Test Drive
Review
INTRODUCTION
If this doesn't do it, it's hard to know what will. We're talking about Alfa Romeo's eternal quest to create a car able to rival BMW's ubiquitous 3-Series: not an Italian BMW, but a car of equivalent worth and desirability which retains its Italian characteristics (the good ones, at least).
The 159 is the first Alfa to be launched under new Alfa CEO Karl-Heinz Kalbfell, formerly of BMW and Rolls-Royce and a declared Italophile when it comes to cars. The design and engineering of this 156 replacement were almost finished when he arrived, but his arrival has certainly concentrated Alfa minds and encouraged those who wanted this car to be as good as possible. It goes on sale in most of Europe very soon, but its UK launch is delayed until the end of the year to make time for the planned overhaul of Alfa dealers and their customer service attitudes - the chief reason for the handsome and likeable 156's slide down the sales charts.
If we're talking about the V6, this would be a five-star rating. The four-wheel drive transmission means there's none of the bad behaviour suffered by the 156 GTA, which aimed to channel 250bhp through its front wheels alone, and the V6 Q4's handling is a delight. It points like a rear-wheel drive car and corners quickly with a gentle tail-out stance, yet the front wheels pull it straight should too much be asked of the rears. Similarly, there's almost no understeer when entering a corner quickly, because the Torsen-C centre differential diverts torque rearwards if the front wheels have too much to cope with. That 47/53 torque split is just the starting point, alterable as needed. It all makes for a highly enjoyable, very fluid drive.
The steering is very quick to respond, high-geared like the 156's, but the action is more progressive now and the turning circle is no longer bus-like. It feels slower in the nose-heavy, front-drive version of the 2.4 JTD, and there's more understeer as you'd expect, but the 2.2 JTS has the agility of the V6 if not quite the flowing style. This four-cylinder car's steering is a little too light for its directness and accuracy, though. All three 159 variants, the ones samples by 4Car to date, are a responsive, eager drive.
All have a good driving position, too, with firm but comfortable seats and clear instrumentation. The handbrake, to the right of the centre tunnel, means that drivers of left-hand drive 159s (such as those we tested) will be stroking passengers' arms inadvertently, though, and for right-hand drive the handbrake might be too near to the driver for easy operation. Brakes are progressive in action, the gearchange is smooth and accurate. All 159s have a separate starter button, operated after the 'key' is placed in a slot, so there's no conventional steering lock and ignition key to damage knees in an accident
Traditional sound as Fusi has said
Clearly the V6 is fastest - it does 149mph and reaches 62mph in 7.0 seconds - and its flat torque curve makes the performance easy to exploit. It sounds delicious, too, the usual Alfa V6 note reproduced convincingly on this all-new engine. The 2.2 JTS also sounds correctly Alfa-esque, this time much like the old 2.0 Twin Spark complete with crisp-edged exhaust note. It has rather more low-speed pull than that engine, though, while still reaching 62mph in 8.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 138mph. The petrol engines' natural enthusiasm is one reason why you might favour them over a diesel, but the 2.4 JTD is as muscular and sonorous a unit as ever. It's very energetic with its newly-enhanced outputs of 200bhp and 295lb ft, too, able to reach 142mph and sprint to 62mph in 8.4sec - so it's notably quicker than the 2.2 JTS as well as more relaxed and more economical. Torque figures for the 2.2 and 3.2 petrol engines, incidentally, are 170lb ft and 237lb ft respective
SAFETY AND SECURITY RATING:
The usual boxes are ticked here, with up to eight airbags (all 159s have at least seven), active front head restraints to reduce whiplash, and stability control - Alfa Romeo calls it VDC rather than ESP - as standard. This Vehicle Dynamic Control includes a hill-holder device acting on the brakes to stop rolling back on a hill start. Tyre-pressure monitors are standard, and the whole car is built into a structure claimed to be stiffer even than BMW's very stiff new 3-Series.The lack of a mechanical steering lock improves the safety of the driver's knees (there's also a knee airbag), and the fact that the lock is electronic improves security. The pedals are designed to collapse under heavy impact, too. There's no EuroNCAP rating yet but it would be surprising if the 159 didn't score at least four stars.
COMFORT AND EQUIPMENT RATING:
Here's an Alfa with, at last, a genuinely good ride. It doesn't run out of front suspension travel like the 156 did, it dives less under braking and its damping is better controlled. The taut, responsive handling isn't achieved at the expense of excessive firmness underfoot, and a sport suspension option is neither available nor necessary. Wheels can be up to 18-inch diameter, although 16in or 17in are usual and inevitably make for better absorption of small bumps. The smaller, lighter engines lead to a slightly more fidgety ride, so the 2.2 JTS proves less serene than, say, the 2.4 JTD and there's a hint of engine shake over ripply surfaces. But it's still a big improvement over the 156 and compares well with Audi and BMW rivals. Road and wind noise are low enough not to be an issue.
There's fair space in the cabin, even in the back, and the rear seats' backrests fold down to increase boot space. Be careful leaving the front passenger seat, though, because it's easy to catch a knee on the protruberant dashboard.
Air-con is dual-zone as standard, triple-zone optionally, and there's an air-quality sensor. Other equipment, standard or optional, includes MP3 capability in the CD player, a Bose sound system, a built-in phone, Bluetooth compatibility, Connect telematics to go with a large sat-nav screen, and parking sensors. Seats can be trimmed in flock fabric, Alfatex, leather or soft-touch 'Frau' leather, or you can have a Sport interior with so-called Tibet leather.
