Category: Alfa Romeo

Frank Stephenson, who recently lost his job as head of design at Fiat, has been appointed for the same position at Alfa Romeo. He will replace Wolfgang Egger who joined Audi. Gossipmongers will say he was given the job because it was too expensive to fire him, but we prefer to think he had the job thanks to his talent.

Born in Morocco and master of as many languages as an electronic translator, he changed position quite regularly the past few years moving from BMW, where he designed the masterpiece New Mini, to Rolls-Royce, then shortly to Ferrari before landing at Fiat where he practised his retro-design talent on the next Fiat 500 due to be sold in July.

The loss of Wolfgang Egger who designed the magnificent 8c Competizione was a surprise at a time when the Italian manufacturer has big expansion plan: a baby Alfa, the new 149 and the American conquest.

Alfa Romeo could not escape replacing the stylish 156 SW. In a few months, it’ll be done as these spyshots indicate it. Like the 156, the 159 SW will rely more on style than on boot capacity, but then, an Alfa is not made for carrying heavy loads, except on the accelerator. Apparently, both Giugiaro and the Alfa Centro Stile did a great job, and once again, Alfa’s estate (call it Sportwagon) should stand out by its elegance, besides, it might not be longer than the saloon. Alfa targeting Audi and BMW, quality will have to be beyond any reproach, but we can expect prices to rise.  The 159 Sportwagon should officially be released for the Frankfurt motor show.

Thanks to www.autopareri.com for the photos.

Alfa Romeo will bring its highly desirable Brera in the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 24-26 June. This beauty, built upon the same platform as the new 159, is the incarnation of the splendid prototype created by Giugiaro in 2002. Alfa has not betrayed the original prototype. Unveiled in the last Geneva Motorshow, the Alfa Brera will offer 3 engines: a 2.2 litre 4-in-line delivering 185bhp, a 200bhp diesel 2.4 litre five-in-line and a 260bhp 3.2 V6, all already seen on the 159. The production of this 440cm-long coupe will debut early July and it’ll probably hit British showrooms in 2006, at a minimum price of nearly £25,000. However, one might wonder why Alfa has been granted 2 coupes, the GT and the Brera, while Lancia has none.
As a sponsor of the renowned festival, Alfa Romeo will display mythical cars such as the P2, Fangio’s 159 Alfetta, the 8C Le Mans, a 33 Le Mans, a 1750 Gran Sport and even a 6C 2300B. Of course, the new 159 will be there too.

On June 13, Alfa Romeo released detailed official information about the oncoming 159. We may have already presented the car that’s to take over the 156 quite thoroughly, we can add a few details though. 156 met an impressive success, with 680,000 copies produced between 1997 and 2005, and was the starting point of Alfa’s renewal. They cannot mess up with the 159. Alfa promises optimum quality and safety levels, a better handling and drive and a more flexible cockpit. The contrary would have been quite amazing.

At last, Alfa’s saloon receives a split/fold rear bench, a TFT screen monitoring the stereo and the navigation and numerous storage units. A tri-zone aircon will be offered on highest versions. 8 airbags will protect the passengers, besides, Alfa has implanted airbags protecting the knees. The company hopes the 159 will be granted 5 stars by the EuroNcap.

The dynamic safety of the car should be guaranteed by double wishbones for the front suspension a multilink at the rear and an excellent torsional rigidity of the bodyshell, elaborated on the Premium platform. With 180,000 daNm/rad, Alfa claims it’s the best in its segment.
As for the engines, we had already mentioned what they would be like, the only thing being that the 3.2 unit will develop 260bhp. This engine can be coupled with a 4WD transmission.

There are a few drawbacks though. Being bigger than its predecessor, the 159 will also weight a lot more: from 1480 to 1740kg. An average increase of 200kg! This should have bad consequences on the fuel consumption as well as on prices.

As a beginning, the 159 will be available in 2 outfits, the quality of which also depending on the engine they come with. The lower trim includes electric mirrors and windows, an air-con, 16’’ alloys, ABS, VDC (Alfa’s ESP), 7 airbags, an 8-hp CD stereo and a trip computer. Strangely enough, the foldable rear bench remains optional on every version. All models receive a 6-speed gearbox.
In a few months’ time, the Sport Wagon will be released and a common-rail Multijet V6 3.0 engine will crown the diesel range. Thus, Alfa hopes to compete more efficiently with the Audi A4, Mercedes C-Class, BMW 3-Series and Volvo S40.

