Page 58 - AIT0616_E-Paper

SERIEN ARCHITEKTUR UND AUTO • ARCHITECTURE AND AUTOMOBILE

große Display in der Mitte des Armaturenbretts zeigt mir an, dass ich die Fahr dynamik -
regelung DNA auf „A“ wie „All Weather“ eingestellt habe. Sofort macht sich bemerkbar,
dass der Alfa etwas weniger Leistung hat. „Gut für den Stadtverkehr“, denke ich und
schalte auf „D“ wie Dynamik, möchte ich nun doch gerne etwas flotter fahren. Wow, jetzt
ist das Auto bereit für mehr Leistung, und das Gaspedal reagiert sehr direkt auf meinen
Fuß. Auch das Motorengeräusch passt sich mit einem kernigen Sound der zügigen Fahrt
an und wirkt dadurch deutlich sportlicher. Der Alfa vermittelt mir ein gutes Fahrgefühl mit
direkter Rückmeldung an mich als Fahrer, dem im Dynamikmodus Gefühl im Gasfuß
abverlangt wird. Schön, wie man mit der Giulietta über die kurvigen Landstraßen flitzen
kann. Die Sportsitze bieten dabei guten Halt und vermitteln in Kombination mit dem
straffen Fahrwerk ein angenehm sportliches und sicheres Fahr gefühl. So macht die Fahrt
zum Termin Spaß! Pünktlich auf der Baustelle ange kommen, freue ich mich schon auf die
Rückfahrt. Ich kann meinen Baustellentermin früher als geplant beenden und habe
dadurch Zeit, einen kurvigen Umweg ins Büro zu nehmen. Das gefällt mir!

A s on almost every Monday, our office is characterised by bustling activity on the
day the Alfa Giulietta 2.0 JTDM 16V is delivered. The doorbell rings amid all these
activities and a friendly voice sounds from the intercom: “Good morning, Sir, your Alfa
is waiting for you.” I take delivery of the car in our office car park in Marburg’s old
town. After completing the necessary paperwork it is time to take a closer look at the
Giulietta. What can I say? She appeals to me straight away. Great colour, large turbine
rims, sporty compactness and trims with chrome look combined with headlights
resembling those of the 1960s Spider! The Giulietta has arrived in the 21st century. She
is an Italian beauty, whose sporty heritage is obvious. The large grille panel typical of
Alfa ends in the dissolved bumper with big air inlets. Starting from the large logo, the
sharp-edged design of lines on the bonnet continues through to the windscreen, lend-
ing the bodywork a certain tension. The coupé-like, sporty shape covers up the fact that
this is a four-door car. “Well solved”, I think to myself. The rear door handle is integrat-
ed into the window pane and lets the Giulietta look like a sporty two-door car. A cun-
ning detail! I set off for a building site about 20 kilometres away. Due to the fact that I
already experienced the Alfas that my father owned during the first seven years of my
Althaus-Projekte mit Giulietta: Haus W. – Wohnhaus mit Praxis ...• Giulietta and Haus W. – residence with ... childhood and had the chance to occasionally drive the Alfa Spider of my housemate
during my university years, I hope that the Giulietta will keep what her looks and pred-
ecessors promise: sportiness and Italian temperament. Before the route brings me to
... und Haus S. – Wohnhaus mit zwei Wohneinheiten, beide in Marburg • ... surgery, and Haus S. – private home.
the country roads in Marburg’s surroundings, it is necessary to manoeuvre in our con-
fined car park in Marburg’s old town. Although the Giulietta and I only got to know
each other minutes ago, I immediately manage the difficult manoeuvring and reversing.

The toggle switch will be a lot of fun...

The most important functions of the technical equipment disclose themselves at first
sight. Radio and navigation system are intuitively operated via a pleasantly propor-
tioned touch screen, heating and ventilation controls shine well visible from the black
surfaces further below. It is pleasant that the temperature can be controlled individually
for the two persons sitting in the front, an amenity I only know from cars of other cate-
gories. Below, but well accessible, I find the SD card slot for one’s own MP3 collection
as well as a practical USB port where one can charge mobile phones. As I notice, I don’t
have to do without heated seats either. Good equipment! Additionally, I discover a tog-
gle switch with aluminium look, which clearly differs from its neighbours regarding size
and type. This switch will ensure great fun in the course of my two-week test period, as
it will turn out in a few minutes. After a brief distraction due to the traffic, I continue to
carefully examine the rest of the interior. The clear design of the instruments immedi-
ately attracts my positive attention. I especially like the tube look of the speedometer
and rev counter. The multifunctional wheel has a pleasant touch owing to the surface
materials and a slightly thicker diameter, which is just perfect for my hands. Slowly but
surely I leave behind the city traffic and arrive at country roads, where I can open the
throttle a bit more. After one, two kilometres, I remember to test the toggle switch. So
I push it back and the large display in the middle of the dashboard shows me that I set
the dynamic drive control DNA to “A” for “All Weather”. It is immediately noticeable that
the Alfa has a little less power. “Good for city traffic” I think to myself and switch to „D“
for “Dynamic”, because I would like to drive a bit faster. Wow, now the car is ready for
a better performance and the accelerator reacts to my foot very directly. The engine
sound, too, adapts to the speedy drive with a full-bodied sound and thus appears a lot
more sporty. The Alfa conveys a very good driving comfort with a direct response to me
as the driver, who has to show a sensitive feeling on the throttle in the dynamic mode.

058 • AIT 06.2016