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Alfa Romeo has been on a roll recently with both its Giulia and Stelvio getting good reviews around the world. So what is next for the company? According to Auto Express, the brand is probably going to update the Giulietta and the 4C. 'In order to complete the Alfa range of products,' Alfa's Chief Technical Officer Roberto Fedeli was quoted in the article that 'we need another couple of pillars - something in the C-Segment and then obviously a sporty product, a very sporty product.' It was suggested that the Giulietta could use a shortened version of the Giulia sedan's platform, allowing the car to be rear-wheel driven but recent years have shown that its parent company, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has been trying to avoid this segment by discontinuing the Lancia Delta and Dodge Dart as it is not a good monkey-making segment. On the other end, the 4C fans might be happy to hear that Alfa Romeo is studying the possibilities of installing a different engine or using another architecture for its successor. However, purists will be sad to hear that the company will not allow the car to have a manual transmission.

Before we get to the details, I have to say that going green does not actually mean having things colored green. But no one told Marangoni who has decided to showcase their new eco-friendly line of tires which are very green in color on a TRC Italia tuned Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1750 Quadrifoglio Verde. The Marangoni/TRC Italia Giulietta has been christened the Giulietta G430 iMove. I suppose the name comes from the fact that the car features a body kit that takes all of its cues from the Ferrari F430 but I have no idea why they also named it the 'iMove' as it isn't a product from Apple not does it multi-task as good as one. I suppose Marangoni requires something new and flashy and the new Giulietta suits the part. The eco-friendly tires must be like more energy saving tires – low rolling resistance thus improving fuel consumption. However, I doubt how much fuel savings you could get from low rolling resistance when the tires and wheels are 19inch in diameter and has a width of 235mm. Those funky green demo tires are 235/35 ZR19 and boast a....get this...fluorescent green pigment that glows in the dark. It is also has a very high silica content which should also help in the grip department. So in order to for the very over-tired Giulietta to move TRC Italia have changed the turbocharger and meddled with the electronics so that the car pushes 286bhp instead of 235bhp. So aside from the steam roller wheels and tires, the car gets KW's fully adjustable suspension setup which lowers the car by 40mm to improve handling. The 51 extra horses get to stop much faster too as the brakes are upgraded to 330mm TAROX discs and calipers. The interior is as green as the tires. The seats and door trims have that same fluorescent green color. But whatever the case, the whole human race has been so used to having normal black/dark gray tires that fluorescent green tires look tacky, or totally weird. Maybe the main point is to attract as much attention as possible and nothing else. If that is the reason, it would totally work. The car is set to appear in this month's Bologna Motor Show and all of the TRC Italia upgrades stated will be on sale by early next year. However, I am seriously hoping that Marangoni does not sell their 'Green' tire in the color green.

[extract] At the time this article was penned, there is yet to be a local review of the recently launched Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCT. Hence, while browsing YouTube I stumbled upon this review of the Giulietta TCT, which was conducted by a UK website called

Alfa Romeo recently announced that the stylish Giulietta hatchback will soon get a new entry level model. According to the Italian car maker, this new entry level engine will be a detuned version of the 120PS 1.4 litre turbo unit, which is currently the entry level power plant. The lower power engine produces 105PS at 5000 rpm with 206 Nm of peak torque at 1750 rpm. It is speculated that Alfa did not choose the 1.4 litre naturally-aspirated Multiair petrol lump as the entry level engine due to its lower torque output. The new 1.4 litre turbo is expected to bring the Giulietta from 0 to 100km/h in 10.6 seconds before reaching a top speed of 185km/h. Coincidentally, the sprint time is the same as the entry level VW Golf 1.2 TSI DSG. The

