Alfa Romeo 159 2005

[DJTaurus]

Check out the new article for 159 in italiaspeed.Mr Taurus has given those numbers 1 month before italiaspeed.I don't think that they are copying Taurus.

[Meg85...]

but mr.t has given what they said 1 montht before about 2 months before...so...

[DJTaurus]

but mr.t has given what they said 1 montht before about 2 months before...so...

Do you beleive taurus?

[DJTaurus]

The Alfa Romeo 159 will be at dealerships throughout Europe within 3 months, ready to take on German D-segment rivals such as the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4

The year 1997 will remain forever engraved in the long and fascinating history of Alfa Romeo. It was in this year when Alfa Romeo launched their Alfa 156, a highly acclaimed sporting luxury saloon which literally rewrote the standards of D-segment European cars overnight. The Alfa 156 offered an innovative and charismatic design, revolutionary technology (the first diesel to be marketed with Common Rail technology) and a new generation of gearboxes including the Ferrari Formula 1 derived Selespeed system. Within its eight year production span, the Alfa 156 won many awards, including the coveted Car of The Year in 1997, not to mention winning over the hearts of thousands of satisfied customers world-wide, many of whom were first-time clientele for Alfa Romeo. The Alfa 156s replacement, the recently unveiled Alfa 159, has therefore been planted with a weighty sum of expectations to live up to.

Penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Alfa Romeo 159 inaugurates the new style of Alfa Romeo, first seen on the Italdesign Giugiaro Brera concept car in 2002. It embodies fluid lines with elegant, muscular flanks and a prominent grille to ensure the continuity of sporting elegance specific to the many famous models produced by the Milanese marque.

With generous dimensions (4.600 mm long, 1.828 mm wide and 1.417 mm high) and exceptional build quality to meet the most demanding standards, the Alfa 159 is poised to attack the sales of its direct German rivals: namely the BMW 3 Series and the Audi A4.

The Alfa 159's interior is predominantly focused towards the driver. The driving position is perfect, the controls have a quality touch and all instrumentation is angled towards the drivers line of view. On top of this, the choice of interior materials is set to an exceptionally high standard, and the design has no fewer than 12 storage areas. Leg space has been improved and the boot capacity has been increased to 405 litres (compared to 378 litres for the Alfa 156).

Thanks to its new platform, the Alfa Romeo 159 offers the best torsional rigidity within its category (182.000 Kgm/rad compared to 153.400 Kgm/rad for the previous BMW 3 Series). A new suspension system with quadrilateral arms at the front and a multilink setup at the rear ensures the Alfa 159 with excellent road-holding, increased stability as well class-leading turn-in, even at remarkably high speed.

Sound proofing has also been improved, which is partly due to the new architecture of the door frame design which reduces wind noise in a drastic way. The glass has also been thickened to 5 mm against 4 mm on the Alfa 156.

With a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating, the Alfa Romeo 159 has all of the latest innovations in terms of active and passive safety: 8 airbags (front airbags for driver and passenger, sidebags, curtain airbags front and rear, kneebags for both driver and passenger), seatbelt reminder sound, seatbelt pretensioners, anti-whiplash headrests, retractable pedals during frontal impact, Fire System Prevention, ABS / ASR / VSC.

A lot of new equipment can be found on the Alfa 159 range: electronic keycard (with engine start / stop button), central console with coolbox, automatic Tri-zone Air-conditioning, digital tyre pressure guage, parking sensors at the front and rear, 6.5" colour TFT screen for satellite navigation, voice recognition, blue tooth, etc.

More equipment includes: folding rear seats, interior inserts from aluminium or genuine wood, electrically operated seats, bi-xenon headlights (with increased visibility of 300% compared to traditional headlights), Rear Entertainment Kit, etc.

The Alfa Romeo 159 will have a number of engines available from the start of its dealer launch, all of which ensure optimal performance in terms of power and torque. There will be three aluminium-block petrol engines using the latest JTS direct injection and Twin Phaser technology. These engines are the 1.9 JTS, the 2.2 JTS and the 3.2 JTS. The 3.2 JTS will only be available with integral four-wheel-drive. Alongside the petrol engines, there will also be three diesel engines available with Multi-Jet Common Rail technology, variable turbo geometry and Diesel Particulate Filters. These diesel engines come in the form of the proven 1.9 8V / 16V and 2.4 20V units. The 2.4 JTD M-JET 20V will be available with both two- and four-wheel drive.

All of the engines meet EURO 4 standards, but even more impressive are the diesel engines which meet EURO 5 standards due to their Diesel Particulate Filter technology. EURO 5 standards will remain valid until 2010 for automotive manufacturers.

Impression

1.9 JTS (6M)

1.9 JTD M-JET 8V (6M)

Progression

1.9 JTS (6M)

2.2 JTS (6M / Selespeed)

1.9 JTD M-JET 8V (6M)

1.9 JTD M-JET 16V (6M/6A)

Distinctive

2.2 JTS (6M / Selespeed)

3.2 JTS Q4 (6M / 6A)

1.9 JTD M-JET 16V (6M/6A)

2.4 JTD M-JET 20V (6M / 6A)

Pricing

Whereas the pricing of the Alfa 159 has not yet been decided by the management in Turin, a minimum average price increase of 7% over the Alfa 156 is expected.

Launch plan

The pan-European launch campaign for the new Alfa 159 will start rolling out early next month, ratcheting up to a formal autumn sales debut.

The first week of June will see Alfa Romeo launch an internet advertising and awareness-building campaign, and the delivery of sales literature, including the finalised price structure, to the dealers network. Meanwhile mid-June will see the Alfa 159 officially presented to the press.

A week later, on 20th June, there will be a special convention in Munich, while the end of that month will see the first cars, for promotional use, arriving with the importers across Europe.

These cars will be then used for a series of high-profile events. For example the Belgium importer will use three high-class locations in Northern Belgium, Brussels, Southern Belgium to present the Alfa 159 to a wide, discerning public.

All these high-profile events will lead up to a full-blown showroom debut for the Alfa 159, and the starting of deliveries to initial customers, scheduled to kick off at the beginning of September 2005.

Option

Parking sensors rear

Blue tooth and voice recognition

SATNAV with colour display

Leather sports interior

Leather sports interior full option

TI Pack

Exterior Sport Pack

Interior Sport Pack

Luxury Pack

Aluminium Pack

Utility Sedan Pack

Wooden steering wheel

Digital tyre pressure gauge

Blue tooth and voice recognition with off-board navigation

[Granturismo]

so Sakis what's your opinion about this article?

Is this something new and useful? I can just see that someone was eager not to mention the wheelbase while talking about the floorpan. Also "Pricing" and "Launch plan" has the taste of a cold soup.

By the way EURO5 is bullsxxx ... the European Union yet hasn't decided the new standard.

[DJTaurus]

so Sakis what's your opinion about this article?

Is this something new and useful? I can just see that someone was eager not to mention the wheelbase while talking about the floorpan. Also "Pricing" and "Launch plan" has the taste of a cold soup. .\

[Gigi]

Did 159 gain a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating? Really?

[ritmo]

Did 159 gain a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating? Really?

[aSSo®]

Ehi ma adesso parlate tutti in inglese?

[DJTaurus]

Did 159 gain a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating? Really?

All it is alfa's speculations after doing virtual reality tests.

Does uniair mimics bmw's valvetronic?Uniair is the first system with electronic management of the valves and valvetronic is hydraylic..Any other differences?