http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=751&fArticleId=2597756

'THE BEST ALFA SEDAN YET': Well, that's what our guy in London, John Simister, says and who's to argue about a car as stunning as the new 159. This is the Q-car with its 200kW, quad-valve V6 - and all-wheel drive.

SPECIFICATIONS

Model: Alfa 159 3.2 Q4
Price: About £28 000, on sale in Europe in December.
Engine: 3195cc, quad-valve V6, 195kW at 6200rpm, 321Nm at 4500rpm.
Transmission: Six-speed gearbox, front-wheel drive.
Performance: 149mph, 0-100km/h 6.9 seconds, 24.6mpg official average.

This dramatic new Alfa Romeo is almost a fine example of a German car. What? Well, clearly the notion is nonsense because an Alfa is surely as Italian as a car can be.

That's its fortune, because to drive an Alfa is to enter a world defined by values of aesthetics, engagement with the driving process, aural treats from eager engines, and a flurry of form for its own sake which may or may not add to pure function (which, on its own, is a bit German)

But rational people like rational cars and an Alfa is a bit frivolous, risqué even, for some cautious souls. Or so they think. They buy BMW or Audi or Mercedes-Benz instead because these cars are German and therefore ooze quality, and are backed by fantastically efficient dealers, and confer on their owners a kind of quasi-discerning conformity.

Simple notions for people with simple prejudices. Now, please, welcome Alfa Romeo's handsome, engaging, tuneful and rather daring (to those secure in their big-brand Germans) 159 that was launched at the 2005 Geneva show. And face up to reality.

Alfa Romeo's recently installed CEO is a German, Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, who has spent most of his working life with BMW and more recently its Rolls-Royce division. He's also a serious Alfa enthusiast.

This is the ideal blend of attributes to make Alfas credible among those who default to the German brands but would secretly like something racier. Kalbfell is aware of the Alfa brand's emotive value and his mission is to translate that into the sales that Alfas have long deserved.

Having the right cars is one thing, having dealers keen to treat customers well is another. He is determined to fix both.

Sorting out the dealers will be well under way by the time the 159 reaches the UK at the end of this year. And the car? It's a cracker. Alfa Romeo spark meets German-standard solidity, quality, integrity.

(South African sources say the 159 will arrive in the first quarter of 2006 - probably March - and that we'll get three petrol models, the 1.9 JTS, 2.2 JTS and top-dog the 3.2 Q4 about which Simister is raving and, later, the 2.4 turbodiesel. - motoring.co.za editor.)

But Kalbfell can't take take credit for that because the design and engineering were largely complete before he arrived. Alfa's creators - including another German, design chief Wolfgang Egger - already knew what was needed but Alfa's new German gene doesn't preclude passione e emozione.

The idea is that the 159 keeps the best attributes of the beautiful but frustrating 156 and adds the Germanic dimension hitherto absent, which will create buyer confidence and long-term satisfaction.

So the style is clearly a 156 evolution, bigger, roomier (now with folding rear seats), less classically beautiful but more assertive. Where the shoulderline used to fade out and in again as it travelled through the doors is now a solid, tough ridge and the concealed rear door handles are no more.

The stubby tail is similar, as are the nose (inspired by that of the Brera coupé concept) and the interior look.

There are almost no parts carried over from the 156. The longer-wheelbase platform is all new and, in shortened form, will also underpin the production version of the Brera. The petrol engines are also new, with Alfa's own direct-injection cylinder heads and fully variable valve timing atop blocks from General Motors, the Fiat group's erstwhile business and technology partner.

Leather-look convincing

First to try was the 139kW 2.2 JTS, likely to be the range's centre of gravity in the UK just as the 156 2.0 was. It's simultaneously similar and novel to sit in, with familiar dials sunk into pods and angled towards the driver, but with a new feeling of quality and substance.

The leather look of the fascia is convincing and a 159 interior in black, with contrasting beige or dark red leather seats, oozes Italian style in a highly covetable way. This 2.2 has a light-greyish interior; it's best avoided.

Firmly comfortable seats and a fine driving position set a promising scene, so it's a pity the handbrake is awkward to use. It's on the right of the centre tunnel, to make space for storage and, in this left-hand-drive car, it means I'm groping my passenger if I'm not careful. There'll be less intimacy in a right-hand-drive 159, but the lever will be too close to your pulling arm.

To the road. And have no fears about the new engine's Alfa-ness because this one sounds almost exactly like the old two-litre Twin Spark (possibly the most charismatic four-cylinder production engine of recent years) with a lovely edge to its exhaust note and a crisp, eager response.

It pulls better from low speed than its predecessor, too, although the 159's ample mass "just shy of a ton-and-a-half" blunts the thrust a bit.

So far, so excellent. It gets better. The 156 had an unusual steering response, initially soft then very fast. It held the road well but made a real meal out of some bumps, especially the too-stiff sport-suspension versions. All is fixed in the 159.

The steering is more progressive, although still keen and a little too light, and apart from a bit of fidget on ripply roads, the 159 rides well.

Moving to 'the ultimate'

Next up, the 2.4 JTD, the familiar five-cylinder turbodiesel, now uprated to 150kW and a huge 400Nm. This is the head-meets-heart model in the range, with brilliant overtaking ability and a meagre thirst for fuel.