Ah, the 166, 164, 155, 75, 159, 147, 33..... All of these are numbers that actually relate to models of Alfa Romeo. I love Alfas, in one form or the other they stir something deep down in me. No, not my loins but a certain flutter in the heart, my knees go weak and my head goes light. The feeling is somewhat similar to being in love I suppose, or the feeling you would have if either Eva Longoria or Mila Jovovich just passed you by and flirted at you. But somehow these were cars that were designated mere numerals and this fact somehow does not dilute the Alfa Romeo passion in most of us. Even if we cannot bring ourselves to rush out and buy one. But things are getting better, Alfa Romeo is going back to the good ol' days of the 1960s and 1970s where they named most of their cars. Its not like it has been an Alfa habit to either name or number their cars. While we are aware that some of the classics like the 8c 2600 models from the 1930s or the Tipo 33 models were basically model numbers. But somehow cars with names seem more magnificent. Imagine the words 'Alfa Romeo Brera' rolling off the tip of your tongue or 'Alfa Romeo Giulietta'. Say it with an Italian accent and it sounds spectacular. Another non-Alfa example that makes the most sense in proving this argument is that other Italian car company called Maserati. The word 'Quattroporte' sounds exotic but all it means is 'four doors' yet it sounds like something epic. Yet if it were an American or an English manufacture, I strongly state that if Alfa named their cars 'Rufus', 'Chuck', 'Blair' or 'Mortimer' things would be so different, and really horrific. And maybe this is why Alfa is going back to using names for their latest models. The Brera was the first of the newly named Alfas and this was followed by the MiTO and now the new Giulietta, which is the Alfa 147 replacement. The Giulietta looks fresh in a retro sort of way and looks like no other hatchback in the market. Much like the the newly launched smaller MiTO model and also the Giulietta predecessor, the 147 when it was first launched. Which brings me to the 147, the last Alfa I had driven. The 147 was indeed a worthy Alfa due to the fact that it had pretty nice engines, 1.6liters right up to the GTA with that 3.2liter engine which must have been a real beast to drive. The metallic grey 147 (much like the picture) I drove had a 1.6 liter twin spark and a 5 speed manual transmission. It was a pre-facelift model without the 159 style tweaks. While it is a front wheel drive, it still could make me feel good after driving it. Maybe its the badge on the steering wheel. Or the fact that during sharp corners it responded in a dutiful, predictable way with the steering giving good if not great feedback from the road. If you were to really fling it into a corner it may not be the final word in precision due to some front wheel scrabbling when you're exiting the corner but that does add to the drama and fun. But while most front drivers also do that, when you add a sonorous twin spark sound to the picture it gets even better that usual. Not biblical or epic like but good enough for the average Joe. While the sound is pretty muted from inside the cabin and I wished for something louder, not many in-line 4 cylinders sound like an Alfa 4 cylinder. Oh yeah, the seats were pretty good with support in the right places and none of that infamous long armed, short legged Italian driving position we've all heard of. Now don't ask me about rear legroom or rear head room or any of that sort; it's an Alfa, and I was driving it. That's all that matters. It is a flawed gem. The reason I say this is because the ride was decent, the handling predictable, steering precise with some feel to it and the engine good to listen to when you want it to sing. The interior needs help. The gearshift felt like a Datsun 120y. It was loose and slightly vague. I dont know whether the one I tried had a tired gear change and the owner didn't fix it or whether it was a natural 147 character flaw. Also parts of the armrest felt like melted sticky plastic, most probably melted due to the hot, humid South East Asian weather. The gearshift I can live with, as we humans tend to get used to something (even something bad) after a while. I actually got used to the gearshift after awhile. And maybe I could live with the slightly sticky plastic. Heck, whatever I complained was actually forgotten when I started the car and drove off. Condemning the 147 for the details above would be like kicking out a certain beauty queen from a swimsuit competition instead of a competition that required her to speak English. This is because the main points of enjoying an Alfa are the soul, character and a sense of occasion it has that is built around its engine, chassis and heritage; and not marred by wonky gearshifts or bad plastic. So in conclusion, the Alfa 147 is a flawed gem that should be remembered by all. Of course, if this were something Korean, Chinese or Malaysian, we might simply call it rubbish. Now aren't Alfa Romeos great?

Icy-cold yet disturbingly sexy actress Uma Thurman and William Shakespeare's verses "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" are the key highlights of Alfa Romeo's advertising campaign for the new Giulietta hatchback that will kick off with a TV commercial in Italy on 16 May. Created by Leo Burnett, the international campaign on TV, press, posters, radio and web will run across all the main countries in Europe. It is said to play on the parallelism between the star of movies such as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. In the TV commercial that was entirely filmed in the USA, Uma Thurman is said to play the roles of five different women who symbolize the different souls of the car. The new Ford Focus-sized Giulietta goes on sale on May 22 and will be available with a raft of engines including a 1.4-liter petrol with 120HP and 170HP, a 1.6-liter diesel with 105HP and a range-topping 1.75-liter petrol with 235HP.

Alfa Romeo has announced plans to introduce an updated Giulietta at the Paris Motor Show. While the styling remains unchanged, the biggest addition is a twin-clutch transmission. Dubbed TCT, the gearbox promises driving comfort and sporty feeling well above those offered by conventional automatic transmissions. At the same time, it also offer improved efficiency and lower consumption levels. The TCT will be available on the 1.4-litre MultiAir and the new 2.0-litre JTDM. The new JTDM unit produces 138bhp and 350Nm of torque. Performance figures weren't released, but combined fuel consumption is 4.5L/100 km and C02 emissions are 119g/km. Perhaps, Singapore motorists would be more interested in the 1.4 petrol MultiAir unit. Combined with turbocharging technology, it produces 170bhp. The TCT equipped MultiAir Giulietta would certainly give some fierce competition to the VW Golf Sport.

Alfa's car christening department has gone a little mad. First, with their MiTo, now the Giulietta. Bringing back the illustrious and beautiful name from the 70s. I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I think the name is brilliant! It's just a feeling that they were trying a little too hard with the Mito. But the Guilietta.. that sounds fantastico! The 147's replacement will be showcased at the 2010 Geneva Motor show and this will only be available with 5 doors. So obviously it's meant for people like me who like hot hatches. This is definitely one. Just look at it! Its trademark Alfa triangular grille and those headlamps which are slightly reminiscent of the Alfa Romeo 8C (like the Mito), only better looking. And those gorgeous rims... a la Mercedes SLR. This car in white is the current hatchback killer. Boring Golf step aside... It's going to be available with 4 turbo engines, most notably the 170bhp 1.4l Multi-Air petrol engine. The car will also come with lots of electronic gadgetry: Electronic stability control, Dynamic steering torque and the new DNA selector from the Mito. So that's quite a lot of kit for a car this size with a 5 star NCAP safety rating. Can't wait for it. Can you?