- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 4 seats
- Engine
3.2i, 6 cyl.
- Engine Power
191kW, 322Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 11.5L/100KM
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Manual
- Warranty
3 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Alfa Romeo Brera
A whole lot of lira
If Alfa Romeo could make its cars drive as good as they look, it would be the world's most sought-after automotive badge. But this is not always the case.
Under beautiful metal wrapping, Alfa has too often delivered mediocre, over-priced machinery. The 166 and GT are two obvious examples in the current line-up.
Despite these shortcomings, Alfas have always been great fun to drive, with an almost animate ability to engage you in the pleasures of speed, sound and movement. They are easy cars to love, because they're never boring.
The new Brera coupe, styled by Alfa's favourite designer, Giorgetto Giugiaro, is built on a shortened version of the 159 sedan platform developed during Fiat's (Alfa Romeo's parent) joint venture with General Motors.
It's the road-going version of Giugiaro's concept coupe that drove the motorati wild at the 2002 Geneva motor show. So Alfa, adhering to the Italian credo that being noticed is everything, went ahead and put it on the production line.
As with the 159, the Brera is available with a choice of drivetrains. The front-drive version, priced at $69,950, runs a 136kW, 2.2-litre direct-injection, four-cylinder engine. The all-wheel-drive Brera, tested here, costs $94,950, with a 191kW, 3.2-litre, direct-injection V6.
A six-speed manual is standard; a six-speed auto will be available in January, only for the V6.
Open-top Spider versions are launched this week at the Sydney motor show.
The V6 is a smaller capacity version of the General Motors 3.6-litre engine that powers the Commodore. It was engineered and is built by Holden in Melbourne. But Alfa Romeo tuned the exhaust and made changes to the engine to ensure it doesn't sound like a Holden.
The V6 is fairly sleepy below 3000rpm, due to its 322Nm peak torque occurring at a high 4500rpm, and the car's weight - 1680kg. From 4000rpm to the 6800rpm redline, though, it delivers cracking performance, with a wild enthusiasm for revs and a lush, honeyed note. It is as smooth as they come but fuel economy isn't a strong point.
You need to use the gearbox to hustle the Brera along on a winding road. The gearing is a bit strange. First and second are quite tall, while sixth is relatively short, to overcome the engine's lack of bottom end pulling power. It can only just pull sixth at 100kmh, where it's doing 2250rpm. The shift action is smooth, light and tactile.
The all-wheel-drive system uses three differentials, with a self-locking Torsen unit in the centre. Normal torque split is 57 per cent rear and 43 per cent front.
Suspension is double wishbone front and multi-link rear. Brakes are discs with stability control and four-piston high-performance Brembo calipers on the front. Eighteen-inch alloy wheels with 235/45 tyres are standard.
Alfa has resisted the temptation to make the Brera a take-no-prisoners sportster, a wise move given the car's weight.
It has, instead, gone for a sporty, GT-style suspension tune, which suits the car well, although the front and rear springs are not quite in synch. The rears are a bit too stiff. Still, all-wheel-drive gives the Brera V6 dynamic ability far beyond any of the marque's front-drivers. Get on the power mid-corner in a front-drive Alfa and it starts digging a hole; this one just hooks up and drives out. Similarly, the steering wheel is free of torque steer and kickback.
You don't have to work as hard in the all-wheel-drive V6 Brera as in front-drive Alfas. The downside is that it's also less talkative, until you're pedalling it very quickly.
Some roll and bounce, as well as traces of body shake at the rear, are evident on rough roads. The brakes need a firm shove to provide optimum power and progression but fade resistance is excellent.
Around town the ride can be lumpy and loose. As a consequence, you're incessantly jostled in the seat.
Alfa ignores the current fashion for designer kitchen-look interiors, sweeping transverse lines and convex dash shapes that emphasise width and space. Instead, it sticks to a regulation sports theme, with a snug, curvaceous cockpit-style dash layout, with the centre angled towards the driver, retro touches such as three circular hero gauges for water, oil and fuel, similarly pukka main instruments, wall-to-wall black decor offset by ribbed metal inlays and aromatic leather upholstery.
The steeply angled driver's seat cushion wedges you securely and comfortably against the backrest, which has an integral, non-adjustable head restraint. There's plenty of legroom. The steering wheel is height- and reach-adjustable.
Automatic dual-zone air-conditioning, cruise control, glass roof, twin trip computers, foglights, 10 CD stacker, seven airbags, an alarm and leather upholstery are included in both models. The V6 adds premium leather, power-adjustable and heated front seats, xenon headlights with washers, Bose audio and Bluetooth.
You need a session with the owner's manual to nut out the audio system (which also has the CD stacker inconveniently located in the boot) but the rest is reasonably simple.
Vision is restricted by the thick rear corners, though big side mirrors largely overcome this.
Our tape showed precisely 1.5 centimetres of legroom in the back stalls, with the front seat adjusted for a tall driver. Anyone over 175cm or so will also headbutt the roof. Access is difficult and tedious.
Boot space is average for a coupe. A deep well can be extended with the split-fold rear seat backrest. A net is provided and a space-saver spare is under the floor.
Our test car had a few quality niggles. The driver's seatbelt would not retract properly, the boot release button on the key fob got a result only half the time, the cabin had a few sizzles and chirps and the windscreen washers kept the roof very clean.
The 3.2 V6 Brera is gorgeous to look at, goes with Alfa's typical brio and, with all-wheel-drive, is easily the best-handling car the Italians have delivered for many a year. However, $100,000 is a big ask in light of the competition. The Brera is up against Audi's new TT, BMW's Z and 3 Series coupes and the Mercedes CLK and it's $15,000-$20,000 over the odds.