- Doors and Seats
2 doors, 2 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 Spider V6
Spinning its web
Spider is sports-car speak for a convertible and a name that has been synonymous with European marques including Alfa Romeo for more than 50 years, so great expectations fall on the latest iteration of one of the breed's most evocative models.
Its spiritual predecessor, Alfa's 1956 Giulietta Spider, was an instant classic, with looks and performance befitting its oh-so-Italian roots.
The latest Spider, launched in Europe in late 2006, arrived here last year. The 3.2-litre JTS V6 version - the most expensive Alfa you can buy in Australia - was previously only available as a manual but is now mated with Aisin's "Q-Tronic" six-speed, semi-automatic gearbox.
The two-seater convertible Spider comes in two versions, with the $97,990 V6 (with the new Q-Tronic gearbox, subtract $3000 for manual) we tested coming in above the four-cylinder, 2.2-litre JTS model at $69,990 (add $4000 for the Selespeed automated manual gearbox).
The electronically retracting fabric roof disappears in 29 seconds, and seat heaters are standard, so you can keep the top down even on chillier days. There's climate control, cruise control, premium leather upholstery, a Bose sound system with 10-disc changer, remote central locking and electronic seat adjustment. The cheaper 2.2-litre model deletes the electric seats and is fitted with a lower grade of leather seats and sound system.
The Spider hasn't been tested by the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) and so has no independent safety rating. But the Alfa 159, on whose architecture it is based, received the maximum five-star rating.
Both Spiders receive two-stage front and side airbags and a driver's knee airbag but lack curtain airbags. Hoops situated behind the driver and passenger offer some head protection in a rollover.
The Spiders get ABS brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and anti-slip regulation, as well as Alfa's version of an electronic stability program, known as vehicle dynamic control.
Rear parking sensors and rain-sensing wipers are standard on both models, while the V6 gets bi-xenon headlights.
Alfa packs a significant amount of creature comfort into a confined space. Being a smallish car with a biggish engine and needing somewhere to stow the lid on a sunny day means Alfa has had to make use of every last centimetre.
All switchgear and stalks are easily accessible to the driver, although it's worth perusing the handbook to figure out the myriad headlight and fog light configurations available. Sound system controls are sensibly placed on the leather-wrapped steering wheel, which features upshift and downshift paddles behind the spokes to encourage the sort of spirited driving this car was built for. It's a shame the plastic paddles feel cheap and the shift action stiff.
It is a noisy ride with significant engine drone intruding and some wind buffeting due to the short windscreen. That quibble aside, it's not a bad place to spend time.
Behind the seats is enough room for a couple of small bags. The doors are wide and heavy - care is needed when parked in confined spaces because a decent shove is required to get them moving.
Although the boot swallows a space-saver spare wheel, it is severely impinged upon by the roof-folding mechanism and a 10-disc CD changer built into the boot lining. Two overnight cases or a very restrained shopping expedition are about its limits.
It pays not to think about where the Spider's 3.2-litre V6 engine came from, because it will only bring heartache to you and your 90-something thousand dollar-lighter wallet. Yes, the 191 kW, 322 Nm donk starts its life at GM Holden's Port Melbourne plant, sharing more than a passing nod with the 3.6-litre V6 fitted to the current generation of Commodores.
In such a small car it has plenty of shove, albeit only above 3000 rpm, which is where you would rather the tacho remain because cruising below that mark it sets up a loud, Cessna-like drone that constantly encourages you to drop back a cog and enjoy the livelier buzz of the engine's upper end. Indulge this whim, though, and feel the wrath at the bowser.
The Q-Tronic six-speed semi-auto is really only a viable proposition when taken out of its self-shift mode - where it hunts around incessantly and holds gears far too long - and run as a manual, either via the tiptronic-style gearshift or the wheel-mounted paddles. Even then it's intrusive and nannying, over-ruling drivers on the first-to-second shift at 4500 rpm, well before the top of its usable rev range. However, it's enjoyably tractable when provoked.
The V6 version of the Spider we drove adds permanent all-wheel-drive as standard, a system of three differentials sending 57% of torque to the rear wheels - keeping with the car's performance aspirations - and 43% to the front.
Double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension keep the car flat and composed until pushed hard into corners, when it tends to understeer. The tight, sporty set-up did unsettle the car considerably on corrugated B-roads.
Fuel use is probably the Alfa's Achilles heel. Spirited driving on a winding road while attempting to keep the engine where it operates best returned a figure of nearly 19 L/100 km, with about 15 L/100 km around town, falling to 11 L/100 km on the highway.
The Alfa Romeo Spider is a car of contrasts, of frustrations balanced by reward, of compromises contrasted with opulences. It teases, it pleases, then it breaks your heart.
A less-raucous engine paired with a more decisive semi-auto 'box would turn a car you have to over-drive to get the most out of, into a classic befitting its inspirational heritage.