Rant: Is the Brera a joke?
Discussion
For me the V6 brera and 159 weight/performance is a real disappointment and sufficient for me not to really desire the cars, whatever the looks are like. I don't really care for 0-60 times, 30-70 through the gears and 0-100 are more important to me. There, my first 156 (2.5 saloon) managed 6.7 and 18.6, both well ahead of the 3.2 Brera and 159. My 156GTA canes them both with 5.5 and 15, and looks/sounds better. I feel no incentive to change. I have played with 159 and Brera and like the Brera's looks in the flesh, the new interiors are nice, but I feel a 156/147 GTA, GT 3.2, and GTV V6 are all more desirable than either of the new cars, and all offer vastly better performance per £.
Who cares if there's a GTA version coming. It weighs more than an XJ Jag now (1750kg in Autocar real life test)! Put a heavy V6 in there and it'll sink to the centre of the Earth. It'll need 400bhp to reach 60 in 6. Possibly the most thirsty, yet slow car ever to arrive since some 1970's brown rolls royce, with a boot full of slippers.
4WD said:
Who cares if there's a GTA version coming. It weighs more than an XJ Jag now (1750kg in Autocar real life test)! Put a heavy V6 in there and it'll sink to the centre of the Earth.
The one Autocar weighed at 1765kg was the V6, though. Or are you suggesting they add another V6? If so, I like your thinking.
FWIW (which I'd say is not much) Autocar also figured the V6 at 18.8 for 0-100 - so I personally wouldn't say that the 156 V6 is 'well ahead' if the 18.6 figure quoted above is correct. From 0-100, 0.2 of a second difference is about the same as having eaten a large meal before driving.
jamieboy said:
FWIW (which I'd say is not much) Autocar also figured the V6 at 18.8 for 0-100
So 265bhp and 4wd is enough to...ooh, fail to beat the original Impreza Turbo 0-100 time 10 years ago!!! My old 187bhp 'teg was quicker than that, FFS (to 60 AND the ton!)
What price progress???
havoc said:
jamieboy said:
FWIW (which I'd say is not much) Autocar also figured the V6 at 18.8 for 0-100
So 265bhp and 4wd is enough to...ooh, fail to beat the original Impreza Turbo 0-100 time 10 years ago!!! My old 187bhp 'teg was quicker than that, FFS (to 60 AND the ton!)
What price progress???
So, grown-up coupe in 'slower than rally-replica and stripped out hot hatch' shock?
jamieboy said:
havoc said:
jamieboy said:
FWIW (which I'd say is not much) Autocar also figured the V6 at 18.8 for 0-100
So 265bhp and 4wd is enough to...ooh, fail to beat the original Impreza Turbo 0-100 time 10 years ago!!! My old 187bhp 'teg was quicker than that, FFS (to 60 AND the ton!)
What price progress???
So, grown-up coupe in 'slower than rally-replica and stripped out hot hatch' shock?
Grown up coupe slower than much older cars with much less power...and the Scoob I picked because of 4wd powertrain losses (Go look at an R32 for an alternative - 16.3s from 237bhp). I could also have picked the Prelude 2.2VTi...0-100 there I believe is same ball park (17.x or 18.x), from 197bhp.
(Oh, FYI, the stats for the V6 Brera are virtually identical to the Celica T-Sport (7.3 and 18.6))
Fair enough, then.
Alfa has replaced the good but aging GTV with the Brera.
According to Alfa's figures, the 3.2 Brera is pretty much as fast as the 3.0 GTV, which I always find fast enough. There are faster cars available.
The Brera is safer, is more refined, is more practical (still rubbish back seats, but you can at least get a suit carrier in the boot now) and is more modern looking than the GTV.
To get back to the original post, if the Brera is a joke, then I get it.
Alfa has replaced the good but aging GTV with the Brera.
According to Alfa's figures, the 3.2 Brera is pretty much as fast as the 3.0 GTV, which I always find fast enough. There are faster cars available.
The Brera is safer, is more refined, is more practical (still rubbish back seats, but you can at least get a suit carrier in the boot now) and is more modern looking than the GTV.
To get back to the original post, if the Brera is a joke, then I get it.
jamieboy said:
The Brera is safer, is more refined, is more practical (still rubbish back seats, but you can at least get a suit carrier in the boot now) and is more modern looking than the GTV.
To get back to the original post, if the Brera is a joke, then I get it.
Furry muff.
Where does that leave the GT, then? It already ticks all of those boxes...
jamieboy said:
To get back to the original post, if the Brera is a joke, then I get it.
Compared to the competition, sad to say I think it is. It'll be competing directly against the new TT, the ubiquitous BMW 325/330Ci Coupe and convertible, and the 350Z. To name but the obvious 3 - there are others. But each to their own. I've always loved the sound of Alfas, occasionally their looks, but never the dealers or the build quality...so i've never bought one.
pdV6 said:
Where does that leave the GT, then? It already ticks all of those boxes...
Fair point. Comparing the V6s, the GT is almost £4000 cheaper, much the same performance, and is more practical as it actually has proper rear seats. So I guess if you can't afford a Brera, or if you need to carry full-size passengers, then the GT would be a good choice. I suppose the downside is that the GT is a much older platform, and arguably not as nice to look at or sit in.
Is it necessarily a bad thing for Alfa to give customers a choice of two coupes, each with a slightly different focus and in slightly different price brackets?
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