The range also includes a 112kW four-cylinder JTD turbodiesel and a 120kW engine, each 1.9 litres, but the pinnacle comes with the 3.2 V6 JTS Q4. The quickest 156, the GTA, had 250bhp, front-wheel drive and questionable decorum in its traction and suspension.

This ultimate 159 has 190kW but all-wheel drive to transfer it to the road, nominally 57 percent of it to the back wheels, 43 percent to the front, but variable according to grip.

This is it. This is the best Alfa Romeo saloon there has yet been, the car whose halo will best dazzle the German opposition. Not only is it rapid, with smooth torque across a broad rev-range and lots of energy at the top of it, but it also flows around corners with the nonchalance of an Audi laced with the point-and-drift thrills of a BMW.

It's taut, responsive, interactive - all those driver-pleasing things - yet it rides comfortably, too.

Here is the Alfa we have wanted for years. This top 159 will probably cost about £28 000 (about R342 000) but the range should begin at about £10 000 (R122 000)below that. If you're bored with the obvious German rivals, an enticing escape route is at hand.

THE RIVALS
AUDI A4 3.2 FSI QUATTRO £27 665.
New direct-injection V6 (like the Alfa's) is a crisp and muscular unit and a recent revamp has made the A4 a keener, less aloof drive. Great quality, but lacks excitement.

BMW 330ISE £28 460
Latest-generation 3-series isn't very handsome but is a delight to drive with its smooth, punchy engine and terrific handling. Adequately roomy, beautifully made.

SAAB 9-3 2.8T V6 AERO £26 795
Another route to a non-German premium saloon, this Saab has GM's new 2.8-litre, turbocharged V6 to deliver 188kW. Rapid, but not entirely engaging, and quality is patchy.

Ma vaaaaaaaaa, non è possibile, saran stati tutti drogati i tester......è un mattone che non si muove, sterza da schifo, rolla, e fa le curve al limite del capottamento con degli interni puzzolenti e catramosi incollati con le caccole.......piantala di postare ste robe brutte



Tornando serio......a me sta macchina fa impazzire sempre di più, con questo motore, nera......semplicemente una meraviglia di fronte alla quale, almeno esteticamente, tutte le altre della categoria scompaiono....nessuna esclusa

Pirelli PZero Nero 

Su Evo c'è la prova della redazione inglese, dopo che la leggo vi fo sapere, dai sottotitoli le premesse sembrano buone, c'è pure una foto in sano appoggio in controsterzo

Cavoli.... concordo... e' davvero stupenda... vediamo la SW 

Il muso di quest'auto (piu' che altro i fari) devo ancora digerirli, ma per il resto secondo me ci siamo. E finalmente hanno proposto una validissima alternativa a A4 3.2 Quattro e 330Xi.... Brava Alfa!!

...e a tuo padre fai comprare la BMW 

Va beh dai, il tester sarà stato un contadino meridionale ... 

A parte gli scherzi; se devo essere sincero l'unico vero difetto di quest'auto è, continuo a ribardilro, 150kg di troppo. IMHO, per sopperire a questo basta mettere motore ancor più potenti (speriamo dunque arrivino il 3.0Mjtd ed il V6 3.6cc benza).

C'è da dire però che la 156 mi dava l'impressione di vettura più dinamica e leggermente più giovanile, questa è un pò più seriosa, ma è giusto che sia così.

L'unico appunto è il frontale e la zona, vista lateralmente tra ruota anteriore e forntale che mi lascio un pò perplesso.

Per i lresto nulla da dire, in effetti le varie scaramucce di questi giorni si son incentrate su bazzecole oppure su luoghi cmq. Lo stessa cosa che successe per 147, quindi le premsse sono + che buone 

Se il peso in più vuol dire scocca più rigida e sospensioni migliori, come pare sia nel caso della 159,  io ci sto 

In effetti l'aspetto dell'auto è, a dir poco, poderoso! Quindi come darti torto, se la sicurezza è ai massimi livelli, chi se ne frega di mezzo secondo in più nello 0-100 

Mi chiedo piuttosto se la Brera, che dovrebbe rappresentare la sportiva vera, e quindi più della GT, non necessiti di una cura dimagrante che le permetta di essere un gradino più in su in quanto a prestazioni.

Ecco, questo è un ottimo quesito......vedremo se la Brera sarà più leggera come il suo spirito più sportivo richiede

Avevo anch'io le tue stesse perplessità, tuttavia dal vivo l'auto appare, sì poderosa (come ho già scritto), ma al tempo stesso armonica e molto dinamica. Inoltre la zona paraurti che tu dici nella realtà la definirei "muscolosamente (e non muscolarmente) pulita" e per questo seducente. In effetti si tratta di un ritorno alle origini (BRERA show car) e non di un discutibile adattamento così come è stato nel caso del restyling di 156. Se mai mi preoccupa l'estrema esposizione ai piccoli urti, anche se questo è un problema generalizzato a tutte le nuove auto.

Se ti posso dare una bella notizia, Brera, a parità di motore/trasmissione/ accessori, pesa 90kg in meno rispetto alla 159. Poco? Tanto? Fate vobis. 

Poco...

forse pochino....