Alfa Romeo Giulia Ranks Well in IIHS Crash Tests: Video

TopSpeed

By Mark McNabb

Published Oct 4, 2017

Top Safety Pick+ is impressive for the Giulia’s year

The Alfa Romeo Giulia might be all new for the 2017 model year, but it passed the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s regiment of crash tests like an old pro. The Italian-American performance luxury sedan did so well, in fact, it earned the IIHS’ coveted Top Safety Pick+ award – the highest honor available.

The 2017 Giulia earned the IIHS’ highest grade of “Good” in all of its crash tests. These include the small front overlap, moderate front overlap, side impact, roof strength, and head restraints. On the active side of the Giulia’s safety equipment, it has an optional front crash prevention system. It earned a “Superior” rating by completely stopping to avoid rear-ending a vehicle from 12 mph. The system also reduced the Giulia’s speed by an average of 24 mph in the IIHS’ 25-mph frontal crash prevention test. The IIHS’ new-for-2017 headlight evaluation also show favor to the Giulia and its optional curve-adaptive headlights – a test that many vehicles have difficulty in scoring well. It’s worth noting that both the optional front crash prevention system and curve-adaptive headlights must be included on a Giulia before it can be considered a Top Safety Pick+.

And while the 2017 Giulia did extremely well in the IIHS’ tests, it didn’t pass with a perfect score. Its LATCH, child seat anchor system, scored only a “Marginal,” one grade up from the lowest score of “Poor.” The Giulia also has an interesting caveat when it comes to safety. Only models built after May of 2017 qualify for the Top Safety Pick+ award since initial crash testing revealed issues in the front-end structure, door hinge pillar, and door sill areas. Alfa Romeo quickly addressed these issues.

Despite its checkered start and hard-to-use LATCH system, the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia proves to be a very safe vehicle by the IIHS’ standards. It’s also an immensely fun sedan to drive, especially so in its Quadrifoglio trim. You can read our full review of the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.