Alfa Romeo » Australian Car Advice

Alfa Romeo GT 2008 London Motorshow

July 23rd, 2008 No Comments

Alfa Romeo GT 2008 London Motorshow

Alfa Romeo stand 2008 London Motorshow

July 23rd, 2008 No Comments

Alfa Romeo stand 2008 London Motorshow

Alfa Romeo 159 2008 London Motorshow

July 23rd, 2008 1 Comment

Alfa Romeo 159 - 2008 London Motorshow

Alfa Romeo special edition Monza twins

July 21st, 2008 3 Comments

Alfa Romeo has applied the historic Monza namesake to two new special edition models in its range - the Alfa Romeo 147 and the Alfa Romeo GT.

As the home of Italian motorsport, the Alfa Romeo has a strong connection with the Monza name, dating back to 1933 with the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 Monza.

2008 Alfa Romeo 159 Ti limited edition

July 15th, 2008 8 Comments

Following the success of the 159 Ti limited edition launched in Australia almost a year ago, Alfa Romeo has brought back the special hatch for another run in 2008.

It has also brought the entire family along, with limited editions of the 159 Sportwagon and sedan also arriving in Ti format.

With the diesel variant accounting for more than half of 159 sales in Australia, Alfa Romeo has also added the choice of the acclaimed 2.4-litre Turbo Diesel engine complimenting the 2.2-litre JTS and 3.2-litre JTS V6 engines to the limited edition Ti line-up.

“When the 159 Ti joined the range last year, we thought that it would prove popular with its combination of performance enhancing features and visual enrichment, but we sold out in a matter of weeks and it has taken us nearly 12 months to organize a second Ti programme for the 159.” Edward Butler, General Manager for Alfa Romeo in Australia.

The Ti (Tourism International) badge denotes the performance orientated styling and packaging of the 159, adding sports suspension which lowers the 159 by 20mm and a Brembo brake package painted in Alfa Romeo red.

A subtle sports body kit, burnished aluminium accents and 19-inch alloy wheels wrapped with 235/40×19 low-profile rubber complete the look on the outside.

Inside, the cockpit is a mesh of classic Alfa Romeo pedigree performance highlights, including black leather electrically operated and heated sports seats highlighted by red stitching, with the same theme carried over to the steering wheel, gear lever and instrument cluster.

The first of three engines of offer in the 159 Ti range is a 2.2-litre 136kW JTS engine, capable of running down the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.8 seconds and onto a top speed of 222km/h while fuel consumption stands at an impressive 7.3L/100kms.

The 159 Ti 2.2 JTS is priced from $54,990 with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, while the six-speed Selespeed has a recommended retail price of $56,990.

A 2.4-litre 147 kW JTD - the most powerful turbo-diesel in Alfa Romeo’s line-up - drops the 0-100km/h time by 0.4 seconds yet obtains a combined fuel figure of 6.8L/100kms.

In Ti form, the 2.4 JTD variant demands a price tag of $58,990 for the manual and $61,990 for the Q-Tronic automatic version.

The flagship of the Ti range is a 3.2 litre JTS V6 that produces 191kW and 322Nm, covering naught to 100km/h in a respectable 7.0 seconds and on to a top speed of 240km/h whilst maintaining remarkable fuel consumption of 8.4-litres per 100km on the open road.

The range-topping 159 Ti 3.2 V6 model will set you back $76,990 for the manual version, and $79,990 with a Q-Tronic Tiptronic-style automatic transmission.

“If the package of equipment that combines to produce the Ti was available separately, it would add approximately $10,000 to the cost of the 159,” says Edward Butler. “But the price difference is just $2000 for the V6 version and $5,000 for 2.2 JTS and 2.4 JTD equipped 159 Ti, making providing the latest limited edition Alfa Romeo to carry the Ti badge also the best-ever value for money.”

The more practical Sportwagon variant starts at $57,990 for the manual and $59,990 for the Selespeed with the 2.2-litre JTS engine, topping out at $82,990 with the 3.2 Litre V6 engine with the Q-Tronic transmission.

