Alfa Romeo Giulia (952)

The Alfa Romeo Giulia (Type 952) is a compact executive car (D-segment) produced by the Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo. It was premiered in June 2015, with market launch scheduled for February 2016, and it is the first D-segment offering by Alfa Romeo after the production of the 159 ended in 2011. The Giulia is also the first high volume production Alfa Romeo in over two decades to use a longitudinal engined rear-wheel drive platform, since the75 was discontinued in 1992.

History
The Giulia has been the subject of a long gestation and delayed launch dates, reportedly due to the design being sent back to the drawing board by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEO Sergio Marchionne.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia is the first model in the brand's relaunch plan, which involves a €5 billion investment for an eight car line-up and a worldwide sales targets of 400,000 by 2018—up from 74,000 in 2013. It is underpinned by an all-new, longitudinal-engined, rear-wheel drive platform developed for Alfa Romeo—codenamed "Giorgio". Development of the Giulia, and indeed of the entire "Giorgio" project, has been overseen by Ferrari technical director and secondee, Philippe Krief.

The new Giulia was unveiled to the press at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo inArese, on 24 June 2015, at an event which involved only the top-of-the-range Quadrifoglio and a rendition of Nessun Dorma by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The occasion coincided with company's 105th anniversary, which also saw the company debuted a restyled logo for all future Alfa Romeo models. The Giulia was also presented under the new La meccanica delle emozioni slogan ("the mechanics of emotions" in Italian).

The car was designed at the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo, by a team headed byMarco Tencone and including Senior Exterior Designer, Andrea Loi. along with Interior Chief Designer, Inna Kondakova and Senior Interior Designer, Manuele Amprimo.

The car is assembled at FCA Italy's Cassino Plant in (Frosinone), in central Italy. Pre-series production emerged in late August 2015, with full production and sales originally scheduled for November 2015 and February 2016, respectively. The production of Giulia started on 19 April 2016.

Models
The Giulia uses a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, featuring an even 50% front and 50% rear weight distribution. Suspension is independent all-around, of the double wishbone type at the front and multilink at the rear. All Giulia models employ a carbon-fibre drive shaft made by Hitachi Automotive Systems, as well as aluminium alloy shock towers, suspension components,front wings and doors. Four-wheel drive models will also be offered.

Besides the high-performance Quadrifoglio's twin turbo 90° V6, the engine line-up will comprise turbocharged six- and four-cylinder petrol engines, as well as six- and four-cylinder turbodiesels. A four-cylinder and a V6, the latter different from the Quadrifoglio's and with a 60° angle between the cylinder banks, will be built in FCA Italy's Termoli plant.

The first models on sale from February 2016 will be the new 2.2 L Multijet IIturbodiesel and the 2.9 L V6 Quadrifoglio. A 2.0 L MultiAir2 turbo petrol engine was announced at the time of the Giulia Quadrifoglio making its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November 2015.

The Giulia will be offered as Giulia and Giulia TI trims in USA, some versions are available with Alfas Q4 all-wheel-drive system and with new eight-speed automatic transmission with available column-mounted paddle shifters (shift time less than 100 milliseconds). The eight-speed automatic transmission is co-developed with ZF.

Giulia Quadrifoglio
The high-performance Giulia Quadrifoglio ("four-leaf clover") was the first model in the new Giulia range to be revealed, in Italy in June 2015. It made its official world debut at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.

The Quadrifoglio is powered by an all-aluminium, twin-turbocharged 90° V6 petrol engine, with a single-cylinder displacement of just under half a litre, for a total of 2,891 cc (176.4 cu in). This engine was developed exclusively for the Quadrifoglio by Ferrari technicians and it is related to Ferrari's own twin-turbo F154 V8., sharing the California T's bore of 86.5 mm (3.4 in) and stroke of  82.0 mm (3.2 in). It produces 510 metric horsepower (375 kW; 503 bhp) at 6,500 rpm, and 600 N·m (440 lb·ft) of torque between 2,500 and 5,000 rpm, and its turbo boost pressure reaches up to 35 pounds per square inch (2.4 bar) at the peak. Thanks to cylinder deactivation (with the ability to switch off three of the six cylinders), this model achieves a fuel consumption of 8.5 litres per 100 kilometres (33 mpg-imp; 28 mpg-US) and CO2 emissions of 198 g/km, in the combined cycle.

