Friday 3rd November 2006

Alfa Romeo Brera V6

Graham Bell tries the most powerful version of Alfa’s latest coupé.

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Afla Romeo Brera V6

Alfa Romeo’s Brera concept shown back in 2002 was a petrolhead’s wet dream. The lightweight plastic and aluminium bodywork boasted stunning Giugiaro styling with trick scissor doors, there was a Ferrari derived 4.2 litre V8 driving the rear wheels and Alfa Romeo talked of a unique spaceframe chassis for the production version.

Oh yes, it was actually going to make this car.

Then the production version appeared and what we actually got was a slightly less exotic looking steel body with conventional doors over a shortened Alfa 159 platform, and a choice of four cylinder engines (one a diesel) driving the front wheels.

It was like being promised a hot fortnight in Bermuda with a Page Three girl and then being given a wet weekend in Barrow-in-Furness with a checkout girl.

Well maybe not quite that bad…

Svelte

As far as the car’s looks go, in photographs at least the Brera concept has a svelte sexiness the production version lacks, yet comparing the two shows the styling hasn’t actually changed very much.

The biggest change is to the sides, the concept having single piece glass fitted to long scissor doors. The concept also looks a little lower and smoother, its largely one-piece body lacking the various join lines of the production version. Small differences perhaps, but enough to make a big difference to how the car looks.

Not that the production Brera is an ugly car -- far from it -- but it’s not really stunning either.

The same could be said of its performance thanks to replacing the proposed V8/rear wheel drive/spaceframe chassis combo with running gear from the 159, so instead of a potential 400+bhp the Brera offers a maximum of 260bhp from the most recently introduced £28,750 V6 version.

Power

This uses Alfa’s new 3.2 litre JTS V6, which features continuously variable valve timing and injects petrol directly into the combustion chambers, helping to produce eight per cent more power and 11 per cent more torque than the previous 3.2 litre ‘Arese’ V6.

Rather than risking massive amounts of torque steer by feeding all this through the front wheel drive system from the four cylinder models, Alfa’s engineers opted to give the V6 cars four-wheel drive. Using a self-locking Torsen centre differential, Alfa’s ‘Q4’ system splits torque 43 per cent front/57 per cent rear in normal conditions, but when grip is variable it can feed up to 72 per cent to the front and 78 per cent to the rear to maximise available traction.

Inevitably, this comes with an electronic system to step in if you overcook it – Alfa dubbing its system Vehicle Dynamic Control -- and inevitably I kept switching it off.

Suspension is straight from the 159, which means double aluminium wishbones up front and a multilink system featuring a combination of transverse and longitudinal links at the rear -- and it’s very stiff.

Connecting this lot to the tarmac are 225/50 x 17 Pirelli P Zero Rossos wrapped round a choice of alloy wheel styles (with 18-inch rims an option) behind which lurk 330mm vented discs with Brembo four pot aluminium callipers front and 292mm vented discs at the rear.

Traditional

As with the styling and mechanical spec, the production Brera’s interior has also been ‘toned down’ compared to the concept’s, the end result mixing traditional Alfa styling cues like the fluted trim and twin-dial instrument pod with modern features like the electronic display and brushed aluminium detailing.

The soft touch plastics and (optional) leather trim all look and feel to be of high quality and well put together, and the very efficient dual zone automatic climate control comes as standard. Although this car doesn’t have it, satnav is an option, which along with Alfa’s ‘bCONNECT’ system offers a range of services via a live phone link to an English speaking operator as well WAP internet connection, Bluetooth and voice commands for hands-free phone use.

With an ample footrest, well spaced pedals located directly ahead and a steering column that adjusts for reach and rake the Brera should provide a good driving position for most people who find themselves in the comfortable high back driver’s seat.

As for the Brera’s rear seats, well they’re definitely for children only, with nowhere near enough legroom or headroom to comfortably accommodate average size adults.

When it comes to accommodating bits and bobs, there’s a glovebox that holds little more than the owner’s manual, a small compartment under the armrest and some side pockets front and rear, none of which are particularly large. 

