#god im so greatful shes not completely tech illiterate

[selestial-princess]

Why does explaining things take so much energy

[smoothshift]

My journey to leasing an Alfa Romeo Giulia (also known as I test drove way too many cars) via /r/cars

My journey to leasing an Alfa Romeo Giulia (also known as I test drove way too many cars)

Ok, first things first, it isn't brand new anymore; I just now got photos back from my amateur photographer friend so I thought now would be a good time to post photos/my thoughts on the segment/brag.

Second, pictures. It is a 2017 Giulia with the sports package (and nothing else). 39 month lease with 12000 miles/year. And it took me a while, but I've name my car Im (pronounced "M"). Why Im? A friend called it my Italian Mistress and I got a kick out of that. My girlfriend still calls it Alfy because she likes to give me pain.

Up until May 1st of this year, I was driving the same truck I had been since I was in high school: 2005 Ford F150 Texas edition. It was a great truck that gave me everything I needed for almost 150,000 miles with very few issues (the belts used to control the windows broke probably 6 times between the 4 doors and the windshield fluid sprayer broke once, but I don't recall anything else other than routine maintenance). But I was finally making money and decided I wanted something that was a different type of fun. Now, I am not a dyed in the wool car guy like many on this sub; my parents always had nice vehicles, but my dad runs a small commercial contracting business so, outside of his 197-something Gremlin that he was so fond of, I think all he's ever owned are various trucks. Because of this, my knowledge of cars largely originates from haphazardly marathoning multiple seasons of Top Gear/The Grand Tour earlier this year and picking the brain of a friend of mine that is definitely a dyed in the whole car guy (who also happens to be the amateur photographer).

As someone completely knew to the segment (and cars in general), I did some fairly intense research and test driving. I ended up test driving a Giulia (obviously), a 3 series, an A4, a C class, an XE, an ATX, and an IS. Just as general background, I was looking for a daily driver (my office is less than a mile from where I work, but my family lives several hundred miles away and my gf currently lives over a hundred miles away as well) and I would probably say my priorities when I was looking for a car were looks/how much they stand out, how fun it was to drive, how comfortable it was to drive, and how good the infotainment was (really narrowing it down for you, I know). I ended up test driving everything except the ATS, A4, and the 3 series at least twice, partially to help me decide and partially because I wanted to see what various people thought about each car. I'll put my thoughts about each car in order from the one I liked the least to the one I liked the best. Some of my thoughts on each car are gone at this point, as I've been relentlessly lazy with regards to finally making this post, but I'll do my best to recreate my thoughts as I had looking at each car. I'll have a TL;DR for the reviews at the end as well.

ATS

Ok, my least favorite car was the ATS. All cars in this segment are great, but there isn't a doubt in my mind that this car was the one that appealed to me the least. In my opinion, this segment can be more or less described as a continuum of cars that are somewhere between a luxury car trying to be a sporty car and a sporty car trying to be a luxury car. The ATS felt the most like a luxury car trying to be (even if only at a perfunctory level) sporty to me. It had a deep, sonorous engine that felt more like towing power than raw speed. The inside looked great, perhaps the most luxurious interior in the class. The outside was definitely stately. But it felt and looked too much like a powerful boat for my tastes. Even though this was the third car I test drove, I think it may have been pivotal in pushing me over to the "sporty car trying to be a luxury car" end of the segment, because this car just did not speak to me when driving it. Perhaps, in 30 years, it will be exactly what I want. Just not now.

I also didn't much like a lot of the things going on inside. It was beautiful, but I felt like the center consul was too high, making my right arm uncomfortable. Additionally, I am not a fan of touch screen infotainment. I want to be able to focus on driving when I'm driving, not fumbling around, stretching to touch "next station".

A4

Now, after saying I was pushed to the sporty end of the segment, I of course have to rate lowly one of the more sporty cars, the A4. Now, the general, albeit definitely not word-of-God, consensus among car reviews I had read was that the A4 was the top or very close to the top of the segment. Plus, compared to the couch-on-wheels ATS, it is much more on the sport side of the spectrum, yet I rate it very, very low. Why? Three reasons (one of which is often brought up by the professional reviewers.

First: professional reviewers are correct in saying that you almost feel removed from the driving experience when you are in the A4. I don't know how to say it much better than that: the steering wasn't as tight or responsive as I wanted it, I didn't feel overly excited when I tried to gun it, and, personally, I thought all the cool tech in the car was a draw back that removed you from the driving experience. It felt like you were in a driving sim.

