Styling
The Ibrida looks very much like the two pre-existing 21st-century Juniors, with the main differences being that, firstly, as it is the only model with a combustion engine then it has a twin-exit exhaust at the back, and secondly, it runs on smaller 17-inch wheels than the electric variants. Beyond that, it's the same design as any other Junior, complete with the option for two-tone paint schemes which render the roof in black, and those triple-lamp signatures fore and aft which are supposed to reference the SZ/RZ models of the late 1980s and early '90s; perhaps it would be more simple to say that the Junior's lights tie it in with the other three model lines in the Alfa stable, in the form of the
Tonale, the
Giulia and the
Stelvio. For what it's worth, despite only measuring 4,173mm from front to back and barely clearing 1.5 metres tall, the Junior nevertheless has plenty of presence and a good stance as you walk up to it, so it's an aesthetic hit.
Interior
Although there's a lot of parts-sharing going on in the Stellantis Group, as you'd expect due to the fact such synergies save corporations lots of money in the long run, the two models the Junior is most closely related to are the
Fiat 600 and the
Jeep Avenger. Alfa has, at least, attempted to lift the attendant cabin design with its own flourishes - and, to an extent, that has worked - but there are still some significant drawbacks to deal with.
Such as the hard, black-plastic doorcards, which are not only cheap to look at but pretty cheap to the touch as well. Or the flimsy cowl above the Junior's instrument cluster, which flexes alarmingly if you get hold of it and give it a wobble (top and obvious tip: don't do this, then...). Or the proliferation of switchgear, stalks and buttonry that you'll find in any number of Citroen, Peugeot, Jeep, Fiat and Vauxhall models. Not that there's anything wrong with any of these brands, you understand, but remember Alfa is positioned in the Stellantis superconglomerate as one of the top-end, premium marques, so you might expect it didn't have the same bank of switches on its centre stack as, for instance, the cheap-and-cheerful baby Jeep.
Still, the tasteful steering wheel, the sharp 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster (complete with Alfa's fonts and graphics, and a rev counter for the Ibrida's thermal powerplant) and the front seats are all high points, and on that latter score there's an incredibly 'oh, Alfa, never change' option. If you want them, the astounding Sabelt bucket seats that you'd find in the 280hp Veloce model or even the equally brilliant
Abarth 600e Scorpionissima can be specified. Yes, in a 136hp, 1.2-litre hybrid crossover that costs considerably less than 30 grand. Fitting them doesn't half improve the ambience of the Junior Ibrida's cabin, not least because it brings more Alcantara finishing for various trim panels to go with the upholstery on the chairs themselves, but they'll relieve you of £4,100 for the privilege of their inclusion. Natch, they're also part of a sport styling bundle, which brings in even more toys on top of the Sabelts... for exactly the same price. So do you just want the seats, or do you want the seats
plus some other stuff too for nearly 15 per cent the price of the entire blinkin' car? Again, this is so typically Alfa Romeo that it has almost reached levels of pastiche, yet we can't help but love the company for offering such bafflingly high-end and hugely desirable options in what is supposed to be an affordable, everyday car. We'd specify the Sabelts just to be perverse, to be honest.
Practicality
The cabin quality is generally fine and the driving position is good, even if the standard seats feel too high-mounted relative to the body; the Sabelts sure fix that, ensconcing you low and snug in the Ibrida. However, while the visibility out of the car is excellent as a result, and further the Junior with the hybrid powertrain has the biggest boot of any model in its family - 415 litres, 15 more than either the Elettrica or Veloce cars, and a figure Alfa says is 'class-leading' - there is a slight problem with rear-seat space. As in, there's next to none. With the driver's seat in position for someone slightly less than six-foot tall, a person of the same stature cannot hope to sit behind them in row two for anything more than a few miles at most. There's barely any kneeroom, headroom is only adequate and the rear head restraints jab in between your shoulder blades if you forget to raise them up before you get into the car. Equip the Sabelts up front, and the situation becomes even worse because there's then no give whatsoever in their seatbacks, meaning second-row passengers will have their knees painfully pressed into a fixed, tough surface ahead of them.
