Alfa Romeo 155 2.0 Twin Spark

This is my second 155 2.0, I like the handling, and when you want to press on a bit, the sound of that engine is truely addictive!!

The brakes could do with a bit of beefing up, they struggle to halt the car after a while playing on the back roads with lots of braking. One time I was actually STANDING on the pedal because of brake fade.

The steering is very precise, quick rack, 2.2 turns lock to lock, although the QE2 ...
...is a delight to hold, the thick rim is just right for a comfortable grip.

Turning circle is nearly embarrasing, if you are not used to it, you find you have to reverse and have another cut, not good in a multi story car park during rush hour.

The boot is pretty big, although rear seats that fold down would be so useful rather than a ski hatch (why anyone would try to go ski-ing with a 155 is beyond me). There is a tendency ... more

This is my second 155 2.0, I like the handling, and when you want to press on a bit, the sound of that engine is truely addictive!!

The brakes could do with a bit of beefing up, they struggle to halt the car after a while playing on the back roads with lots of braking. One time I was actually STANDING on the pedal because of brake fade.

The steering is very precise, quick rack, 2.2 turns lock to lock, although the QE2 could turn a tighter turn!! The momo steering wheel is a delight to hold, the thick rim is just right for a comfortable grip.

Turning circle is nearly embarrasing, if you are not used to it, you find you have to reverse and have another cut, not good in a multi story car park during rush hour.

The boot is pretty big, although rear seats that fold down would be so useful rather than a ski hatch (why anyone would try to go ski-ing with a 155 is beyond me). There is a tendency for moisture to build up in the boot lid causing a bit of a stale smell, I took the felt off the lid and let it breath on warm day to dry out.

Ski-ing with the 155 (on standard tyres) would be a no go idea. It is, (apart fron Citroen Xantia) the worst car I have had the dis-pleasure of trying to get through even the lightest of snow falls, 1 inch of snow and the slightest hint of slope and it waves a white flag!! On level ground in that 1 inch of snow, because the wheel track is wider at the front by a fair bit, the rear wheels dont know which track to follow and the tail is all over the place, not relaxing at all.

Possibly because it has such hard sport suspension, this bad surface handling is made more noticeable, but I would definitely say this was never designed to be used in winter.

Ventilation in the car is not the best either, the windows have a real tendency to steam up, even with the fan on full blast, there is not enough airflow, open a window is the other option.
 

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