So you’ve gone on Tinder and swiped right. Or you’ve finally given in and have allowed yourself to be set up with your grandmother’s best friend’s granddaughter. Or maybe you went the old fashioned route and handed your number to the hot girl at the bar – either way, you’ve got a date tonight and you’re ready for it. You’ve made the reservations, you’ve thought of a few things to talk about it, and you’ve washed and ironed your clothes (Right? You can skip the flowers but you can’t skip the shower). We all know first impressions count, so if you want a second date, you better make sure you’re in top form getting out of your car to pick up her up.
Oh, but wait. Your car. While chances are you aren’t running out to buy a new car simply to impress your date, you probably should consider sprucing up the inside of your ride a little. After all, nothing kills the romance (or makes someone think you’re a slob) quite like McDonald’s wrappers and empty Red Bull cans floating around the cabin. Even an old Honda Accord looks a heck of a lot nicer when it’s been cleared of the debris of your life. Of course, if you were driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia, you could probably show up in your pajamas with a three-day old beard and your date would still be impressed. So if you are on the hunt for a life-long copilot (or hell, even a one-night stand copilot), maybe you should consider buying a new car – as long as that car is the Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Why is the Alfa Romeo Giulia such a hot date car?
Well, for starters, it’s Italian. So consider it a poorman’s Ferrari (relatively speaking that is. Given that the starting price of the Alfa Romeo Giulia is $37,995, it’s still pricey enough that you’re going to hope she doesn’t order the “surf & turf” special). Thanks to its Land of Love roots, the Alfa Romeo Giulia is a sexy little number that comes standard with leather and soft-touch materials. The Giulia is the base model Alfa Romeo – the two other available trims are the Ti and the Quadrifoglio. While the Quadrifoglio is certainly the creme de la creme when it comes to performance and amenities, its name is hard to say and it has a starting price of $72,000. So save your pronunciation skills for when you’re trying to order overpriced wine at dinner and your money for when that check arrives. Pro-tip: do not even think about pulling up in the Alfa Romeo Giulia and asking your date to split the bill. This one’s all on you, buddy.
Lest you think you’ll be missing out by not splurging on the Quadrifoglio, the Giulia is still very nicely equipped. It comes standard with power-adjustable front seats, a 6.5-inch infotainment screen, an eight-speaker sound system, Bluetooth connectivity, HD radio, a proximity key, three USB ports, rear parking sensors, a rearview camera, a push-button start, and dual zone automatic climate control. There are also four packages available for the Giulia trim: the Navigation package, the Cold Weather package, the Driver Assistance Static package, and the Driver Assistance Dynamic package. Opt for the Navigation package and you’ll up the display screen to 8.8-inches and add satellite radio and navigation capability for an additional $1,900. At $700, the Cold Weather package will give the Giulia a heated steering wheel and heated front seats. The Driver Assistance Static package will set you back $800 but will give the car some neat safety features like blind spot monitoring, front parking sensors, and rear cross traffic alert, while the Driver Assistance Dynamic package will add in lane departure warning, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking. The Driver Assistance Dynamic package is yours for $1,500.
No matter if you choose to add the package options or not, the base-model Giulia certainly is nothing to scoff at, and that’s before you even take a look at its performance.
Passionate Performance (on the road…get your head out of the gutter!)
Now, we hope your date goes well. We really do. But if it doesn’t and you just can’t wait to drop her off and get home to ESPN and throw back a cold beer, well, the Alfa Romeo Giulia will certainly help you speed up the process. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that churns out 280 horsepower – it’s speedy, nimble, and fun to drive… a great getaway car, if you will (it can’t help you with the awkward goodbye though, sorry about that).
Best of all, you probably won’t even have to stop to fuel up on the way home. The Giulia gets an estimated 24 miles per gallon in the city and 33 on the highway, which is standard for a small luxury car. So whether you want to race home to put your feet up or continue your date by meandering the starlit roads, either way you won’t be worrying about your fuel economy.
Date Night Car for Life
Now of course, there is a downside to the Giulia. If your date goes really well and one date leads to marriage vows, which leads to a couple of little sprouts in a few years, well, you may need to kiss the Giulia goodbye. While the car can technically seat five passengers, it’s certainly not the most roomy or comfortable car for backseat riders. Cargo space is also extremely limited with only 12 cubic feet available. So although you can, in fact, fit two car seats in the Giulia, you may want to save the car for date nights rather than family road trips.
But let’s get this first date underway, right?
You and Giulia: Make it Exclusive
Much like how we cannot predict how well your date will go, J.D. Power & Associates has not yet predicted the reliability of the Alfa Romeo Giulia, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed for both of you. Ultimately though, the Alfa Romeo Giulia is the perfect date car because it is sexy, sleek, relatively rare (plus one for a unique talking point) and because you won’t be tempted to make it a double date thanks to the car’s tight backseat. So while we can’t guarantee you’ll fall in love with your date, we feel pretty confident you’re going to want to get into a long-term relationship with the Alfa Romeo Giulia.
