New Giulietta (Type 940) 2010 - 2020

This 940 series Giulietta Speciale is the facelifted version of the original 940 series Giulietta which was launched in 2010. The facelift, in 2016, came with visual changes related to the new Giulia including the updated Alfa brand logo, new honeycomb ‘scudetto’ grill, without the silver slats, and new model lettering. Interiors were also revised. The new model line up was: ‘Giulietta’, ‘Super’, ‘Speciale’ and ‘Veloce’.

The Speciale came with a choice of engines:

Petrol 1.4 Turbo MultiAir 150 bhp, manual

Petrol 1.4 Turbo MultiAir 170 bhp, Twin Clutch semi auto (TCT)

Diesel 2.0 JTDm150 bhp, manual

Diesel 2.0 JTDm150 bhp, , Twin Clutch semi auto (TCT)

This Giulietta is the 150 bhp manual version

0-62 in 8.2 seconds

Top speed 130 mph

Standard equipment:

18 inch 5 hole design alloy wheels with 225/40 R18 tyres

Alfa code immobiliser and alarm

Fabric and alacantara sports seats with red stitching

Driver and passenger electric lumbar support

Dual zone climate control

Darkflair fire interior trim inserts

Dashboard surround and door panels in carbon fibre finish

Uconnect 6.5" colour touchscreen radio/nav, 3D maps with TMC, SD Card, DAB, USB and aux input with six speakers and voice control

Bluetooth hands-free phone connection

Electric front windows

Electric rear windows

Front and rear parking sensors

Red Brembo brake calipers with uprated brake discs

Q2 electronic differential

Tyre pressure monitoring system

VDC with hill holder (ABS + ASR + EBD + Brake assist)

Height adjustable driver and passenger seats

Flat bottom sports leather steering wheel with red stitching + Phone and radio controls

Rear armrest with storage, third rear headrest and through-load system

Condensation sensor

Alfa D.N.A driving mode selector

Variable PAS depending on D.N.A selector

Sports dials with white illumination

Cruise control

Dual trip computer

Electric folding and heated door mirrors

Electrochrome rear view mirror with deactivation button

Automatic front windscreen wipers

60/40 split folding rear seat

Cooled glovebox

Automatic headlights

LED daytime running lights

Rear LED lights

Dark anthracite door handles and front grille

Dark anthracite door mirrors

Dark anthracite front fog lights surround

Dark headlining

Carbon effect headlights

Aluminium kick plate

Privacy glass

Enlarged exhaust pipe

Sports suspension

Aluminium sports pedals

Steel space saver spare wheel

Options fitted to this Giullietta:

18 inch 5 hole design alloy wheels with dark anthracite finish

Satin chrome wing mirror covers

This Giulietta was originally owned by my daughter. It was first registered in December 2017 and had one previous owner before she bought it in Feb 2021. I bought if from her in September 2023 because it was in fantastic condition as I had been looking after it so knew the car inside out and I could not bear it going to anyone else! The personalised plate may look a little odd on the Giulietta but it came off an Alfa MiTo I had owned previously.

This Giulietta has a petrol 1.4 Turbo MultiAir engine developing 150bhp at 5500rpm and 250nm of torque at 2500rpm, with a 6 speed manual gearbox.

MultiAir  is a hydraulically-actuated variable valve timing system (VVT) and variable valve lift (VVL) engine technology enabling  control of intake air directly via the engine's inlet valves. It was developed by Fiat Powertrain Technologies to precisely control air intake to increase engine power and torque, reduce fuel consumption, reduce emissions, and improve engine operation. It also allows engines to be lighter and smaller.

MultiAir engines are fitted across a whole range of Alfa and Fiat models.

The performance is:

0-62 in 8.2 seconds with a top speed of 130 mph

To compare, the 170bhp version produces:

0-62 in 7.6 seconds with a top speed 135 mph

Fuel consumption is good for 150 bhp petrol turbo; returning around 40 to 45mpg on a motorway run and around 35mpg around town.

Great care is required regarding oil changes to the MultiAir engines as the actuators are oil operated and a full service history with the correct grade of oil is essential to prevent premature failure of the MultiAir unit itself due to oil sludge and varnishing affecting operation of the actuators.

Up to 2016 the recommended oil grade was 5w 40, however this was changed to 0w 30 when the facelifted Giulietta and Mito were specified as compliant with Euro 6 emissions. The oil grade change is likely to be a part of necessary improvements to meet Euro 6; however there is also a school of thought that the change also benefitted operation and longevity of the MultiAir unit. There were no changes to the engine itself.   

The MultiAir engine as well as having a conventional oil filter also has a MultiAir filter or strainer as it is sometimes referred to. This filter is not referred to in any service schedule to be replaced or removed for cleaning at certain service intervals.

However, due to possible issues with the wrong grade of oil used by a previous owner if your car is used, or over extended oil changes as mentioned above, it is good practice to remove the filter and change it (or give it a good clean) at alternative oil changes.

The photo above shows the last one I took out and it is quite clean but as I already had a new one I replaced it. Some very small particles can be seen on the filter inside.  It’s quite small as can be seen next to the USB drive for reference.

It can be easily changed and is located on the cam belt side of the MultiAir unit, just under the top part of the cam belt cover which needs to be removed for access. A 10mm hex is needed for removal. When replacing it is very important not to over tighten as doing so can easily crack the MuliAir block. Simply screw back in by hand, using the hex, and stop as soon as the filter is flush with the block. If reusing a cleaned up filter, apply some thread lock to the threads to prevent any oil seepage.  If not changing it yourself, just ask your garage to check and clean or replace.          

When in for a cam belt change, the garage spotted that the offside engine mount had failed. I wasn’t aware but the mount is oil filled and it had lost its oil! It is quite common, apparently, and the replacement is an improved, modified part. I did occasionally experience a slight vibration under certain conditions but it wasn’t so bad that I would assume the engine mount had failed as I’ve never had one fail before in any car!            

The interior of the Giulietta is in my opinion of very good quality. The standard seats are cloth and alcantara (leather was an option). They are very comfortable and have electric lumbar support. I am quite surprised though, that they are not heated as the car is extremely well specified in other areas.

The quality of the steering wheel leather is particularly pleasing and I like the fact that the design mirrors the ‘scudetto’ on the grill.

The biggest gripe on the manual version though, as most Giulietta owners would testify, is the lack of space and no foot rest to put your foot next to the clutch pedal. I am now used to it and ’park’ my foot underneath the pedal! It also took a while to obtain a decent driving position as the pedals seem to be at an usually high angle. I got there in the end though as there are multiple movement options.  

There is plenty of room in the back and the drop-down armrest with storage and cup holders is a nice touch.

The boot is a decent size and the ski hatch is an extremely useful feature.

The multi-media system is very good and a massive step up from the old Blue&Me system in the other Alfa I have. There is one issue, however, which is very frustrating and that is the inability to update the Sat Nav yourself. In every other Alfa I have owned, you can easily do this yourself by downloading the new maps from a website.

In the MiTo, this was from the Tom Tom site. I have an Abarth Spider and I can download maps for that (I don’t mind the fact you have to pay outside of warranty).

Why this cannot be done with the Giulietta is beyond me and my local dealer has been no help whatsoever! I have found out, on one of the forums, that  it is possible though the ‘back door’ of the system but it sounds too much of a faff and if you are not careful, a possible risk of losing the operating system.