Alfa Romeo Giulia: a kick-start or a false-start?

So, Alfa Romeo has been reborn. Parent group FCA has decided that Alfa Romeo should be given a new lease of life. And this is the first of Alfa's new models, the Giulia, which should pave the way for seven new models in the next three years. It's a model that will square up to the Mercedes C class and the BMW 3 series in the executive salon sector. But this car will have to be quite something in order for it to out sell the well rounded C class or the 3 series. So let's have a look.

The Giulia, which will also yield a Quadrifoglio model with 503BHP to try and beat the M3 and C63, will have the longest wheelbase in its class, even longer than the C class. But despite this the Quadrifolglio model has had its engine developed by people with Ferrari knowledge, meaning that it is propelled from 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds, nearly half a second quicker than a manual M3. And, weighing in at 1500kg, it is 155 kg lighter than a C63. This lightness has been achieved through the use of aluminium and carbon fibre. And the long wheelbase means that the Giulia will hopefully be perfectly balanced and comfortable, as well as having a weight distribution of exactly 50:50 on all of the models available. And because of the wizardry of the steering, it will apparently not be far off the amazing steering of the Ferrari 458. The interior of the car will probably resemble a Ferrari-ish cabin, but Alfa haven't released a picture of it yet.

But the main purpose of this car will be to sell. According to the Alfa CEO the cars that the Giulia will rival have become too similar and replaceable. This car will feel decisively different to them, 'an extension of the drivers soul'. Alfa's past have always felt passionate to drive. But this one has the fate of the Make on its head as well.

Nev

Lotus 3-eleven: the lightweight car to have?

And so, my point has been proven. Just weeks after claiming that England is becoming known for its lightweight racers in my last post on the Elemental, Lotus have unveiled their new lightweight racer: the 3-Eleven. Clearly the successor of the 2-Eleven, this car can be bought in race spec or normal. And, although there is a resemblance to the exige, the car is about 90% new. All the work on this car has been to reduce weight and therefore increase acceleration. Indeed, the body itself weighs just 47kg thanks to the use of glass fibre. And a dry weight of under 900kg for the race car. Which is pretty impressive, even if the second seat isn't there in the race spec. 

All this attention to detail has resulted in some impressive performance stats. As a car it is over 3 seconds around a track than the Evora GT4 car, which is pretty mind-boggling! The horsepower is around 430 but may change, and it has 332lb ft of torque. The 0-60 mph figure has not been released yet, but will certainly be below 3.2 seconds. And a top speed of 180mph is quite frankly scary for a car with no roof!

However, all of this does come at quite a high price. The price of the car will be £82000, which is a lot for a car that will only really be used on track days. But I suppose the real question we should be asking is: will this be the best in it's class?

Nev