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2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia, Stelvio get more safety, convenience features

Although the 2022 Alfa Romeo Giulia sports sedan and the Stelvio crossover aren't significantly different for the new model year, they do boast a bunch of new features as standard. These include safety, convenience and the odd appearance feature. The trim names have been tweaked slightly, too, and base prices are up from last year. Leading the new standard features are safety ones. All Giulias and Stelvios now have blind-spot monitoring with emergency intervention, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning, automatic high-beam headlights and front and rear parking sensors. As for convenience, all these Alfas get front and rear heated seats, navigation, wireless phone charging, and an auto-dimming rearview mirror. Finally, both Alfas get slightly sportier looks with dark trim. The Giulia and Stelvio Sprint and Veloce trims now have standard paddle shifters, and aluminum pedals have been added to select trims. 2022 Alfa Romeo Stelvio View 9 Photos Speaking of trim levels, the line-up has been slightly tweaked. Veloce replaces the Ti Sport trim level. Sprint still represents the base trim, with the regular Ti focusing on luxury. The Quadrifoglio trims carry on as well. Base prices have climbed for both models, though. The Giulia Sprint increases by $1,940 to $44,445, and the Stelvio Sprint goes up by $2,140 to $46,645. You can find base prices for all Giulia and Stelvio models listed below. Giulia Sprint: $44,445 Ti: $47,245 Veloce: $52,385 Quadrifoglio: $81,525 Stelvio Sprint: $46,645 Ti: $52,355 Veloce: $53,825 Quadrifoglio: $88,345 Related Video:

We're not getting the Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce, and that's fine

Alfa Romeo revealed today that a special edition of the Giulia sports sedan called "Veloce" will make its debut in Paris. It's only slated for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but before you start lamenting that the US will once again miss out on a cool Euro-spec sedan, we have some good news: it's nothing special. The Giulia Veloce is just a normal Giulia with an appearance package and a fancy name. It comes with either the 280-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder gas engine, which we will get in 276-hosepower trim, or the 210-horsepower diesel four-cylinder. From there, Alfa throws in options like Q4 all-wheel drive, 19-inch 5-hole wheels, a tweaked front bumper, sport seats and steering wheel, rear diffuser and black window trim. That's it. Well that, and one of the Veloces at the show will sport a new color of blue, but it's not clear if that's a package-exclusive color or just another option. Many of these components will be available in the US, including the all-wheel drive, wheels, and, based on the American Alfa website, probably the black window trim. It's just that they won't all come in one package. And even if a few pieces of vehicle flair don't make it here, we're still not going to lose sleep over an appearance package. If you really need to be upset about something, perhaps consider the fact that we probably won't see Giulias on dealer lots until early next year. And that's just our best guess since we don't have an official launch date yet. Now that's something worthy of some frustration. Related Video:

Are supercars becoming less special?

There's little doubt that we are currently enjoying the golden age of automotive performance. Dozens of different models on sale today make over 500 horsepower, and seven boast output in excess of 700 hp. Not long ago, that kind of capability was exclusive to supercars – vehicles whose rarity, performance focus, and requisite expense made them aspirational objects of desire to us mortals. But more than that, supercars have historically offered a unique driving experience, one which was bespoke to a particular model and could not be replicated elsewhere. But in recent years, even the low-volume players have been forced to find the efficiencies and economies of scale that formerly hadn't been a concern for them, and in turn the concept of the supercar as a unique entity unto itself is fading fast. The blame doesn't fall on one particular manufacturer nor a specific production technique. Instead, it's a confluence of different factors that are chipping away at the distinction of these vehicles. It's not all bad news – Lamborghini's platform sharing with Audi for the Gallardo and the R8 yielded a raging bull that was more reliable and easier to live with on a day-to-day basis, and as a result it went on to become the best-selling Lambo in the company's history. But it also came at the cost of some of the Italian's exclusivity when eerily familiar sights and sounds suddenly became available wearing an Audi badge. Even low-volume players have been forced to find economies of scale. Much of this comes out of necessity, of course. Aston Martin's recent deal with Mercedes-AMG points toward German hardware going under the hood and into the cabin of the upcoming DB11, and it's safe to assume that this was not a decision made lightly by the Brits, as the brand has built a reputation for the bespoke craftsmanship of its vehicles. There's little doubt that the DB11 will be a fine automobile, but the move does jeopardize some of the characteristic "specialness" that Astons are known for. Yet the world is certainly better off with new Aston Martins spliced with DNA from Mercedes-AMG rather than no new Astons at all, and the costs of developing cutting-edge drivetrains and user interfaces is a burden that's becoming increasingly difficult for smaller manufacturers to bear. Even Ferrari is poised to make some dramatic changes in the way it designs cars.