1000km Road Test - Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon

Compact European wagons are relatively rare in Australia. Alfa's 156 Sportwagon combines Italian style and driving enjoyment with a healthy dose of practicality.

Value for money

The Alfa 156 Sportwagon is priced at $48,500 for the five-speed manual or $51,500 for the Selespeed five-speed sequential manual transmission.

Leather upholstery is a $2,500 option.

Warranty

Three years/100,000 km, the industry average.

Standard equipment

At the price, the Sportwagon is very well equipped. Power windows and mirrors (heated), a CD player, automatic airconditioning, leather-wrapped wheel and gear lever, foglights and alloy wheels (15-inch on the manual/ 16-inch on the Selespeed) are standard.

Retained value

The 156 manual sedan, at 78 per cent after two years, has the best retained value in the class according to Glass's Guide. The Selespeed versions are weaker, attracting 69 per cent. The Sportwagon should be similar.

Design and function

Ergonomics

The driver's seat has a ratchet-type height adjuster and height/tilt head restraint. A height/reach-adjustable steering wheel also caters for different physiques. The control layout is compact and efficient, apart from the VDO in-dash CD audio head unit which has tiny buttons and weak reception. The Sportwagon's elegantly curved one-piece dash features two single pods for the speedo and tacho; there's little oddment space, either in the dash or between the front seats.

Innovation

The Selespeed transmission has push button gear changing and an automatic clutch. As mentioned previously, the 156 is one of the few compact Euro wagons in this country. Its packaging/performance/price formula is unusual.

Safety

Two front and side airbags are fitted, plus lap/sash belts and head restraints on all seats. The front seat belts have electronic pretensioners. ABS brakes are standard. The headlights are relatively weak.

Security

Remote central locking/unlocking (including the tailgate) and a rolling-code engine immobiliser are fitted.

Comfort

The firm but comfortable driver's seat provides support from thigh to shoulder and has ample padding. The relatively inefficient airconditioning system has small vents and takes a while to cool the car on a hot day. The Sportwagon's back seat is deep, properly contoured and comfortable for two, but if the front seats are set back knee room is a bit tight.

Space and practicality

Kids may find the back seat claustrophobic due to the high waistline and small windows. Three child restraint anchors are immediately behind the seat.

The load area is accessed via an internal tailgate release (which didn't work on the test car) and a button on the remote. The tailgate is hinged 30 cm into the roof, so the rear opening is easily able to swallow large objects.

There's almost a metre of floor between the back seat and tailgate, but it is quite narrow between the suspension strut towers. The Sportwagon's load bay has four tie down hooks, two covered bins, a roll out blind and a net which can be moved to several positions. A mesh barrier also rolls out of the blind housing and clips easily to the roof.

The 60/40 split-rear seat easily double folds for an extended flat floor of 1.5 metres; a small porthole in the centre of the seat caters for long objects.

Under the floor is a space-saver-spare; turn the floor panel over and you have a waterproof recess for carrying wet gear.

Build and finish quality

The Sportwagon body is very solid and fit and finish are generally good - in this respect, Alfas have come a long way since the bad old days, when they were truly dreadful. Anecdotal evidence suggests some owners have had problems with the Selespeed transmission.

On the road

Fuel efficiency

Consumption of 9.0 litres/100 km on the highway and 12.6 litres/100 km in the city is slightly above average for a 2.0 litre four, but the Alfa engine also produces above average power.

Performance

The 2.0 litre Twin Spark (two plugs per cylinder) engine lacks torque under 3000 rpm and needs to be revved to deliver its best. At 3000 it springs into life and spins very smoothly and eagerly to the 7000 rpm redline, with considerably more punch than its 114 kW of power suggests.

The five-speed manual box delivers easy, slick changes, but there's a fair distance between the gates and some drivers may find the fat, leather wrapped lever a bit too far back and low to fall naturally to hand. The clutch is light and precise.

Ride

The Sportwagon's ride is firm but comfortable enough on the smooth roads, however it degenerates to harshness and discomfort on rougher surfaces.

Handling and steering

On smooth roads the Sportwagon is a sweet handling car for a front wheel drive. It is exceptionally taut - the body is as rigid as the sedan and has pin sharp, accurate steering, fine balance and grippy 205/60 Michelins on 15 inch alloys.

Unfortunately the Sportwagon's handling deteriorates when the road surface is less than perfect.

Steer the Sportwagon into a tight patchy corner, or accelerate out, and the front suspension crashes against its stops and fails to control wheel movement to the extent required to properly hold the road. Kickback through the wheel is also present, at times to the point where you really have to hang on.

Braking

Previous 156 sedan test cars have had excellent brakes; the Sportwagon's identical ABS-equipped setup lacked both power and feel midway between light and hard pedal pressures.

Smoothness and quietness

The 2.0 litre is very smooth by four-cylinder standards, with twin balance shafts to control vibration. Engine noise is present in most situations, but it's a note the enthusiast will find attractive. Road and wind noise are minimal.

Summary

The Alfa 156 Sportwagon allows you to fulfil practical family requirements and have genuine driving enjoyment at the same time. It is very good value for money - just stick to relatively smooth roads.

Test by Bill McKinnon, March 2002.

The writer of this report does not necessarily represent the views of the NRMA and this report is provided for you as an alternative to our own NRMA car reviews.

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