Alfa Romeo 147 GTA (2003-2005) Review

On the road

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Three main problems, the first two of which afflict every 147. The turning circle is huge, and the low, narrow rear window flanked by thick rear quarter pillars makes for a restricted rearward view. And the third? The speedometer is calibrated to a huge speed - it's 200mph in UK-spec 147 GTAs - but unlike in some very quick cars the scale isn't compressed at its upper end. So there's little angular speedo needle movement in the critical lower reaches, so it's too easy to stray above, say, 30mph in town.

Other than that there's little to cloud a bright picture: the driving position suits most, although some might want the steering wheel's adjustment range to bring it nearer, and the switchgear is easy to find and use. Many of the switches, such as those for the electric windows, emit annoying beeps when activated, though. A smooth accelerator makes for easy urban driving, and the steering is light enough for easy parking despite its high gearing.

Yes, it is fun. Just a wrist movement is enough to trigger the ultra-quick steering into pointing the GTA's nose into a fast bend. Then you feel the outside rear wheel load up, and help spear the GTA further round the corner in fine understeer-resisting fashion. Should that outside rear wheel be having to work too hard, the VDC subtly intervenes to rein the Alfa in - but all you feel from the driving seat is a suspension system apparently displaying an enjoyably interactive balance. But there are some foggy patches.

In making the ride acceptable, the steering has lost the knife-edge precision that would suit its quick gearing: it's a little too rubbery, depriving you of the finer points of road feel, although that is also the result of suspension geometry which is designed, mainly successfully, to tame the tug and torque-steer expected in a potent front-wheel drive car. Some gets through, but it's not a problem.

Also, that big engine up front makes for an ultimately less agile Alfa than, say, the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder versions. However hard the systems and geometry tricks try to disguise it, you're always aware of that nose-weight. Still, with all that grip and such a revvy, sonorous engine, it's hard not to have a good time.

This, surely, should have been a five-star score. For sound effects alone it would be, because the V6's voice is one of the finest you can hear. It's not creamy, exactly; it's slightly edgy and grainy, all the mechanical elements freed to contribute to the soundscape instead of being insulated away, but be it the low-speed burble or the high-speed howl it's an inspiring tune. The throttle response is super-keen, too, and this engine just loves to rev: the limiter cuts in, at about 7000rpm, while it's still in a rich seam of power.

The problem is that the engine doesn't feel very gutsy at low revs, despite a capacity huge for a compact hatchback, so you have to work it hard. It pulls cleanly enough, but there's little enthusiasm compared with what awaits higher up the rev range - in great contrast to VW's ultra-torquey Golf R32. So you just have to make maximum use of the slick six-speed gearchange, and let it sing. From a standstill to 60mph takes 6.2 seconds, by the way, and the top speed is 153mph. Strangely, the identically-powered and slightly bigger 156 GTA is fractionally quicker on both counts.