforms are where it’s at.

I mean the Hyundai Kona has a 1.1s advantage over the 8.9s time for the Junior Ibrida. That’s bonkers.

The Alfa Romeo promise of a bit of performance is sadly lacking but you can get it in the electric version especially in the Veloce.

It’s just that opting for the electric version gives the performance when you typically expect it in the petrol versions.

As compact crossovers go I like the look of it and at the front it is quite distinctive with the V Shield grille.

This time no Alfa logo embossed on it reverting to a more normal mesh with the words Alfa Romeo spelt across it -which I prefer - and a normal logo on the bonnet that I happen to think is the best looking logo of any car maker. At the truncated back the wrap-around rear light clusters could only be from Alfa Romeo and it’s amazing how they always manage to deliver an immediately identifiable car.

There are two telling exhaust pipes at the back which would be divine if there was one either side for symmetry and balance.

The Giulietta springs to mind, as that was instantly identifiable from the rear – day or night. The logo is not on the back, just the letters spelling Alfa Romeo, which is a bit of a shame.

At the side the hidden door handles pay homage to the Alfa Romeo 156 where they debuted first and copied without shame by others ever since.

The interior looks good – if you don’t touch it. That’s where the letdown starts. It is probably the most important thing for car users on a daily basis.

This should always be on point and considering how well this has been addressed by all the new Chinese brands flooding the motoring market it’s disappointing that Alfa Romeo don’t have this as something not to be commented on if they’d got it so right.

Above: Interior of the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida 

It seems that all the passion that’s so synonymous with the brand was used elsewhere.

Some of the materials used are just not up to the standard expected. I subscribe to the belief that if you don’t touch it often or not at all during daily use then economies can be made but if I touch it I don’t necessarily need to be rewarded but I certainly don’t want to be disappointed.

The steering wheel is the highlight which it should be but the infotainment screen is a tad small but it’s nice that it is angled towards the driver and there are a few frequently used knobs and switches which as you know is so, so important from a safety aspect.

The driver’s dials got all the effort and looked fantastic and the cloverleaf air vents impressed.

There’s a very decent and usable 400l boot but back seat passengers may feel in the dark and a bit claustrophobic due to the rising side beltline.

The engaging drive you get in all Alfa Romeos remains though. It is a car that feels alive when driving with sharp steering.

Feel is important when driving on a road you are not familiar with and you underestimate a bend or curve. It’s nice to feel that the car won’t let you down if you ask for a bit more to get you round.

The ride is very reassuring and feels more supple than the harder riding electric version and copes very well with our roads. While they may have made economic decisions on some of the materials used they didn’t go light on sound insulation that is very good and a major point scoring plus for the car.

Priced at €34,995, with just two packs available for either €3,000 or €3,500, it’s comparable to the competitors like the Peugeot 2008 and Jeep Avenger that share the same platform and powertrains.

The Ford Puma is a bit cheaper and popular so it’ll be hard to win them over at €3k more, but the name may well swing it.

At the end of the day you’ll be driving an Alfa Romeo and the cost may well be worth it to you. You may be wedded to belief that the colour must be Red but the Navigli Blue is a wonderful colour to go for.

If the performance from the electric versions wasn’t so good the Ibrida would score well but as a driver’s car that should have performance as well as sporty handling it misses the mark for me, a past Alfa owner and fan.