Testing and Photography: Özgür Sunay
With its sporty stance, spacious interior and Italian design, Alfa Romeo Junior will awaken your passions and enable you to rediscover love. It will remind you why you are an Alfa Romeo enthusiast with its advanced technology, comfort and safety…
Few people know that Alfa’s mini SUV was originally supposed to be called Milano. However, since the car was produced in Tichy, Poland, and not in Italy, the Italian government was not too keen on naming it.
In addition to adapting to the sporty and elegant style of the Italian body design, Alfa Romeo Junior also had to offer a sporty driving experience. It is at this point that Alfa’s true DNA meets and stands out in Alfa Romeo Junior. Because he is an ALPHA.
First of all, the front has a sporty and flawless design with narrow LED daytime running lights and Alfa’s typical grille.
Not to mention the meticulous work done by Alfa engineers on the chassis, brakes and steering. At the same time, handling is always well controlled, even at the limits, so that the driver gains great confidence in entering corners faster after just a few kilometres.
Chassis with a special feature
Alfa has placed a Torsen differential on the drive axle in the Junior, which is only front-wheel drive even in its top version. This differential distributes power completely mechanically: if one wheel loses grip, excess torque is directed to the opposite drive wheel. For the driver, this gives the feeling of the car being “pulled” onto the road and into bends.
The chassis is generally designed to be sporty and solid, and the steering is quite precise and direct. The downside of the suspension setup is that it offers somewhat limited comfort. Therefore, cross-connections and road irregularities are not smoothed out and are clearly noticeable to passengers. But Alfisti needs to be able to deal with this.
The Junior’s trunk feels unexpectedly roomy despite its small, car-like length, but it certainly doesn’t offer the bulk of a larger SUV. Alfa Romeo states that luggage volumes vary between 400 and 1280 liters.
Practical: The loading compartment floor can be adjusted to three different heights. When mounted from the top, a flat loading area with no loading threshold is created.
Those sitting in the backseat have to make some compromises. Legroom for adults is modest. If the front seat is adjusted for a person 1.85 tall, the rear seat is adjusted for a person 1.80 tall. However, the rear seat arrangement of Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida offers passengers a sporty position and a quality journey in terms of seating position and comfort. When we look at the dimensions of the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida, its intended use, its sporty durability DNA infrastructure and motorsport history, we see that the rear seating position is almost the same when compared to similar compact SUV crossovers of their size, and we need to take this into account when criticizing.
Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida has incredible, unique, original, Italian design inside and out. This situation continues magnificently in the interior design. Alfa truly differentiates itself from its Far Eastern competitors in terms of comfort, material durability, design, color harmony and optimum material selection.
They cannot compete with each other in any respect.
Because I used the vehicle day and night in all kinds of road conditions. I’ve done a lot of miles. I tested it on long roads and in all weather conditions. I can clearly state this distinction in every respect.
I can say that the engine and performance of Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida are perfect. It’s as if it senses and understands your wishes and reacts to road conditions through the engine, steering and tires.
I can say that it is a perfect vehicle for driving pleasure with a non-electric hybrid engine.
Three different driving modes are offered: natural (standard), sporty and personalized. These driving modes create acceleration differences between standard and sporty modes. In both modes, the vehicle shows good acceleration performance and reaches high speeds instantly. Acceleration continues at higher speeds, easily reaching 215 km/h.
I really liked the interior lighting of the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida. The sporty interior features branded driver and passenger seats that are firm and ergonomic but still hug you.
The vehicle delivered incredibly reasonable fuel economy. While it offered diesel fuel economy at reasonable speeds both in the city and outside the city, it consumed fuel more economically at higher speeds outside the city. As a result, it is quite economical for performance driving.
Automobile Magazine – English
