Another beguilingly beautiful new Alfa Romeo, sparkling in the hot Italian summer sun…

Pretty thing, isn’t it? Pininfarina style, handsomely stitched soft leather upholstery, enticing black-and-aluminium cabin, doubly welcoming because the new Spider has no roof and that drop top welcomes you inside like an open door invites you into a grand home.

What’s under the bonnet?

V6 or twin-cam four – you choose but we started with the bigger engine. Push the starter button and that creamy smooth V6 snarls into action. The clutch is sweet, the steering fluid and linear, but the gearchange, although short in throw is slightly vague. All V6 versions of the Spider get four-wheel drive. The other engine option, the 2.2 four, is less torquey, so front-drive suffices to parcel out the power. The 3.2 V6 is the new General Motors-collaboration unit, built in Australia (how much further from Italy can you get?) but it’s zestful and elastic just like the old Alfa V6 that serenaded a generation of GTV buyers, although less tuneful. It zings around to the 7000rpm electronic rat-a-tat-tat cut off.
continue reading "Alfa Romeo Spider 3.2 V6"

If you were disappointed at having missed out on one of Alfa’s 500 8C Competizione coupés, here’s more bad news: you’ve missed out on the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider too. Another 500 will be made, with 35 coming to the UK, but they’ve all been reserved.
Then again, you might be relieved at having missed out when you see the bill those lucky 35 are being presented with: at £174,000, the Spider is closer in price to the V12-powered Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano than the Ferrari California with which it shares its open-topped, front-mounted V8 configuration.
The 8C coupe cost ‘just’ £112,000: exchange rate fluctuations account for much of the hike, but can the Alfa Romeo 8C Spider really justify such a colossal price?

So what do you get for your average semi-detached house?

The Spider is 90kg heavier than the coupe due to the stiffening required by its Maserati Quattroporte-derived steel chassis; there’s a huge cross-brace between the front suspension turrets, beefier sills and extra beams in the floor. The folding hood is fabric to save weight and keep the centre of gravity low; it’s powered but needs to be freed and latched manually.
There are new Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes – 380mm at the front, 360mm behind – which save 14kg of rotating and unsprung mass over the coupe’s steel discs. The engine is unchanged, and still magnificent; a Ferrari-made, Maserati-derived 450bhp 4.7-litre V8 driving the rear wheels through a six-speed paddle-shift (but single-clutch) transaxle.
The springs have been stiffened and the dampers softened to avoid sending tremors into the less rigid chassis. All the panels remain carbonfibre; the paintwork is flawless but the bonnet and bootlid have been left gloriously naked on the underside. The bootspace beneath would struggle to take a briefcase.
continue reading "Alfa Romeo 8C Spider"

The lowdown

This gorgeous creation is the new Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione. It looks familiar because it’s the production version of the 2003 concept car which bore the same name. Alfa has confirmed that the 450bhp V8 coupe will go on sale in September next year. In a tactic borrowed from Ferrari, production will be limited. Insiders hint that as few as 500 examples of the 8C could be produced. That may be partly due to the price tag. Expect to pay around £110,000 for the carbonfibre sports car – unusually steep for an Alfa.

Supercar performance

Under the 8C’s nose is a Ferrari/Maserati V8, bored out by Alfa Romeo. It now displaces 4691cc – a 400cc rise over the Maserati Quattroporte. Power naturally takes a big hike. The 8C produces a storming 450bhp at 7000rpm (50bhp up on the Quattroporte), and 346lb ft of torque is channelled through a paddleshift six-speed gearbox to the massive 285/35 profile 20-inch rear wheels. Expect performance to be ferocious with 62mph dispatched in around 4.0sec, with a top speed in excess of 180mph. Reigning in the power are a mighty set of brake discs linked to sophisticated VDC traction control that can be switched off for track work.
continue reading "Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione"

With the new Brera S, Alfa Romeo is hoping to tempt proper enthusiast drivers back to the marque. The Brera is a car that has always tempted, but ultimately disappointed. So by turning to Prodrive, just as it did during the successful Tarquini era of touring car racing during the 1990s, Alfa has found a partner with pedigree to rework comprehensively the Brera’s stodgy chassis. Built specifically for the UK, can the Brera S really deliver?

