XE vs Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti
#22
My 2017 XER Sport was a total loss in an unfortunate rear end collision in July. A replacement Jag was not available. I liked that car and enjoyed driving it. My other sport sedans had included Audi S4,MB C class and Saab 9.3. I replaced the XE R with a 2017 Alfa Giulia Ti sport model. I must say this is my favorite sport sedan I have ever owned. Build quality has remained excellent so far. My Jag had numerous rattles and other small annoying issues. Car came from an Maserati/ Alfa dealer so the premium experience has been very nice. While the Alfa has less power it also weighs about 450# less than the Jag. It is much more fun to drive. More connected to the road, more nimble than the Jag. The Giulia was designed by a team including Ferrari and it is so sexy. My car is black on black with the performance package that included the 19” dark wheels with yellow calipers. At
Least once a week someone engages me in a conversation about how much they like the car. Living in Los Angeles and driving in city traffic a vast majority of the time i decided against the twin turbo V6. Even the Jag XER was too much engine for this location. With the Giulia I am able to zip around in the 3500-4500 rpm range.
Another plus was the price after a negotiations and Alfa incentives ended up just over $45k. A lot of car for the money.
Last edited by Joearch; 10-31-2017 at 12:08 AM.
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mosesbotbol (10-31-2017)
#23
#24
#26
Both the 2017 XE and the Giulia appear to drive like they have the Jeykll-Hyde ability to engage a city arena well. (I say “appear”, because I have not had the pleasure of getting out on the road with the Giulia). Both can handle and zip in highway and in commuter traffic---although the XE CAN feel a bit confused if your foot is a bit unrefined, and you’ve been jerking her around for an hour. I’ve been able to jockey city traffic without the XE having to get up past 3000 rpm, so a Giulia doing 3500-4500 sounds like the girl has to work harder for city-zipping than the Jaguar.
Visually, I LIKE the Giulia, but only in its ENTRY level form. By the time you step up to the top tier Giulia, it’s much too excessive with the exterior stuff dripping off of it. Excessive is a word I find myself thinking when I see most of the Italian branded performance cars. I praise Farrari for keeping it sleek and simple in their bodies ever since the ‘80s. I watched my fave Italian, Mazeratti, slide from elegant on the interior to “syrupy” on the interior with the Gibly (NICE exterior,…yuck INTERIOR).
But that’s the Italian sports car attitude… a kind of impudent excess.
Visually, I LIKE the Giulia, but only in its ENTRY level form. By the time you step up to the top tier Giulia, it’s much too excessive with the exterior stuff dripping off of it. Excessive is a word I find myself thinking when I see most of the Italian branded performance cars. I praise Farrari for keeping it sleek and simple in their bodies ever since the ‘80s. I watched my fave Italian, Mazeratti, slide from elegant on the interior to “syrupy” on the interior with the Gibly (NICE exterior,…yuck INTERIOR).
But that’s the Italian sports car attitude… a kind of impudent excess.
#27
Good comments. I have a Daily Driver decision coming soon when my ATS lease ends. Both of these are on my list, along with possibly an ATS-V (lots of demo deals in my area). Driven both, liked both!
BMW disappoints, Acura and Lexus turgid in this market, as does the Q60, prior Audi left hard feelings; ATS-V (poor paddle shift response and interior quality, but wow what a chassis and engine).
BMW disappoints, Acura and Lexus turgid in this market, as does the Q60, prior Audi left hard feelings; ATS-V (poor paddle shift response and interior quality, but wow what a chassis and engine).
#28
Good comments. I have a Daily Driver decision coming soon when my ATS lease ends. Both of these are on my list, along with possibly an ATS-V (lots of demo deals in my area). Driven both, liked both!
BMW disappoints, Acura and Lexus turgid in this market, as does the Q60, prior Audi left hard feelings; ATS-V (poor paddle shift response and interior quality, but wow what a chassis and engine).
BMW disappoints, Acura and Lexus turgid in this market, as does the Q60, prior Audi left hard feelings; ATS-V (poor paddle shift response and interior quality, but wow what a chassis and engine).
Despite only rated at 20 more hp the XE feels much faster and pulls so much stronger at 3500+ RPM. I'm sure that's in part due to being a bit underrated.
Heated seats and wheel heat much quicker and warmer than in the ATS where I felt the seats really lacked. It takes 2 button presses though to turn them on vs just 1 on the ATS.
HUD in the ATS is light years better than in the XE. No music info is displayed and it's not nearly as crisp.