Second, I didn't like the cool tech at all. I felt it was overwhelming (not in that I am tech-illiterate, but in that I want to drive, not play on a computer). I didn't like the Nav jumping over in front of the driver (I just want to see my speedometer, come on). I didn't like the placement of the infotainment controls because the stick is in the way. I don't want to try to change the radio station and suddenly switch in to reverse on the highway. But, like some people disagreeing that the ATS is too far on the luxury end of the segment, I am sure people will disagree as the amount of tech you want in a car at least partially comes down to preference. Add in to that the fact that I think sticking an iPad on the dashboard looks ugly, and this car quickly got knocked off my list.

Finally, and I'm sure A LOT of people will disagree with this, I found the exterior styling to be lack luster. It doesn't stand out in a crowd, and I didn't think it looked all that much better than any of the cars in the cheaper segments.

3-Series

I have to admit, the 3-series was the most disappointing to me. As someone only recently taking an interest in cars, the 3-series was the car I had heard the most about and thought the most of. I was expecting, in the words of Reinhart, precision German engineering. Rather, the 3-series kind of suffered from the same lack of real driving feel that the A4 did. It did everything right but it just felt... blah. It looked right, but at this point, everyone and their mother (in Houston) drives a BMW, so it didn't stand out. The infotainment had a good balance of features and not separating you from driving, but I don't really remember being impressed (although, I will repeat that sticking an iPad on the dash is dumb). And as lame as it is to sum up the 3-series as blah... that's how I felt. Maybe I should have tried the M badged one or a 330 instead, but BMW lost me before that point.

C Class

This is the car that doesn't fit in with my "last few cars" that somehow made it there. Once again, drifting closer to the "luxury car trying to be sporty" end of the spectrum, but I felt like the C Class was on the right side of it. If the ATS was driving a tug boat with a low, powering engine, I felt like the C Class was a midsized boat with a good balance of luxury and sport. In terms of the interior, it was right there with the ATS. My two main qualms with the interior being the iPad on the dash (I really wish everyone would stop doing that) and the lack of a stick for the drive modes (I'm not a fan of the little dial to choose drive). The AMG version had a really good looking midnight combination available (I don't remember what it was called, but you can imagine what it looked like). I also believe it had some sort of phone to nav compatibility, but I could be wrong (this was one of the things I hoped more cars in the class would have standard). I recall the steering being heavy but responsive, which I liked. It had a sports and a sports plus mode, which helped it inch closer to the sporty end of the spectrum. Additionally, the idea of driving a Benz appealed to me at some level. It ended up just not being enough to really make last few cars.

THE FINAL CONTENDERS

These are the last 3 cars, all of which I was very close to at one point to getting. If you're tired of reading my thoughts, it'll probably only get longer. Sorry in advance.

XE 35T

For a while, I was almost sold on the Jag, just waiting for the right one to come in. Why? Well, because Jag cheated. This was the only V6. As I originally test drove the 25T, I will give a short review of driving it (everything else is the same as the 35T). It was uninspiring. It didn't feel as powerful as the luxury boats of the class and didn't have the pick-up and go that the last two cars had.

Ok, that's out of the way. What I liked about the 35T: V6 power. It felt fast. It was fast. It was probably the best sounding of all the cars. It was just as exhilarating to drive as the Alfa (but in a different way). I thought the steering felt right; it wasn't too heavy and it was tight.

It also, in my opinion, looked great. I liked the more aggressive design than most of the rest of the class. One color in particular, the deep blue, was absolutely gorgeous. It is more rare than any of the other cars on the list other than the Alfa, which I liked a bit as well.

Also, its infotainment isn't an iPad sticking out of the freaking dash. It also had an app that let's you work with your phone for navigation (but you had to pay for the fully nav), which I loved. It was, however, touch screen, which is a big negative for me. Doesn't feel safe, and,e ven if you use the steering wheel controls, it is just too much going on while driving.

But the negative for this car is a big one, and probably the reason I didn't go with the XE: Unless you want to drop an extra 5k for the upgraded interior, it looks cheap inside. As a car starting at around 40000, I don't want to have a scowl on my face every time I open the door. I also don't like the spin wheel for drive selecting (but it did pop up and down when the car turned off and on, which was a nice touch).

Finally, sun roofs were not optional. Some people may think this is cool, but it doesn't have a hard plastic cover. This means that, if you live in the South, you have to deal with heat and sunlight always, because a flimsy little piece of cloth isn't going to cut it when it's 100+ degrees and the sun wants to shit in your eyes. To be fair, several of the cars in this segment have the same problem, but this is the one that I remember it about.

