Kiwis can Add a bit of Italy to their life with this stylish sedan that starts from $89,990.

Among the European premium sedan line-up – such as BMW’s 3 Series, Audi’s A4, Mercedes-Benz’s C-Class, or Jaguar’s XE – there is an unsung hero; Alfa Romeo’s Guilia.

First launched in 2017, the Guilia had a facelift in mid-2020. The Italian sedan is priced from $89,990 for the Veloce Carbon model or nearly $140,000 for the stonking Quadrifoglio with a V6 engine.

Like the XE, Guilia’s point of difference from the German brands above is that its design is unashamedly boisterous thanks to its short overhangs and long, curved bonnet.

It has a distinctive grille, slender lights and a jaunty roof, it's the head-turner in the European sedan segment.

Under the bonnet is a 2-litre petrol turbo engine producing 206kW of power and 400Nm of torque. It has an eight-speed transmission paired with great manual shift paddles.

The rear-wheel-drive sedan goes from  0-100km/h in 5.7seconds and has a top speed of  240km/h.

What is new for the Alfa Romeo Guilia Veloce Carbon? It’s the last word that will give you a clue: carbon, and plenty of it. 

It has carbon fibre side skirts and a rear spoiler plus carbon fibre mirror caps while inside there are plenty of carbon fibre accents including the dashboard, steering wheel, door panels, and console.

Inside it has sports leather seats that are heated front and rear, an 8.8in multi-touch infotainment display with 3D navigation, Apple Carplay and Android Auto plus wireless charging pad. 

The Veloce Carbon also has a 14-Speaker Harman Kardon sound system.

The facelift Giulia has ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), developed in conjunction with Bosch for level 2 autonomous driving.

For safety, there is a rear camera, front and rear parking sensors, active cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, driver attention alert, plus forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking. 

All the interior elements and safety features keep the Alfa on par with its rivals.

To make it stand out on the road it also has 19-in five-hole dark alloys plus dark exhaust tips. 

The groundbreaking Giulia sedan actually debuted in 1962. The advertising claim "designed by the wind" was inspired by the Giulia's drag coefficient of 0.34, a value that would still be competitive in today's market says Alfa. The sports sedan became the backbone of Alfa Romeo's line-up.

The Giulia was the first mass-produced car with a five-speed transmission and one of the first with a differentiated body structure: in the event of a collision the passenger compartment held its shape, ensuring greater passenger safety, says Alfa.

The Giulia’s all-new rear-wheel-drive architecture produces the short overhangs, a long bonnet, muscular haunches and the longest wheelbase in its segment. The Giulia also has 50:50 weight distribution across its axles, while the four-arm AlfaTM Link rear suspension (with an Alfa Romeo-patented solution for toe adjustment) and new double-wishbone front set up have been specifically tuned to maximise its dynamic abilities and enhance driving comfort. 

The Giulia also has a new semi-virtual steering axis that optimises the filtering effect and guarantees rapid, accurate steering by keeping a constant caster trail in corners.

To obtain a great weight-to-power ratio and torsional rigidity, the new Giulia utilises an array of high-strength and ultra-lightweight materials including, for example, carbon fibre for the driveshaft, aluminium composite and plastic for the rear cross member and aluminium for the doors, brakes and suspensions.

The Guilia is 4643mm long and 2024mm wide (including mirrors), while a wheelbase of 2820mm creates a decent amount of space inside.

Access to the back seats is reasonable, although the sloping roof does cut into the window frames for the doors.

There’s lots of space in the front, while rear passengers have plenty of legroom although the large transmission tunnel means the middle seat can feel cramped.

Alfa Romeo’s DNA selector means you can choose from three driving modes in the standard cars: D for Dynamic, N for Natural and A for Advanced Efficiency.

These allow you to alter the steering weight and throttle response, but the car feels at its best in the Natural and Dynamic modes, with the 'A' setting taking a bit too much away from the car's responses. I dialled in D when I was on the motorway though the steering was too light for my liking as I prefer firm feel through the steering wheel when I’m driving at speed, but it’s not a deal breaker.

The Alfa handles bumps and imperfections well in the Natural setting, but some surfaces and potholes do send knocks through the chassis.

I took the Guilia Veloce Carbon for a day visit to Whangarei and due to roadworks between Warkworth and Wellsford the speed limit was dropped to five, adding at least an hour to the round trip. But I was impressed that I felt refreshed when I got home, thanks to comfortable seats.

While the roadworks were inconvenient, they weren’t a problem for in the Guilia. The sedan coped with the rough patches and gravel areas with ease, and once I was back to the open road speed, I hummed along, especially when I applied the advanced cruise control that set my speed and distance.

The eight-speed automatic gearbox is a reasonable unit, providing fast shifts when required. I loved the large paddles behind the steering wheel as they were satisfying to use, especially when I took on the back road SH16 with its winding uphill route. 

It was simple to knock the car down to second gear as I entered quite a few 45-degree corners that were bathed in shadow and had moisture on the road.

I felt assured that the car could handle the switchback-type driving but I reckon the stonking Quadrifoglio would be extra fun on those sections.

So, who would be the buyer for the Alfa Romeo Guilia Veloce Carbon? I see it as someone who wants to move away from the big three Germans and have fond memories of Alfas from their childhood.

What about the future of the car? Alfa now falls under the producer Stellantis; a multinational automotive manufacturer, formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50-50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group.

Ever since the merge was announced there are multiple stories about models being culled but it’s safe to say that the Guilia is well … safe.