Alfa Romeo Giulietta review - MPG, CO2 and Running Costs

The Giulietta's engine range has been slimmed down over the years, and only the later 118bhp 1.4 TB petrol and 1.6 JTDM diesel have been tested under the latest WLTP test procedure. The 1.6-litre diesel returns up to 49.6mpg on this test, and that's the same figure for the TCT auto model. In comparison, the older NEDC test saw the 1.6 JTDM return 74.3mpg on the combined test cycle. That doesn't mean the newer diesel is less efficient, it's just that the different test returns a result that you're more likely to achieve in everyday driving.

Emissions for the 1.6 JTDM have changed from 99g/km for older cars (so there's free road tax for cars registered before April 2017), to 123g/km today. The TCT box raises this figure slightly to 125g/km.

Our pick of the older engines that used to be available with the Giulietta is the larger 2.0-litre turbodiesel. This 148bhp engine hasn't been tested under WLTP regs, but its older NEDC figures of 110g/km of CO2 and 67.3mpg are only marginally worse than the 1.6 JTDM. Both turbocharged diesels are fitted with fuel-saving stop-start technology as standard. 

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The 1.4-litre petrol engine in its lowest powered 118bhp form returns up to 36.2mpg on the WLTP test (45.6mpg combined on NEDC) and emits 164g/km of CO2 (up from 144g/km). Again, the older petrol engines haven't been WLTP tested, but under NEDC this version has figures of 51.4mpg and 127g/km. Peculiarities of the old test regime mean the 168bhp model with manual gears is able to return the same claimed figures. Pick the 168bhp engine with TCT and you could see as much as 57.7mpg and 114g/km if the test figures are to be believed.

The top-of-the-range Veloce with its 237bhp 1.7-litre petrol engine returns 41.5mpg and 157g/km under the NEDC test cycle. 

Insurance groups

Most of the Giulietta range falls into insurance groups 23-25, although the lower-powered entry-level cars start at group 16 and the hot Veloce is group 31.

Depreciation

There's cachet in the Alfa Romeo badge, and while the Giulietta has been for sale for almost a decade, its residual values are holding steady in the 40-43 per cent range after three years. That's pretty good when you consider that newer cars like the Vauxhall Astra and Peugeot 308 are in the 30-40 per cent range.