By Ané Theron  

The sexy-looking Alfa Romeo Giulietta makes a compelling choice for those who want to stand out, but is it suitable for families?

Not everyone wants to drive a VW Golf, BMW 1 Series or the 2019 AutoTrader Car of the Year winner, the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. The beguiling Alfa Romeo Giulietta is the most left-field choice in this segment, but is it any good for the daily slog to school or the average family road trip?

On looks alone, the stylish Giulietta is hard to fault, and the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol-engines with 88kW and 215Nm offer more than enough grunt. There is also a 1.7-litre turbo-petrol model on offer if you like your Alfa to be properly spicy.

Practicality

While I  like how fresh and youthful the interior looks, what probably matters most to families is interior space. While there's sufficient room up front (even though the driving position is a little odd), the rear seats are quite cramped, and the sloping roofline impinges on headroom. Primary school kids should be okay, however. Access to rear child seats is easy, as the outer rear seats have ISOFIX anchorage points and the doors open widely enough.

Full leather seats are only available as an option in all four derivatives, so forget about just giving the seats a wipe if a child should make a mess, which is inevitable. 

There's also not a vast amount of usable storage options inside the cabin either, and the glove compartment is not  large either. The central armrest has a small storage binnacle for your phone or house keys. The boot is capable of swallowing 350 litres but a high load lip will complicate things when you need to load heavy items into it.

Visibility to the rear is restricted because of the small rear window and thick C-pillars, so those rear-parking sensors do come in rather handy, but it's only available in the most expensive 1750 TBi Veloce model which costs R521 900.

 

Safety

While Alfa Romeo certainly skimped on some interior trim bits and comfort features like those much-needed parking sensors, at least they were more generous when it came to safety features. ABS, EBD, brake assist, traction & stability control, hill-start assist and 6 airbags are all standard features.

 

Verdict

As a family hatchback, we'd certainly recommend the VW Golf as a more practical and reliable alternative that is high on quality and space as well as resale value. While the Giulietta isn't a bad car for families, it doesn't make our shortlist. If you can afford to spend more, then we can wholeheartedly recommend the excellent Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV, another 2019 AutoTrader SA Car of the Year finalist which we all love.

 

Pricing 

Pricing starts at R363 900 for the Giulietta 1.4TB. The Giulietta Super and Giulietta Super Auto go for R406 900 and 456 900 respectively, while the range-topping Giulietta 1750 TBi Veloce is priced at R521 900. Maybe if Alfa Romeo were a little more generous with their comfort and convenience spec, we'd be able to overlook the Giulietta's other flaws...

• See used and new Alfa Romeo Giuliettas here.