So here’s your Italian word of the day. Say it after me: Veloce. As in Vel-oh-chay. And say it the way Pacino and De Niro do, with a shrug of the shoulders and the palms of your hands facing upwards. 

According to the dictionarians at Collins, it means swift, or rapid, or something that moves at great speed.

So a perfect description for the newly-facelifted 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce I’m driving. See it zipping past you on the Gandy Bridge, and you could be forgiven for shouting out “E una macchina veloce”. Or “That’s a fast car”.

That said, just saying the three words Alfa Romeo Giulia makes you sound like Marcello Mastroianni whispering sweet nothings into Sophia Loren’s ear. Or, maybe, the other way around.

The Giulia is Alfa’s long-running compact four-door sports sedan that’s been around, largely unchanged, since 2016. It’s the oh-so-pretty rival to the Germanic trio that’s BMW’s 3 Series, Audi’s A4 and Mercedes’ C-Class.

Giulia prices run from the entry Sprint version at $44,935, and top out with the tire-fryin’ 505-hp Quadrifoglio Carbon at a whopping $87,625. Our Giulia Veloce RWD tester sits in the middle of the line-up at $51,695, or $55,140 very nicely loaded.

What sets it apart is design. This is still one of the prettiest four-door sedans money can buy. From that trademark “scudetto”, or “little shield” grille, to the flowing roofline, to the muscular haunches over the wheels, it’s as stylish as Clooney in Armani.

The changes for 2024 don’t amount to much, but include new LED adaptive headlights with a distinctive “trilobe” design. See them in your rear-view and you’d be forgiven for thinking there was a tiger on your tail.

What hasn’t changed is the feisty turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder under that curvy hood. While it’s certainly not the screaming twin-turbo V6 powering the Quadrifoglio model, it’s still a lively performer packing 280 horseys and a meaty 306 lb-ft of torque. 

Powering the rear wheels – all-wheel-drive is a $2,000 option – through an eight-speed automatic, the Veloce can rush from standstill to 60 mph in just over five seconds and hit a top speed of 149 mph. 

Dialing-up Dynamic Mode on the center console mounted drive mode selector, is like putting a shot of Red Bull in the tank. The throttle gets more responsive, the shifts get more urgent, while the sound from the quad exhausts goes full Pavarotti. 

But still what sets the Giulia apart from the rest is its truly remarkable steering. It’s as if that flat-bottomed wheel is hard-wired into your gray-matter, telegraphing every bit of information as to what’s happening with the front wheels. 

This is the essence of a great sports sedan, and one that makes even the shortest commute or longest road trip a joy. It’s what makes the Alfa feel alive, and energetic, and athletic. 

And punch it hard through a tight curve, or around a freeway on-ramp, and the body always feels tightly controlled with hardly a hint of roll. 

It doesn’t come at the expense of a comfortable ride either. Even over the lumpiest of blacktops, the suspension soaks up bumps like Bounty soaks up kitchen spills.

Inside, the Giulia continues the sporty theme. New for 2024 is a 12.3-inch gauge cluster mounted deep under trademark Alfa instrument hoods. The displays feature instruments with pin-sharp, easy-to-read graphics. 

And settling into those front bucket seats is like gettting a body hug from John Cena, with no shortage of power-adjustment to keep you comfy. With a little seat adjustment, you can also squeeze a couple of adults in the back seats with no complaints. 

Gas-engined Alfas are not long for this world as the Italian maker moves towards electrication. Rumor has it that a Giulia EV will arrive sometime in 2025.  

So maybe now’s the time to scoop up one of the last gas-powered Alfas and enjoy the veloce of the Giulia Veloce.