According to Alfa Romeo, the Giulia Quadrifoglio can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.9 seconds and come to a standstill from that speed in 32 meters, when fitted with carbon ceramic brakes. This model has also lapped Nurburgring's Nordschleife circuit in just 7:39.0, which is record for a saloon car.

The Quadrifoglio weighs 1,524 kilograms (3,360 pounds) (DIN) for a power-to-weight ratio of 3 kg/PS. This is achieved thanks to the Quadrifoglio sharing the other models' composite and light alloy construction, as well as featuring a roof and engine bonnet made of carbon fibre.

From the front, the Quadrifoglio distinguishes itself from the rest of the range by a specific front bumper—with a carbon fibre splitter and enlarged air intakes for the twin intercoolers and for the brakes—and by a bonnet pierced by two cooling outlets for the engine bay. On the sides, the front wings also have outlets to extract air from the wheel wells, and bear Quadrifoglio badges; the side skirts are specific to the model, as are the 19-inch alloy wheels. At the rear a low-profile carbon fibre spoiler is applied to the boot lid, and a rear diffuser makes up the lower half of the bumper, flanked by quadruple exhaust tips. Working in conjunction with the faired-in underside, the diffuser is fully functional in generating downforce—as at the front is the "Active Aero Splitter", which can vary its angle of attack by 10°, moved by electric motors. Alfa Romeo claims these active aero features to be firsts in the Giulia's market segment and are able to generate up to 100 kg of downforce at 300 km/h. The Giulia Quadrifoglio has a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.32.

Mechanically, this model is fitted with a torque vectoring rear differential, able to send 100% of the torque to the left or right wheel, and, on the model which debuted in July 2015, a six-speed manual transmission, made byZF. The braking system uses carbon ceramic rotors, six-pot front and four-pot rear calipers, and auxiliary rear calipers for the parking brake. Theelectronic stability control and the traditional brake servo are combined in a single electromechanical system.

Inside, the dashboard is part-trimmed in leather and carbon fibre trim and the engine start button is located on the multi-function steering wheel. In addition, the driver is offered Alfa Romeo's "DNA" dynamic control selector, which is placed on the centre dashboard. Driving modes include the traditional "Dynamic", "Natural" and "Advanced" modes, plus new "Efficient" (for increased fuel economy) and "Racing" (for high performance).

The launch prices of the Quadrifoglio in Italy range from €79,000 to €95,000 for a version with full racing kit,[37] which includes carbon ceramic brake discs and ultra-light carbonfibre sport seats.

Equipment and safety
All Giulia models have active safety systems as standard, including theForward Collision Warning (FCW) with Autonomous Emergency Brake (AEB) and pedestrian detection, IBS (Integrated Brake System) based on ContinentalMK C1 brake control system, Lane Departure Warning (LDW) and cruise control with speed limiter.

Depending on trim level it has a 3.5-inch or 7-inch color display, optional Sport, Performance and Luxury Packs are also available. The Sport pack includes sports steering wheel with added grip, aluminum inserts on the dashboard, center console and door panels, and Xenon headlights. The luxury package offers leather upholstery and wood trim. The performance pack includes mechanical limited-slip differential, electronic suspension and paddle shifters to streering wheel in automatic versions.

Chassis Domain Control (CDC), developed with Magneti Marelli, coordinates and controls all the on-board electronics: Torque Vectoring, Active Aero Splitter, active suspension, brakes, steering and ESC system – according to the mode selected by the driver using the new Alfa DNA Pro.

The Giulia was crash tested in June 2016 by Euro NCAP, with a score of 98% for the adult occupant protection its the highest score ever achieved by any car, even with the introduction of a more stringent rating system in 2015. Overall the Giulia achieved five star results.