• 1.9 JTS

Engine layout: 4 in line

Capacity: 1859cc

Bore and stroke: 86×80

Maximum power output: 160bhp at 6500rpm

Peak torque: 190Nm at 4500rpm

Kerb weight: 1480 kg

Top speed: 131mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.7sec

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 27.6mpg

• 2.2 JTS

Engine layout: 4 in line

Capacity: 2198cc

Bore and stroke: 86×94.6

Maximum power output: 185bhp at 6500rpm

Peak torque: 230Nm at 4500rpm

Kerb weight: 1490kg

Top speed: 138mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.8

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 25.5mpg

• 3.2 JTS V6

Engine layout: V6

Capacity: 3195cc

Bore and stroke: 85.6×89

Maximum power output: 260bhp at 6200rpm

Peak torque: 322Nm at 4500rpm

Kerb weight: 1740kg

Top speed: 150mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 7.0sec

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 21mpg

• 1.9 JTDM 120

Engine layout: 4 in line

Capacity: 1910cc

Bore and stroke: 82×90.4

Maximum power output: 120bhp at 4000rpm

Peak torque: 280Nm at 2800rpm

Kerb weight: 1525kg

Top speed: 118mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 11.0

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 41mpg

• 1.9 JTDM 16V 150

Engine layout: 4 in line

Capacity: 1910cc

Bore and stroke: 82×90.4

Maximum power output: 150bhp at 4000rpm

Peak torque: 320Nm at 2000rpm

Kerb weight: 1535kg

Top speed: 130mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.4sec

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 40mpg

• 2.4 JTDM 20V

Engine layout: 5 in line

Capacity: 2387cc

Bore and stroke: 82×90.4

Maximum power output: 200bhp at 4000rpm

Peak torque: 400Nm at 2000rpm

Kerb weight: 1630kg

Top speed: 141mph

Acceleration 0-62mph: 8.4sec

Combined cycle fuel consumption: 35mpg

Presented at the Geneva Motorshow, the Alfa Romeo 159 is about to go on sale. This executive car will replace the ageing but still beautiful 156.

Built on the “Premium” platform co-developed with GM and drawn by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the 159 offers a very elegant styling and powerful engines, even if those burning petrol might upset the Alfisti.

Indeed, they are elaborated from GM blocks, the Italian engineers having totally re-designed the cylinder heads and pistons though.

3 of them will be available: 1.9JTS, 2.2 JTS and 3.2 JTS, all fitted with direct injection and Twin Phaser technology. Powers vary from 160 to 250bhp.

As for the diesel units, they all derive from the existing 1.9 and 2.4 MJTD, except the new VM-designed 3.0 V6, which is to come later.The 1.9 8V delivers 120bhp, the 1.9 16V 150 and the 2.4 20V 200.

But passing from the 156 to the 159 will not be so easy for customers. No matter if the 159 is far bigger than the 156 (466 cm vs. 444 cm), it’s also a great deal more expensive, with a basic price estimated at £20,000 vs. £16,370 for the 158 1.8 TS!

By way of example, here are the price estimations for Switzerland and Italy:

159 1.9JTS Progression 38.000 CHF, 29.000 €
159 2.2JTS Progression 40.000 CHF, 30.500 €
159 3.2JTS Q4 Distinctive 52.000 CHF, 39.500 €
159 1.9JTDm Progression 38.000 CHF, 29.000 €
159 1.9JTDm Progression 40.000 CHF, 30.500 €
159 2.4JTDm Distinctive 46.000 CHF, 35.000 €

Let’s hope these prices will drop, otherwise, if compared to the BMW 3-Series, the 159 would be penalised by its expected higher depreciation, even if quality seems to be the same level as a BMW’s at first sight. Besides, many 156 owners could be tempted not to replace their car with a costly 159 and, for example, buy a cheaper Peugeot 407 instead.