IS 200T F-Sport

Lexus did a lot of things right with this car. For the price, there are a lot of good safety features that come with it (auto break when reversing, lane control, etc.). I was also a fan how it drove. It didn't have the disconnected feel that the Audi and the BMW had; the steering was pretty tight, there was a good amount of power and acceleration, and it was actually fun to drive. The exterior was good; not as good as the Alfa or the Jag, but it is still a great looking car. I liked the extra "edge" the F-Sport gave everything. I really liked the interior if you picked the maroon leather/accents (my girlfriend strongly disagreed, unfortunately). The infotainment, although being an iPad, was stuffed into the consul rather than stuck on top of it. This was the car my girlfriend wanted me to get (the lame, non-maroon interior one, anyways).

But there were a few things I wasn't a fan of. First, although the infotainment wasn't touch screen, it was a weird combo of drawing on a little pad and a mouse, which was not good in my opinion. Also, I was told they had google car play/equivalent, and when they told me they were wrong, it only brought up the line by line instructions (rather than a map), I basically decided to go with the Alfa.

Alfa Romeo Giulia

The main event. Finally getting to the most controversial car in the segment, especially in this sub. If I had to sum it up, it would be "the car is everything they say it is." What do I mean by that? The exterior is beautiful. I know a lot of people don't like the trade-mark grill or this or that, but I really think it is the best looking car in the class. You will get stares everywhere. People will ask you about your car when you stop to get gas. People will want to race you at lights (well, in Houston they do that anyways because the drivers are dicks, but I assume at least one person has done it because of the car). You will smile when you see your car. You won't see anyone else on the roads with your car. It's like being the hot girl in the class; everyone looks at you and everyone looks at you differently. And it's great.

I love the interior. I didn't opt for the wooden inserts, but those really were breathtaking. Even for the poors like me, the aluminium looks really great. There was also a red leather interior option available (again vetoed by the lady), which I liked. The paddle shifters are single, large pieces of aluminium as well, which look a lot better (and a lot less likely to break) than the little plastic ones some other cars in the class had. The infotainment isn't just an iPad! It's built in to the consul and looks natural rather than an afterthought. Also, at night there is a truly great soft (and adjustable) ambiance lighting.

Everything about the driving position is great. It is comfortable even on long distance drives (my experience is limited to about 300 miles in one go, but I think that's a pretty good indicator). The front seats are surprisingly roomy (the rear seats can get pretty tight, however).

As I've alluded to before, the driving is second to none in the class. As my girlfriend put it, she knew what I would choose because I had a goofy smile on my face the entire test drive. I felt like it accelerated better than anything else (barring the V6 Jag), and it also had the best handling. The balance of the steering wheel was perfect in my opinion.

Also, I think the infotainment is the best in class (I know a lot of people won't agree). It is intuitive. It doesn't require you to take your mind off the road. Each thing you can do is easy to feel. Even searching for contacts or songs is quick. The only real negatives I have about it is that 1) no google drive-type app available and 2) the quick-select song station thing is great, but could use a few more choices (6 would be enough for most, but I travel enough that it isn't and I have to mess with the favorites when I am in another city, which is 2-3 weekends per month).

The main thing I don't really like the car can be summed up on the one buzz word I've avoided this entire review: Reliability. I've had my car for 4.5 months and 4700 miles. I took it in once for optional software flashed (the dealership didn't even notify me they were available, someone mentioned it on reddit). A few days before my appointment, a CEL came on and went away on it's own about 2 days later (still before my apt). Not very inspiring. Other than that, however, I've had 0 issues.

Additionally, when compared to the IS, there aren't enough safety features that come standard. All those cool things that keep me from wrecking came with the Lexus for cheaper (albeit it was a former loaner car) than the Alfa was.

Finally, it is worth noting that the 2 worse dealership experiences I had were both Alfa (and I went to a freaking ton of dealerships). I ended up going to 4 different Alfa dealers (long story), but one wouldn't even let me test drive because they thought I was too poor (and then told me the leases start at $700/mo, which is a bold-faced lie, and gave us some perfunctory BS about why it was double other cars that cost the same MSRP). Another one I went to had a guy that summed up the different packages as "well, some will increase the price, some won't, and it's different for every car." Alfas were new, but he was obviously not very familiar with the product. He was a nice guy, just not prepared.

Anyways, 10 out of 10 times I would go with the Alfa again. ** TL;DR:**

ATS: I don't wanna drive a boat, I wanna drive a car.

Audi: I don't want to play a game, I wanna drive a car.

BMW: I don't wanna meh, I wanna car.

C Class: I don't want this much of a luxury car, I wanna sporty car.

Jag: I don't wanna pay for the interior of a car that looks like the basic package should look, I wanna luxury car.

Lexus: I don't wanna computer with a car around it, I want a car with a computer in it.

Alfa: I want an awesome car for my drive to the mechanic.

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this and for all the great advice I've gotten from various threads. Feel free to ask any questions you may have.