1000km Road Test - Alfa Romeo Brera

There are ugly cars, nondescript cars, good looking cars, gorgeous cars. And then there's the Alfa Romeo Brera. Like any designer label item, though, you pay a hefty premium to wear it.

Value for money

Pricing

The Brera is available in two models. The front wheel drive 2.2 litre four cylinder costs $69,990; the 3.2 litre V6 all-wheel drive is $94,950.

Warranty

Three years/100,000 kilometres.

Standard features

Automatic dual zone air, cruise control, a glass roof, twin trip computers, foglights, 10 CD stacker, seven airbags, an alarm and leather upholstery are included.

The V6 adds premium leather, power adjustable, heated front seats, xenon headlights with washers, Bose audio and Bluetooth.

Options: Metallic paint $1750; electric seats (2.2 litre) $3250.

Retained value

Alfas have traditionally not been the strongest when it comes to retained values. The Brera is a new model, so as yet it has no history.

Design and function

Ergonomics

Alfa ignores the current fashion for designer kitchen-look interiors, sweeping transverse lines and convex dash shapes which emphasise width and space.

It sticks instead to a traditional sports theme, with a snug, curvaceous cockpit style dash layout, with the centre angled towards the driver, retro touches like three round hero gauges for water, oil and fuel, similarly pukka main instruments, wall to wall black decor offset by ribbed metal inlays, and, in the V6, beautiful leather upholstery.

There's plenty of leg room and the wheel is height and reach adjustable.

You need a session with the owner's manual to work 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, however big side mirrors largely overcome this.

Innovation

The Brera was developed jointly with General Motors when that company had a stake in Fiat, Alfa Romeo's parent.

It's built on a shortened 159 sedan platform, and shares some of that model's chassis componentry and layout.

The V6 is a smaller version of the same General Motors Alloytec engine (with Alfa Romeo calibration and tuning) used in the VE Commodore. It''s built by Holden in Melbourne.
 
The Brera is an evolution of the Giugiaro designed concept coupe first shown at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show.

Safety

The Brera has not yet been tested by Euro NCAP, however the 159 on which it is based scored five stars out of five.

Security

The Brera has not yet been rated by NRMA Insurance.

Comfort

The steeply angled driver's seat cushion wedges you securely and comfortably against the backrest, which has an integral, non adjustable head restraint. It's not a heavily bolstered sports seat, but you can drive all day in it.

Space and practicality

The back stalls are an afterthought. When the front seat adjusted for a tall driver, leg room is non existent. Anyone over 175 cm or so will also head butt the roof. Access is difficult and tedious.

Boot space is average for a coupé. A deep well can be extended with the 60/40 split fold rear seat backrest. A net is provided; a space saver is under the floor.

Build and finish quality

Alfa's performance in international quality and reliability owner surveys is not great, but on the evidence of recent test cars, including the Brera, things are improving. The test 3.2 V6 had no quality issues worth noting.

On the road

Fuel efficiency

The test car used 9-10 litres/100km on the highway and 15-17 litres/100km in town, running on 95 octane premium unleaded.

Performance

The 2.2 litre four cylinder produces 136kW of power at 6500 rpm and 230Nm of torque at 4500 rpm.
 
The 3.2 V6 produces 191kW at 6300 rpm and 322Nm at 4500 rpm. Its all-wheel-drive system uses three diffs, with a self locking Torsen unit in the centre. Normal torque split is 57 per cent rear/43 per cent front.

The 2.2 weighs 1470kg and the 3.2V6 weighs 1630kg, so by pure sports standards the latter in particular is pretty heavy.

The V6 is fairly languid below 3000 rpm, in part due to the car's weight. From 4000 to the 6800 rpm redline, though, it delivers cracking performance and a lush, honeyed note. It is also as smooth as they come.

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; sixth is relatively short, to overcome the engine's lack of bottom end pulling power. It can only just pull sixth at 100km/h, where it's doing 2250 rpm. The shift action is smooth, light and tactile.

Ride

Alfa has gone for a sporty, GT style suspension tune, which on the open road suits the car well, although the front and rear springs are not quite in synch. The rears are a bit too stiff.

Around town the ride lacks compliance. As a consequence, you're incessantly jostled in the seat.

Handling and steering

All-wheel drive gives the Brera V6 dynamic ability far beyond any of the marque's front drive models, where the suspension, steering and engine can sometimes seem to be pulling against each other. The all-wheel drive Brera is far more composed and competent.

Some roll and bounce, as well as traces of body shake at the rear, are evident on rough roads.

Eighteen inch alloy wheels with 235/45 tyres are standard. The added grip advantage of all-wheel drive makes the 3.2V6 Brera a very secure drive in all conditions.

Braking

Brakes are discs with stability control and four piston Brembo calipers on the front of the 3.2 V6.

They need heat, and a firm shove, to provide optimum power and progression. Initial bite is weak.

Smoothness and quietness

Both engines, but especially the V6, are impeccably smooth. They also make more noise than most, but it's Alfa noise, so it sounds good. Overall refinement is acceptable.

Summary

The Brera is beautiful to look at and enjoyable to drive, but at $100,000 or so on the road the 3.2 V6 is overpriced against rivals such as BMW's new E90 3 Series and Z coupes, the new Audi TT, Mercedes CLK and the Porsche Cayman.

By Bill McKinnon, November 2006.

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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