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Fiat and BMW to team up

July 9th, 2008 8 Comments

The allies of the old world are once again reuniting, this time, for something a little more peaceful. Fiat and BMW today announced that they are considering plans to cooperate on joint platform and component development.

Sources in the know have said the two company’s will develop a joint platform which will power the next-generation Fiat Grande Punto, BMW’s third-generation Mini and the next-generation Alfa Romeo MiTo.

Alfa Romeo 147 Ducati Corse

July 7th, 2008 11 Comments

No, its not a new bike by Alfa Romeo, but rather very special Alfa 147 inspired by our own two wheeled magician, Casey Stoner and his 2007 MotoGP world title.

- Anthony Crawford

Alfa Romeo and Ducati, two great Italian companies have combined their creative juices to produce this warmed up Alfa 147 with a 1.9 JTDM 16V Q2 125kW (170bhp if you live in Perth) together with a whole swag of exclusive performance parts.

Alfa Romeo GT Cloverleaf

June 27th, 2008 6 Comments

That famous Italian sports car company Alfa Romeo is bringing back that magic “cloverleaf” badge on a special series of their GT car. At least, in the UK, that is.

Cloverleaf or in Italian ‘Quadirfoglio’ (four leaf) badges go way back to 1923, when Alfa works driver Ugo Sivocci, presented one to the team who was driving in the Targa Florio that year as a good luck symbol. From that moment on, the green four-leaf clover badge would signify high performance, competition models.

- Anthony Crawford

Sadly, Ugo was tragically killed that same year, while testing the Alfa Romeo P1 Grand Prix car at Monza, where he ran off the road and overturned. The car had the number ‘17’, which was never used again on any of their race cars.

I have a soft spot for the Alfa badge; I’ve owned two, a 2.0-litre Spyder and a 1750 GTV. Both cars were products of the seventies when the Italian carmaker was building some very special looking cars, which both went, and handled, with a deliberate sports attitude.

The only Cloverleaf car I ever driven, was an all time favourite of mine, a GTV 6 which belonged to one of the old man’s mates who had a few dollars. The exhaust note was race car like and the ride and handling was as impressive as it’s straight-line speed. Those were the Alfa days!

Whilst the marque itself has made a return to building beautiful sports cars in the guise of at least the GT and Brera, performance is somewhat dull and uninspiring.

It seems that these days, the four-leaf clover badge represents high-end variants with the right ‘look’ but without the right performance numbers on the dial.

Take the top shelf GT 1.89 JTDm 16V Q2 powertrain with just 127kW. You will need a whole 8.2 seconds to accomplish the ritualistic 0-100km/h sprint and top speed of just 216km/h which could only be described as average.

It’s a shame, as Alfa Romeo enthusiasts deserve better than this. However to be fair, the Alfa buyer these days appears to care less about performance than the styling of the cars.

All the GT Cloverleaf variants will be fitted with gorgeous 18-inch double spoke alloys, red brake calipers, satin-effect door mirrors and front grille.

Three out of four versions will sport a Cloverleaf badge on the boot lid while the range topper places the leaf inside a white triangle above the front wheel arch.

Inside, the high-end treatment continues with leather sports seats, aluminium pedals and instrument dials with a red background. Audio is by Bose featuring their RDS radio with CD and MP3 reader.

“Come on Alfa, how about some real value for money performance. It’s not like you haven’t been there before”

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MiTo and 8C, Alfa’s hot new twins

May 13th, 2008 7 Comments

The Alfa Romeo MiTo has joined its big brother the 8C Competizione for a striking family portrait.

They may come from totally different worlds - one is an ultra-exclusive supercar, the other a mainstream hatchback - but the resemblance between the pair is uncanny, a fact Alfa Romeo is only too eager to show-off.

2009 Alfa Romeo Mi.To Convertible CGI

April 18th, 2008 6 Comments

Alfa Romeo is hard at work putting the final touches to their all-new Mi.To (Milan<->Torino) hatch. Our computer graphic artists have put together a photoshopped image of what the Mi.To Convertible could look like.