Alfa Romeo Brera (2006-) Review

Overview

• Next: Reliability and Quality

'Wow!' cried the world at the 2002 Geneva motor show. 'Alfa Romeo must make this car.'

That car was Giugiaro's Brera concept, a sharp-edged, point-nosed coupe with gull-wing doors and a dramatic six-light front end. Giorgetto Giugiaro was adamant that the Brera was no more than a show car, but the idea did fit in well with Alfa's need to replace the GTV and Spider.

Alfa Romeo clearly liked the new nose treatment, because the Alfa 156's late-life facelift featured a near-copy of it. We've also now seen how the new generation of Alfa Romeos, spearheaded by the 159 that has just replaced the 156, is adopting the Brera look from its sharp visage to its broad, crisply defined rear shoulders.

So the Brera had to happen as a production car. Giugiaro's original idea has been altered a little in its proportions and has lost the gull-wing doors. The glass roof remains and the whole look is still faithful to the concept. It has spawned a Spider roadster version, too.

The Brera is, of course, based on the 159, with which it shares 55% of its parts. Its wheelbase is 175mm shorter (at 2,525mm) and the cars are pretty much the same from nose to dashboard. The Brera's shorter chassis, however, should make it more agile and its suspension settings have been altered to suit. The glass roof, which doesn't open, is standard for UK cars but a lower-cost, steel-roofed model will also come.

Engines are as for the upper-range 159s. Smallest, and likely to be the most popular, is a 185bhp, 2.2-litre, all-aluminium four-cylinder unit with direct injection and Twin Phaser camshafts - that is, continuously-variable valve timing for both inlet and exhaust cams. It's derived from a GM design, the Fiat Auto group and GM still collaborating technically on selected projects.

The grander petrol engine, fitted with Twin Phasers and derived from a GM engine (but this time with Alfa's own direct-injection heads) is the 3.2-litre, 260bhp V6. It's matched to a Q4 four-wheel drive system whose nominal front/rear torque split is rear-biased at 43/57, but alters between 72/28 and 22/78, as required.

The range will be completed by Fiat/Alfa's usual 2.4-litre, five-cylinder turbodiesel, with a healthy 200bhp and huge torque (295lb-ft).

A Selespeed sequential-shift transmission is offered on the 2.2, while the others will have a fully-automatic option. Manual six-speeders are standard fare.

Intriguingly, although the Brera was designed by Giugiaro - it's named after a grand and artistic suburb of Milan, Alfa's spiritual home city - the new car was production-engineered by rival design house Pininfarina, which builds the car in its Turin factory.