Performance
You can get this 1.2-litre, three-cylinder petrol turbo plus 21kW e-motor and 0.9kWh (0.5kWh net) battery mild-hybrid powertrain, complete with the six-speed e-DSC6 dual-clutch transmission and front-wheel drive, in any number of Stellantis product ranges. It's available in the
Fiat 600. The
Peugeot 208. The
Jeep Avenger. The
Vauxhall Grandland. Any of the Peugeots
5008,
3008 or
2008. In the new Citroen C3 Aircross and
C4, not to mention the older
C5 Aircross in which we tried it for the first time (and were less than impressed when we did, by the way).
It does make two different outputs, either 100hp/205Nm in some of the smaller, more budget-conscious line-ups in the group, or more commonly the 136hp/230Nm application as found here in the Ibrida. Nevertheless, that makes this Junior the least muscular, on paper, of all three models launched by Alfa Romeo so far, lagging behind the 154hp/260Nm Elettrica and the monster 280hp/345Nm Veloce flagship. However, it's also a good 240kg lighter than either of these, barely tipping the scales at a trim 1.3 tonnes as this hybrid, so it's marginally quicker to 62mph from rest than the Elettrica with an 8.9-second sprint (the EV takes nine seconds). It's also faster outright than either, clocking a 128mph top speed with a fair wind and following seas.
Given its proliferation in so many individual manufacturers' model lines, the only potential issue you might have with the Junior Ibrida's drivetrain is whether it feels like an Alfa engine or not. We always think of the 1.2 three-pot as a Peugeot unit, but nowadays its provenance is so muddied by its prevalence that it probably doesn't matter from whence it originally came any longer. And therefore it's a great match for the lightweight Junior. It has no problem giving the crossover plenty of low-down responsiveness and urge, yet it's also just as proficient piling on additional mph from a high speed if you want to accelerate smartly on the motorway. Theoretically, it has a combined 164hp but Stellantis never quotes the drivetrain's numbers as such; it definitely feels stronger than a 'mere' 136 horses, mind.
Makes a good noise, too, because it's a triple, and while we're not about the laud the e-DSC6 as the best dual-clutch gearbox in the history of all time, it has vastly improved in terms of mechanical refinement and its speed of shifts in relation to throttle inputs when compared to the first time we tried it in that aforementioned Citroen C5 Aircross, where it felt like it hadn't been mapped properly after installation. More plus points of the Alfa's straight-line performance are lovely, linear rates of progression for both the throttle and the brake pedal, with no 'fuzzy' eco setting for the former even available in the three-mod DNA settings. So the Junior Ibrida is always a pleasure to deal with when it comes to controlling its speed.
It should prove economical in the real-world too, given that - as we larruped the Ibrida up the hills of the Langhe in Italy's pretty Piedmont region for a good portion of our test route - it still managed to achieve 43.5mpg overall. Drivers should easily best 50mpg on steady, long motorway runs, and perhaps push closer to the claimed 57-59mpg bracket when driving around town, where the car will try and run on electric power as much as it possibly can thanks to the slick regenerative braking recuperation topping up the power pack. Slight note of caution, here: Alfa reckons that, despite the teeny-tiny battery and the crossover's official mild-hybrid status (as in, it's not a full hybrid), the Junior Ibrida can spend more than 60 per cent of its time gliding around on electric power alone. On first acquaintance, we'd refute that, because the 1.2-litre petrol engine was discreetly operating far more in the outskirts of Turin than we were expecting it to. About the only times we noticed the digital rev counter dying away to 0rpm and staying there for any significant length of time was when we were coasting, downhill, away from the Langhe.
Ride & Handling
An Alfa Romeo should feel sharper and more invigorating to drive than anything comparable, and the company has shown with the recent Giorgio-based Giulia and Stelvio models that it can live up to that reputation (the Tonale, however, is less convincing in this regard). And seeing as the Junior has already won rave critical reviews for the way the storming Veloce EV range-topper drives, then the Ibrida has a bit to live up to.
