Alfa Romeo Giulia vs Lexus RC300

What's the difference?

Alfa Romeo. A brand with more re-boots than success stories. Yet one which driving enthusiasts the world over can’t seem to shake the allure of.

Of course, these are not cars for just everyone. Most mainstream buyers are scared away by what I like to call the three Rs. Rust. Reliability. Resale.

Alfa’s tumultuous (and often overstated) past is one it has trouble putting behind it. Reputations are hard earned and easily lost, and besides, the majority of the voting public aspire to own something German, which they see a lot more of on the road.

It doesn’t help that Alfa also dragged its feet on committing to a five-year warranty in Australia (in early 2022), hardly a statement of confidence in its product.

You’re probably wondering by now why anyone would buy one, and why it’s the car which most enthusiasts wish they were brave enough to own.

Well the Giulia is the Alfa Romeo. The low-slung, sporty, sexy car which a few of us out there still use as a reference-point for how to make a sedan in 2023 good-looking, and how to make one drive like it has heart.

The brand can throw all the SUVs at us it wants, but for those who see Alfa Romeo for the brand it should be, this car is it.

Parting sorrow, perhaps, the version we’re looking at for this review may be one of the last - under its new Stellantis management, Alfa has said it will leave this fantastic, promising Giorgio platform behind it in a move to be more electrified.

Travel with me, dear reader, as we celebrate a car which is the culmination of Alfa’s past, at a moment before it steps into the future.

By God, but hasn't Lexus come an awfully long way from what was undeniably a drab and dull past? The Japanese premium brand now routinely pumps out cars that are not just fun to drive, but are even *gasp* fun to look at, too.

And should you trace the genesis of all this new-found excitement, you'll find it was the Lexus RC that started it all. That car, unveiled at the Tokyo Auto Show in 2013, was an early sign that Lexus was going to start pushing the envelope with its passenger cars.

The two-door, four-seat RC has just been updated for 2018, with added technology, safety kit and even a particularly un-Lexus launch-control system in the most powerful models.

High time we took a closer look then, no?