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Alfa-Romeo is laying plans to build a revolutionary rear-wheel-drive flagship that will aim to set new standards in handling and chassis sophistication, according to still-secret plans uncovered by evo. The new car - likely to be badged 168 - is also intended to give the Alfa marque a new prestige and firmly cement the brand as part of the Ferrari-Maserati combine. 'Alfa should be separate from Fiat,' said one highly-placed source.

The key to the 168 is its adoption of the same basic layout as the new Maserati Quattroporte and Ferrari 612S - front-engined, rear-drive. Like those two - and uniquely in its class - the new Alfa will also have its engine mounted far back between the front wheels and have its transmission mounted in unit with the rear axle, a so-called transaxle.

It's now clear that the limited-run Alfa 8C Competizione - which borrows its front-mid-engine/transaxle layout from Maserati, bottom picture - was not a one-off, but the green light for the new approach.

However, Alfa Romeo engineers are planning to take this chassis layout another big step into the future by adding electronically-controlled rear-wheel steering. According to our highly-placed Alfa source, rear-wheel steering has a number of advantages, most important of which is making a rear-drive chassis safer and more controllable for the majority of drivers.

In many modern rear-drive cars oversteer is kept in check by increasingly sophisticated electronic traction and skid-control systems. But this new system will be able to respond to the onset of oversteer with much greater subtlety and correct the car's attitude without the driver being aware of the intervention.

Rear-wheel steering can also be used to help maintain stability at speed, increase agility at low speeds and make emergency manoeuvres much safer.

According to our source, BMW's ASC Active Steering effectively does the same job as rear-steering but it is a complex and expensive technology to develop. Alfa's move to rear-steering also allows the company to retain its ultra-quick 2.5 turns lock-to-lock steering rack, now regarded as part of the brand's 'DNA'.

However, evo has uncovered another reason for Alfa's adoption of rear-wheel-steering - the ability to integrate it into an active suspension system. Maserati's Coupe and the new Quattroporte already have the 'Skyhook' system (imagine the body being hung from a crane, so isolated is it from the motions of its suspension) and it seems that this technology will filter down to the flagship Alfa. Also on the cards is the twin-clutch semi-auto DSG gearbox first seen in the Audi TT, which costs the same to fit as a conventional auto, say insiders.

According to a senior engineering source at Lotus, rear-wheel steering 'can have major benefits in theory - it's just that many current systems have not been through enough development work. It's definitely something coming, though.'

The source told evo that Lotus had recently assessed a Nissan Skyline (which is fitted with rear-steer) and found that when it was driven exceptionally hard, rear-steer was 'fantastic'. At lower speeds, though, the system would intervene and deliver 'an uneasy feeling'. 'Setting the car up for a corner it wasn't unsafe, it just didn't have a really 'pure feeling'. But a rear-steer system is only as good as the amount of mapping put into it. These systems just need finer increments and they can be integrated into traction and stability systems very easily.'

The 168 will effectively replace the ageing 166 and is expected to be unveiled in late 2006 and launched early the following year. (As part of a plan to keep the 166 rolling for another three years, the elderly frontithin 18 months.) According to insiders, the 168's wheelbase is 150mm longer than that used by the 166. Moving the bulky gearbox onto the back axle apparently creates more space for the front passengers.

Work has only just begun on the new chassis, and the styling brief is still being written, but our senior source suggested that the favoured look is likely to be a modern one-box shape like the Peugeot 407 and Opel Insignia concepts. evo was also told that - unlikely as it may seem - Saab is in on the development of the new platform and had allocated at least one senior engineer to the project already. Further Alfas are likely to be based on the chassis, including a big 2+2 coupe

Se ne è parlato già qui:http://autopareri.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3273

:wink:

Se ne è parlato già qui:http://autopareri.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3273

:wink:

Grazie per l'aiuto, Abarth :wink: