Compare the2022 Audi A3VS 2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia

The A3’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Giulia doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A3 and Giulia have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A3 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Giulia’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

The A3’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Giulia.

Both the A3 and the Giulia have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all-wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.

The A3’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Giulia’s (12 vs. 5 years).

There are over 2 times as many Audi dealers as there are Alfa Romeo dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the A3’s warranty.

The Audi A3’s engine uses a cast iron block for durability, while the Giulia’s engine uses an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Alfa Romeo vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Audi 20th in reliability. With 69 more problems per 100 vehicles, Alfa Romeo is ranked 32nd.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2021 Auto Issue reports that Audi vehicles are more reliable than Alfa Romeo vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Audi 15 places higher in reliability than Alfa Romeo.

On the EPA test cycle the A3 gets better mileage than the Giulia:

Regenerative brakes improve the A3’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Giulia doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Audi A3 higher (7 out of 10) than the Alfa Romeo Giulia (3). This means the A3 produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Giulia every 15,000 miles.

The A3 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Giulia doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A3’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 45 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Giulia’s standard 50 series tires.

The A3 is 5.5 inches shorter than the Giulia, making the A3 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The A3 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Giulia doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A3’s optional Park Steering Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Giulia doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

The Audi A3/S3/RS 3 outsold the Alfa Romeo Giulia by 21% during 2020.