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.
Here's an Alfa with, at last, a genuinely good ride. It doesn't run out of front suspension travel like the 156 did, it dives less under braking and its damping is better controlled. The taut, responsive handling isn't achieved at the expense of excessive firmness underfoot, and a sport suspension option is neither available nor necessary. Wheels can be up to 18-inch diameter, although 16in or 17in are usual and inevitably make for better absorption of small bumps. The smaller, lighter engines lead to a slightly more fidgety ride, so the 2.2 JTS proves less serene than, say, the 2.4 JTD and there's a hint of engine shake over ripply surfaces. But it's still a big improvement over the 156 and compares well with Audi and BMW rivals. Road and wind noise are low enough not to be an issue.
There's fair space in the cabin, even in the back, though it's not as large as some rivals and there's not a huge amount of headroom. The rear seats' backrests fold down in most versions to increase boot space. Be careful leaving the front passenger seat, though, because it's easy to catch a knee on the protruberant dashboard.
The Sportwagon estate is considerably roomier than its 156 equivalent (which actually had a boot smaller than the saloon); it's still not an out-and-out load-lugger, but it's much more practical than before. The rear seats fold flat to give a useful load bay, but they don't tumble forward.
Air-con is dual-zone as standard, triple-zone optionally, and there's an air-quality sensor. Other equipment, standard or optional, includes MP3 capability in the CD player, a Bose sound system, a built-in phone, Bluetooth compatibility, Connect telematics to go with a large sat-nav screen, and parking sensors. Seats can be trimmed in flock fabric, Alfatex, leather or soft-touch 'Frau' leather, or you can have a Sport interior with so-called Tibet leather.
