Category: Compact Executive 
Price Range: £18,550 to £27,800
Looks terrific, mixes Italian flair with real quality, has sporty handling but a decent ride, sounds crisp and keen, is roomy and well equipped. Sportwagon estate is much roomier than its 156 equivalent.
Steering too light in some versions, awkward handbrake, mediocre fuel economy, portwagon not that versatile.
Alfa's latest attempt to take on BMW's 3-Series is a worthy rival with substance as well as character. The V6 Q4 is especially good.
If we're talking about the V6, this would be a five-star rating. The four-wheel drive transmission means there's none of the bad behaviour suffered by the 156 GTA, which aimed to channel 250bhp through its front wheels alone, and the V6 Q4's handling is a delight. It points like a rear-wheel drive car and corners quickly with a gentle tail-out stance, yet the front wheels pull it straight should too much be asked of the rears. Similarly, there's almost no understeer when entering a corner quickly, because the Torsen-C centre differential diverts torque rearwards if the front wheels have too much to cope with. That 47/53 torque split is just the starting point, alterable as needed. It all makes for a highly enjoyable, very fluid drive.
The steering is very quick to respond, high-geared like the 156's, but the action is more progressive now and the turning circle is no longer bus-like. It feels slower in the nose-heavy, front-drive version of the 2.4 JTD, and there's more understeer as you'd expect, but the 2.2 JTS has the agility of the V6 if not quite the flowing style. This four-cylinder car's steering is a little too light for its directness and accuracy, though. All variants driven so far are a generally responsive, eager drive, however.
All have a good driving position, too, with firm but comfortable seats and clear instrumentation. The handbrake, to the right of the centre tunnel, means that drivers of left-hand drive 159s will be stroking passengers' arms inadvertently: this is not noticeably awkward in the right-hand drive cars, but there's not a lot of elbow room in there.
Brakes are progressive in action and the gearchange is generally smooth and accurate, although the gearboxes in the low-mileage right-hand drive 159s tested so far have been a little sticky. They should loosen up after a few more miles.
All 159s have a separate starter button, operated after the 'key' is placed in a slot, so there's no conventional steering lock and ignition key to damage knees in an accident.
Clearly the V6 is fastest - it does 149mph and reaches 62mph in 7.0 seconds - and its flat torque curve makes the performance easy to exploit.
It sounds delicious, too, the usual Alfa V6 note reproduced convincingly on this all-new engine. The 2.2 JTS also sounds correctly Alfa-like, this time much like the old 2.0 Twin Spark, complete with crisp-edged exhaust note. It has rather more low-speed pull than that engine, though, while still reaching 62mph in 8.8 seconds and a maximum speed of 138mph.
The petrol engines' natural enthusiasm is one reason why you might favour them over a diesel, but the 2.4 JTD is as muscular and sonorous a unit as ever. It's very energetic, with its newly enhanced outputs of 200bhp and 295lb-ft able to reach 142mph and sprint to 62mph in 8.4sec - so it's notably quicker than the 2.2 JTS as well as more relaxed and more economical.
However, you're not going to feel short-changed in either the 160bhp 1.9 petrol or the 150bhp 1.9 JTD diesel: both of these engines retain all the enthusiasm and verve of their larger counterparts, with plenty of mid-range muscle and the ability to cruise comfortably at motorway speeds. The diesel's a little noisy at idle, but otherwise makes an appealing sound; it makes for a sensible real-world option.
Alfa Romeo isn't renowned for its self-shifting prowess, baggage it carries from helping pioneer the automated or roboticed manual with the 156 that suffered from jerkiness and poor reliability. Can the new Q-tronic further the cause?