Thankfully, for fans of the Milanese marque, we're here with good news. Again, we're not going to go over the top and say the Junior Ibrida is astounding or thrilling to drive, but (accepting that this is a low dynamic bar to have to clear, granted) it's clearly one of the most engaging B-segment crossovers going right now. The fluid steering and elegant body control allow the Ibrida to flow sweetly down a challenging road, even if it doesn't have the most playful rear axle we've ever encountered, nor does it like powering out of tight corners in low gears (about the only area where its powertrain feels undernourished).
Crucially, it feels tauter and more composed than any other Stellantis product which uses its same floorpan and similar make-up; for instance, it's a heck of a lot nicer than a Fiat 600 Hybrid and more rewarding for its driver than the Avenger e-Hybrid (appealing though the latter car is). Alfa reckons its rear anti-roll bars and the design of the back of the Junior's shell ramps up the torsional rigidity of the crossover, while its engineers have performed their own chassis and suspension tune to bless the Ibrida with good handling. It's no small delight to us to be able to report that this set-up work has delivered.
Best of all, it hasn't sacrificed the more everyday things a B-segment crossover needs to do for more of the time. On a motorway, the Junior is getting on for imperious: wind noise is reduced to a mild buffeting about the B-pillars, there's only mild cavitation in the rear of the passenger compartment coming from the tyres, and both the suspension's workings and the burring of the three-cylinder engine are nothing more than background susurration. Couple in the elegant damping and at 70mph, the Alfa doesn't feel like an affordable, small, semi-urban runaround - no, the Junior feels far more senior than that.
It's good in town, too, the wheel control such that lumpen tarmac is smoothed out efficiently without the suspension's bump stops being called into play nor the shell of the Ibrida moving around too much, and then for faster arterial routes made up of multiple sweeping bends, the relative lack of lean leads to an all-round polished and comfortable ride. In summary, it might not be a master of any one dynamic discipline, the Junior Ibrida, but it's a pretty capable jack of all of them. And that's more than enough ability in a compact crossover like this to ensure the Alfa Romeo feels deserving of its hallowed company badge.
Value
Placing the Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida in context with just the other Stellantis B-segment crossovers which use this mild-hybrid drivetrain, it's priced competitively. The new Citroen C3 Aircross is the cheapest way to get the electrically augmented 1.2, starting at £23,740, followed by the Fiat 600 (£24,350), the Jeep Avenger (£25,999), the Vauxhall Mokka (£27,705), the Peugeot 2008 (£31,230) and then the DS 3 (£31,700). That means the £27,895 Junior Ibrida slots in between the Vauxhall and the Peugeot, and it should be borne in mind that some of the prices mentioned (namely, for the Fiat and the Jeep) are for this hybrid powertrain in its lowlier 100hp/205Nm spec. Therefore, the Alfa looks like something of a bargain for what it is, and it's also a solid six-grand cheaper than the next model up the Junior hierarchy, the Elettrica 156. The Ibrida is fully £14,400 less than the Veloce, too.
Alfa UK plans to sell the Ibrida in one specification, which comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, adaptive cruise control, dual-zone climate control, and the twin 10.25-inch digital screens inside, among much more. There are quite a few options which could push the price up further, not least those exquisite Sabelts (£4,100, remember?), but there's still some leeway to the entry tickets of all of the
Hyundai Kona Hybrid (£30,685),
Kia Niro Hybrid (£30,085) and
Skoda Kamiq 1.5 TSI DSG (£30,370) - the last of which doesn't, at present, even have a hybrid option - although the £26,350
Ford Puma is another matter.
Verdict
The Alfa Romeo Junior hasn't lost its edge in the transition from being an EV-only line to a crossover that's now fitted with a combustion engine as well, and while the new Ibrida is not without its issues - the shared switchgear, the cheap interior material finishing in places, the so-so main infotainment, and the laughable rear legroom - it does many other things so well that it deserves to be a success. Good to look at, pleasurable to drive, comfortable and refined at all times, and priced at a wholly acceptable level, the Junior Ibrida is definitely one of the stronger contenders in the B-segment game right now and also one of Alfa's more accomplished efforts of recent years.
