Overview
I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if the design brief for the Alfa Romeo Junior read something like, “make it pretty and fun to drive.” Because, the signori in Turin achieved just that.
Alfa Romeo is calling this its return to the compact car segment, and those acquainted with the brand will know the Junior moniker is one that’s worked incredibly well for them in the past.
Back in the mid-1960s Alfa offered a version of its Giulia sportscar that had less equipment, a smaller engine and it was cheaper too, calling it the GT 1300 Junior. A decade after its introduction the brand had sold nearly 100,000 Junior models, and they’d attracted a younger audience in the process.
It became a suffix Alfa used for pared-back, slightly more affordable versions of its cars, including the exceedingly rare Zagato Junior models, and the quirky Spider 1300/1600 Junior roadsters, but also more recently its Stelvio GT Junior (marketing hype, in that case).
While the new Junior might feel sacrilegious when viewed next to the original GT 1300 Junior, the two share more in common than you might think.
Alfa Romeo can build an incredible performance car, case in point being the stonking Giulia Quadrifoglio, but is that going to keep the lights on in Turin? People like SUVs now, as much of a shame as that is.
As already mentioned, the original Junior aimed to tap into a younger audience, sparking a love for Alfas with a package that was mostly as good while actually being affordable. The new Junior aims to do pretty much the same thing, tapping into young people’s love of city-friendly compact SUVs.
Now, the Ibrida (Italian for hybrid) variant we tested sits downstream of the all-electric Ellettrica, in what is so far a two-model line- up. We do hope the brand decides to introduce a hotter Veloce variant, as they’ve done with their larger SUVs, but for now it’s these two.
Pricing is sharp, with the Ibridia starting at $45,900 (although our tester had a sunroof and premium paint bringing it to $49,880), and the Elletrica at $57,900.
Sure, that’s steep for a compact SUV, but the Junior competes at the premium end of the segment against models like the Lexus LBX (from $47,200) and Audi Q2 ($49,400) – so, it’s decent value.
Powering the Junior Ibrida is a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine, mated to a 21kW electric motor, producing a combined 107kW/230Nm. Drive is sent to the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch auto.
This is, despite Alfa simply referring to it as a 48v mild hybrid, a fully-fledged series hybrid system. It’ll even use electric-only drive in certain scenarios, like when gently taking off or parking.
Performance is zippy, with a 0-100km/h time of 8.9 seconds and according to Alfa Romeo the team behind the track-focused Giulia GTA took care of the suspension tuning. The brand clearly intended to make a fun car.
Visually, the Junior is every bit an Alfa. It’s angular, sharp, and futuristic but also wears heritage styling details like the scudetto grille, trilobo centre grille, and coda tronca rear profile. The triangular trilobo grille is also adorned with cursive Alfa Romeo branding – clearly aimed at young people, because it isn’t there for the purists.
It rides on 18-inch wheels shod in 215mm Goodyear rubber, which contribute to making the car look larger than it is. At just 4.17m long, it’s shorter than a Toyota Yaris Cross but it fools the eyes from every angle.
The interior is simple but still stylish. Alfa Romeo has done a pretty good job of elevating an otherwise budget interior through the use of spacious design and striking red and black colour scheme that makes the part-leather, part-cloth seats look a lot better than they would in a flat colour.
A 10.25-inch instrument cluster and 10.25-inch driver-angled infotainment display handle just about everything, with only a handful of toggles to take care of air-conditioning and other little things. Hats off to Alfa Romeo for including physical buttons, though.
Alfa Romeo offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for the Junior Ibrida, but there’s no option for capped-price servicing.
Driving Impressions
Like all Italian cars, it’s quirky. Actually, let me rephrase: like all Stellantis cars, it’s quirky.
The stop-start button requires an unusually long press, which I worked out after stabbing the button four or five times.
Aside from starting it, this is a simple car – especially by hybrid standards – to get acquainted with. Everything is intuitive, or automatic, like the regen’ braking which can’t be adjusted…it’s on all the time and that’s that.
While the Junior is based on the Stellantis STLA platform – the same one that underpins the Jeep Avenger – Alfa Romeo has made the base its own. Both visually and dynamically, which we trust was no small task.
The Junior is an attractive car. But, it’s also a fun car.
A low kerb weight does a couple of wonderful things for the Junior; first, its modest power output feels like plenty and secondly, the handling is playful and go-kart like.
What’s so engaging about this powertrain is the three-pot loves to rev, and will sing to remind you it's still doing most of the work. But, the electric motor definitely adds shove off the line to eliminate any discernible turbo lag.
The steering is sharp, with a tiny steering wheel and quick ratio, urging you to take corners just a little bit hotter than you would in a more humdrum SUV option – which is most of them.
Braking is also strong once you push past the beginning of the stroke, which can feel a little flaccid. Regen’ is there too, always (you can’t turn it off), often hindering momentum when you attempt to coast, but it contributes to the braking performance and feeds power back into the system.
Alfa’s chassis tuners have done inspiring work to get the Junior to do what it does, given the platform they had to work with. The suspension itself is definitely on the firm side, in favour of dynamic performance, but in a car this light it rides well regardless.
The six-speed auto is for the most part an intuitive experience, but downshifts can be a bit jarring. This seems to be most noticeable in Dynamic mode which seems to work the engine harder and rely less on electric assistance.
What did become apparent is the front tyres struggle to put the fairly urgent power, especially during take-off, to the road. This could perhaps be due to the tiny engine over the front axle, as it feels very light on its toes.
In a world of over-tyred electric cars though, the wheel slip adds to the drama the Junior offers. We’re here for it.
It’s probably evident by now that the week’s worth of driving erred on the spirited side. I did however manage to sneak a couple hours of highway driving in. All-in, I averaged 6.2l/100km, and I wasn’t particularly considerate. A more tempered approach would have dropped that figure into the fives, I'd think.
For a compact SUV, it’s fairly practical with 415 litres of bootspace. It isn’t going to hold all that much, but with the rear seats down you’ll fit a set of golf clubs. It’ll also fit a rear-facing baby seat, just. As far as putting adults in the second row, just make sure they’re petite.
I didn’t at first think it ticked the value box, because near-on $50,000 is pretty steep for a compact SUV. But, it’s a light-sipping hybrid that’s also pretty damn fun when a winding road presents itself – how many cars offer that?
If you’ve always wanted an Alfa, this one’s fairly practical, affordable and captures the brand’s spirit with its lively attitude. You’ll probably never stop wishing it was a Giulia, though.
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