There is however a useful 300 litres in the rear luggage compartment, which can be increased to 610 litres by folding down the 60/40 split rear seat (with ski hatch) though the resulting load space is hardly flat floored.

But of course with an Alfa coupe the most important thing isn’t luggage space but what it’s like to drive.

Driving it

Well, the first thing you notice is that both clutch pedal and gearchange are very light in operation and that the gearchange for the standard 6-speed manual box is nice and precise.

Less impressive is a lack of initial bite from the brakes, and on a couple of occasions when braking for traffic lights I wondered if the Brera was actually going to stop in time. However, during high-speed hooning when a dab on the brakes was needed before a bend they felt powerful and completely confidence inspiring, with the Brera also remaining straight and stable during a high-speed emergency stop test.

Thanks to its rigid bodyshell and stiff suspension the Brera certainly feels taut and solid on the road, and in most circumstances ride quality is pretty good too. Around town it rides speed bumps well, while at higher speeds along rural roads it makes a good fist of smoothing out most road surfaces, although it does thump over potholes and can get choppy when driven fast along bumpy B roads.

With a turning circle of 10.7 metres and just 2.25 turns lock to lock the Brera has some of the quickest steering around -- it’s just a pity that it feels so remote, conferring little tactile connection between your hands and the front wheels.

Hefty

Still, there’s no doubting it does the job when you hustle the V6 Brera’s hefty 1630kg through the twisties, the car changing direction more keenly than its bulk would suggest and always feeling well balanced and extremely sure footed even if it isn’t particularly involving.

Lapping some favourite roundabouts with the Pirellis squealing like an excited VBH showed the V6 Brera to have neutral handling with just an occasional brief hint of understeer, while applying more throttle mid-bend didn’t even make the back end twitch.

It was however possible to bring the back end round a touch by coming off the throttle mid-bend, but again, just a brief hint rather than anything lairy, and with suitable adjustments to throttle and steering any sliding was easily controlled.

Such control is probably helped by the flexibility of that V6, which with 90 per cent+ of its 237lb-ft maximum torque being available between 1,800rpm and 6,250rpm provides a very broad spread of potent but docile pulling power.

This means that you don’t have to constantly stir the six-speed gearbox and rev the engine’s nuts off to make good progress -- but with maximum power being produced at 6,300rpm you’ll make better progress if you do.

Rev-happy

Italian engines are renowned for being rev-happy, and the JTS V6 pulls smoothly and keenly up until the limiter cuts in around 7,000rpm (except in first when it’s around 6,200rpm) and while not the most tuneful of Italy’s powerplants still sounds quite purposeful – if rather muted -- when you wind it up.

Although there’s certainly enough acceleration for easy overtaking, as alluded to earlier, with claimed figures of 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds and 149mph the V6 Brera’s performance is respectable rather than stunning.

In fact those last four words basically sum this car up. It looks quite good, it’s reasonably fast, it’ll be cheaper, cooler and more exclusive than an equivalent TT or 3-Series coupe and I’m sure it could transport you long distances in comfort and safety. The downside is that it’s an efficient rather than an exciting drive and sadly it just doesn’t stir the soul like an Italian performance car should.

By contrast, the Brera concept can stir the soul just by looking at it -- I can’t help thinking that, if only Fiat had let Alfa Romeo build the car its stylists and engineers originally devised, then the result really could have been something very special.

Maybe Fiat has reached the same conclusion, which might be why Alfa Romeo have recently announced that its latest automotive wet dream, the 8C, will be going into limited production virtually unchanged from the original concept.

Be prepared for some serious soul stirring…

© Copyright Graham Bell 2006

[mag1caltrev0r]

"It was like being promised a hot fortnight in Bermuda with a Page Three girl and then being given a wet weekend in Barrow-in-Furness with a checkout girl."

Hey, I'm from Barrow-in-Furness and I can imagine how disappointing you must feel!

I'd like to point out that I no longer live there... :-)