 |
|
Alfa Romeo Brera Gallery
|
|
| DRIVING RATING: |
 |
First impressions, gained in the 2.2: this sounds properly Alfa-like, with a keen snort from the engine and a muted but evident rasp from the exhaust. The acoustics have been carefully Alfa-ised, and some might find the induction noise a bit too prominent, but it suits the car.
You sit quite lower than you do in a 159, although the slightly overbearing dashboard - so many circles, such big main dials, so unsubtly driver-centred with its driver-angled minor gauges buried beyond a passenger's gaze - is the same. The view forward and to the side is fine, but the rising waistline and the thick rear pillars make for a hazardous exit from an angled junction.
Seat and steering wheel adjust through a good range and it's easy to get a good driving position. On the move, the steering has more weight than the overlight helm of the 159, but little true road feel and the springy, rubbery and ineffectual response to small inputs is disappointing. With the slack taken up, though, the steering becomes quick and responsive and the Brera points keenly and cleanly into corners. Make a further steering input and the nose clings on well, transferring weight to the outside rear wheel and making the Brera feel very agile. The harder you go, the better it gets.
The V6 Q4 version lifts everything to a higher level. It sounds fantastic, deep and menacing with its six-cylinder burble rising to a convincing high-revs Alfa howl and the rear-biased torque delivery makes it great fun as you power out of a corner.
It won't powerslide, though, unless you provoke it brutally far beyond anything you'd ever attempt on a public road. Instead, it simply gets all its power to the road in the most effective fashion for the moment. The Q4 system, which contains the front and Torsen-C centre differentials in the same casing, virtually eradicates understeer in tight corners, too. You just point and go, as you would in, say, a Subaru Impreza WRX. You can switch off a Brera's traction control, but the VDC (Alfa's take on ESP) stays in action all the time - albeit not intervening until the last second if the traction control is deactivated.
|