Seats on the XE are slightly larger (wider) and more comfortable, but poor quality. Mine have several creases after 3k miles. ATS has no creases after 39k.
Despite issues some have with CUE I find the layout, visual design, and operation much better than in the XE. Specifically the cycling through of favorites where the XE will not cycle through more than 6 favorites without manual intervention. Also with XM the CUE will "rewind" an entire song with one press vs the XE infotainment which just rewinds a few seconds with each press (perhaps the upgraded audio operates differently on the XE in this manner) no mute button on the XE either and XM can be somewhat slow to start up.
Garage door buttons don't carry nearly the range of the ATS.
Trunk on the ATS is much wider across the rear. No problem with a full set of golf clubs. Same set will not fit in the XE.
Backup camera on the XE is superior in every way to the incredibly poor camera on the ATS.
No remote start on the XE via the key fob. App only which is cumbersome to say the least. (no 3rd party remote starters available either)
Insurance for me is $7 more per month on the XE ($62 a month vs $55 on my 2014 ATS)
All that said, the XE puts bigger smile on my face when I drive it. Very happy with the decision and the ATS stays in the garage most days
Last edited by carpenter75; 12-06-2017 at 01:02 AM.
#31
The 4C is a whole different story though. I am drooling over that little track rat!!!
#32
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ferraripete (12-08-2017)
#34
I love jaguar as much as anyone here I assure you and adore my stunning xk but to try to talk the giulia quadrifoglio down or to compare it to an xe will not fool anyone.
come on folks, we are supposed to be car guys and celebrate all that is great in the internal combustion breed. this alfa is magical to so many and to own an alfa again for me after 30 years makes my heart race.
this car is a monster and performance tour de force. I look forward to having the ecu tuned in the summer where there is talk of 650 very docile and drivable ponies. should be fun.
Last edited by ferraripete; 12-08-2017 at 11:23 AM.
#35
worthy of note is my selection of cars to get as an exciting driver came down to the giulia qv and the vantage gt 6sp. odd competitors indeed but it was no contest.
I decided to slum it and go way down market!!! forza alfa!!!!!!
Last edited by ferraripete; 12-08-2017 at 10:43 AM.
#36
Depending on if you bought the BASE version of the car, or the Super-tier of the car, that’s how I feel about the Alfa. The BASE looks much better than the one with the extra makeup.
XE’s are super rare in NY city central areas, and so the Giulia would definitely get more whistles and girl-flirts than my XE is getting.
But I hear, between the XE and Giulia, the Giulia thankfully doesn’t require as much foot-pedal caution in heavy city traffic. I can attest that the XE will start to act like it wants to leap forward TOO confidently sometimes, if you’re not CALM on your throttle as you jockey around that stubborn truck traffic. In a hectic city, you BETTER master your foot and your heartrate when short-hopping in an XE.
I intentionally let my XE do its “leap” between two trucks this morning, and I can tell the James Bond maneuver scared the wits out of this woman in her nearby car. I think they were all SHOCKED at how a car can LEAP like that. One minute the XE is two lanes over from you, hiding alongside a truck—and four seconds later it slips right out in front of you from a lane packed with 18-wheelers, with almost no rev-up sound to alert people to what the XE was about to do.
#38
For far too long Alfa Romeo has been the car your heart yearns after, until the brain takes charge ! Maybe it's different this time, but the miniscule sales of Alfa Romeo cars surely tell their own story.
Hopefully the new Giulia wll finally fix it for Alfa; let's hope so, as my wife is Italian. Her grandmother was Giulia and is the middle name of my daughter too. For now I'm sticking with Jaguar.
Hopefully the new Giulia wll finally fix it for Alfa; let's hope so, as my wife is Italian. Her grandmother was Giulia and is the middle name of my daughter too. For now I'm sticking with Jaguar.
#39
yes I bought the 505hp, 195+mph giulia quadrifoglio verde or qv.
and yes I would choose the project 8 over the qv if it cost only $90k and it was a bit more daily driver capable. but alas it is not and it costs 3x the price of my qv.
btw, the way to easily identify the 505hp qv vs. the 280hp ti is that the qv has beautiful inlaid green 4 leaf clovers on the front fenders. the very wide wheels, big quad exhaust tips, the carbon bits, the active aero splitter in front and the venture like splitter in the rear tend to stand out over the ti.
I suspect the qv will be available in very limited numbers as a gta or gtam version but it will be too rich for me and I'm sure I am not enough of a Ferrari vip to get a chance to own one.
for now I am enthralled with the sublime qv.
Last edited by ferraripete; 12-09-2017 at 05:15 PM.
#40