31 Mar 06
Thankfully, however, the driving experience has survived intact in the conversion to right-hand drive. This car feels more Grand Tourer than outright sports car, though and we doubt it'll be as satisfying to enthusiast drivers as more focused sports cars such as the Nissan 350Z or Mazda RX-8 (both rear-wheel drive). The ride on the standard fit 16" wheels is very good, but unsurprisingly, feels overly firm on the big, optional 18".
Along with the 2.2-litre petrol engine we drove in the original road test, we tried Alfa's 200bhp 2.4 JTDm diesel, fitted in combination with a six-speed manual gearbox. The diesel Brera's performance, while not particularly ferocious, is hugely flexible and relaxed: thank the big 295lb-ft of torque on tap from 2,000rpm for that. For the record, the diesel Brera will make 62mph in 8.1sec and top out at 142mph. But the real point here is that Alfa has a tax-friendly offering to take to fleet and company car buyers.
Will analytical, rational fleet buyers go for it? There are a number of serious issues Alfa Romeo needs to address before this is realistic and the company has appointed a new MD in the UK to sort these out. Christopher Nicoll has come from a successful stint for the company in Switzerland: a fluent Italian speaker but with long experience of the UK market, he has a very clear idea about what Alfa needs to fix in order to make any meaningful progress in the UK.
Basically, it comes down to the quality of the product and the quality of the dealer experience. There's not a lot he can do personally about the former and so the latter - a cause of concern, with Alfa dealers consistently scoring poorly in surveys of customer satisfaction - should be priorities one, two and three. Alfas have always been the emotional, sentimental choice for those bored with the usual suspects. As such, owners will put up with less than 100% quality and reliability, which is something that a good dealer experience can paper over. Get that wrong in an environment where quality issues remain and you're sunk.
