Alfa Romeo Brera (2006-) Review

On the road

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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.

Again, we'll start with the 2.2. It takes a few miles to coordinate clutch and throttle smoothly, because the throttle is unresponsive to very small inputs but then comes on in a rush when you press a little harder. It's this that makes the engine feel more muscular than it is, although a 170lb-ft torque peak, with much of it available from low revs, isn't a bad figure.

The induction sound deepens as you press the accelerator at low-to-medium revs, but only up to a point - it goes quieter again as you reach the end of the pedal's travel, presumably because the drive-by-wire throttle has adjudged a big throttle opening to be counter-productive for the current speed and engine load and so ignores your right foot's request. Most of the engine's reservoir of thrust can be tapped without flooring the throttle, which means that full-throttle only brings exciting results when the engine is revving hard. Do that, and the Brera 2.2 will reach 62mph in 8.6 seconds and continue to a 138mph top speed - respectable but not outstanding figures. That slight feeling of engine mid-speed engine flatness manifests itself the most on hills, when an upshift across the big gap from second to third gear puts the fire out.

If you want real pace, the V6 is the obvious choice. This engine is wonderfully torquey (a 237lb-ft peak but a very plump torque curve), much more so than Alfa's old V6, and it has a terrific throttle response right up to high revs. This Brera reaches 62mph in 6.8 seconds and maxes out at 149mph. It goes as it looks.

We also tried Alfa's 200bhp 2.4 JTDm diesel, mated to a six-speed manual gearbox. The diesel Brera's performance, while not particularly ferocious, is hugely flexible and relaxed. Thank the big 295lb-ft of torque on tap from 2,000rpm for that. For the record, the diesel Brera will make 62mph in 8.1sec and top out at 142mph. But the real point here is that Alfa has a tax-friendly offering to take to fleet buyers.

The Brera's six-speed transmissions have easy enough gearshifts, but occasionally the synchromesh catches a little and the driveline can clonk as the power is taken up, especially if you don't get that clutch/accelerator coordination quite right. The brakes are powerful and progressive in their action, and not over-servoed; the V6 has bigger brakes made by Brembo.