The Alfa Romeo Brera S? Doesn’t sound very traditional to me…

It’s not supposed to. The Brera S isn’t a ‘factory’ performance Alfa; it’s UK specific, developed by motorsport gurus Prodrive especially for British roads. Hence the S – for Speciale, in your best Italian accent – rather than a Cloverleaf or TI badge. Banbury-based Prodrive has an interesting record with this sort of thing. Genius with Subarus hasn’t always transferred well to other manufacturers; the Mazda RX-8 PZ was hard work, the Fiat Stilo Schumacher best forgotten…

What are the biggest changes?

During development of the Brera S, Prodrive’s engineers concentrated first on getting the spring rates right – something they reckon is seriously under-valued in many modern motors – then tuned the dampers to match. Tweaks to the geometry, ride height (the Brera S is 10mm lower than standard) – not to mention binning the Q4 four-wheel drive system on the V6 version – all help deliver a more focused package.

All sounds a bit after-market to me!

It isn’t. At all. Although Prodrive has added bespoke Eibach springs and Bilstein gas-filled monotube dampers, all the work it’s done has been fully signed off by Italy – complete durability testing included (ahem). The Brera S even has its own stability control settings. Alfa UK and Prodrive have been working on this project for a year. Which seems a lot of effort for a run of only 500 cars. Each one will be numbered – with certificate! – and they are exclusively available in the UK.

Which engines are available?

The Brera S is a properly engineered chassis development of the regular car, already upgraded for 2008 with hollow anti-roll bars and aluminium suspension components. Petrol only, the S is available as 185bhp 2.2 four-pot or 260bhp 3.2 V6. There are no engine enhancements but both versions weigh less. A 35kg reduction for the 2.2 is fine, but 100kg off the V6 (it’s missing Q4, don’t forget) is far more impressive – resulting in stronger in-gear acceleration.

The Brera S also gets some very tasty 19-inch alloys. Modeled after those on the 8C Competizione supercar, these are 2kg a corner lighter than the regular 17-inch alloys.

Ok, it sounds good – but how does the revised Brera drive?

Starting with the 2.2, it’s immediately apparent that there is a massive improvement in body control. Alfa helpfully had some standard 2.2 Breras on hand, and the S feels like a completely different car. It stays far flatter through every kind of corner, keeps its composure far better over broken surfaces, and while the steering remains a little numb, it is far more consistent. The dead area at the straight-ahead position has all but vanished.

The 2.2 still isn’t a very quick car, however: 0-62mph remains 8.6 seconds, top speed 139mph. And even with a “Holmholtz resonator” attached to the exhaust, it doesn’t sound especially alluring. That’s apparently a tube stuck to the silencer, by the way…

And the Brera 3.2 V6?

The 3.2 gives you more speed – even if the stock 0-62mph in 7.0sec is still slower than a 2.0-litre turbo TT. But the added weight of the engine really screws up the chassis tuning. In an effort to keep things under control, Prodrive has used different damping, making the car stiffer. Fine on track, but a seriously bumpy ride on a B-road. It understeers with more determination, too. A Q2 limited slip ‘diff’ (it actually uses electronics to transfer torque to the wheel with more grip) is fitted as standard to both versions, but this won’t help the V6 stay online if you’re over-enthusiastic with the throttle pedal.

Verdict

If you love the looks of the Alfa Brera – and many people do – you can finally just about justify buying one from an enthusiast’s perspective. The 2.2 Brera S is a much much better car to drive than its ordinary equivalent. The visual enhancements work well, too, with Prodrive labeled stone deflectors, D-shaped tailpipes, S badges, and those gorgeous 19-inch alloys adding extra charm. The interior’s had a makeover too. We’re not so keen on the 3.2. It may be faster, it may sound better, but it really doesn’t drive as well… Shame.

At £24,950 for the 2.2 (£26,450 if you want the leather dashboard) and £28,450, the Alfa Brera S is decent value at only £1500 more than the regular car. The trouble is, buy one, and you still won’t see which way the accountant in the TT went…

And if you own a Brera already don’t despair – a wheel (yes, those wheels) and suspension package will shortly be available to upgrade your car to S spec. Sadly, it also looks like it’s going to cost around £4000.