Alfa Romeo in General

...~ One of the main Alfa dealers here in Dublin is on Clanbrassil Street, a road I use a couple of dozen times a day in the course of my duties as a taxi-driver here in the city.
So it’s handy that I know one of the salesmen quite well, and even handier that they have a rather good free coffee dispenser. (for the use of customers, naturally, ahem!!)

~ ~ Some of you will know from my recent opinion about the awe-inspiring ...
...the keys of the new Alfa 147, and said go for a spin, I simply found it impossible to resist. (willpower was never my strong point!)
Why, oh why, did I ever drive this car?
Now I am in a total quandary, and don’t know whether to go for the Alfa 156, or instead to opt for its smaller but equally superb little brother, the Alfa 147.

Exterior and Interior
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~ ~ This Alfa doesn’t ... more

~ ~ One of the main Alfa dealers here in Dublin is on Clanbrassil Street, a road I use a couple of dozen times a day in the course of my duties as a taxi-driver here in the city.
So it’s handy that I know one of the salesmen quite well, and even handier that they have a rather good free coffee dispenser. (for the use of customers, naturally, ahem!!)

~ ~ Some of you will know from my recent opinion about the awe-inspiring Alfa 156 T-Spark that I was very, very taken with this car, which I had the pleasure of driving while on holiday in Italy last year.
So much so in fact, that I’d come to the decision to buy one in early 2002 as our family transport.
But when my mate threw me the keys of the new Alfa 147, and said go for a spin, I simply found it impossible to resist. (willpower was never my strong point!)
Why, oh why, did I ever drive this car?
Now I am in a total quandary, and don’t know whether to go for the Alfa 156, or instead to opt for its smaller but equally superb little brother, the Alfa 147.

Exterior and Interior
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~ ~ This Alfa doesn’t have a huge, deep front spoiler that makes it look like a snow plough from the Scottish Highlands, or a enormous, ugly rear spoiler that looks like an oversize handle for pushing a pram. And, more importantly on the poor Irish road surfaces, it doesn’t have those road-hugging deep side skirts, that bang and crack every time you hit a pot-hole (or a crater, as we call them in Ireland!) in the road.
But it is a true sports car for all that!!
You wont mistake this little fella coming up in your rear mirror, with its very distinctive rounded front end, with the signature Alfa “shield” grille and badge, small oblong headlights, and the unique way they off-set the number plate to one side.
The car I drove was a three-door hatchback, and this restricted entry to the rear seats a little, but a five-door version is due to make an appearance on the scene shortly.
All the outer surfaces are rounded and curvaceous, with colour-coded everything, and it had an attractive set of spoked type alloys just to complete its sporty image.

~ ~ The interior is a joy, being both very comfortable and extremely well laid out.
The driver’s seat must come close to being the most comfortable I have ever sat in, and seemed to mould itself to my torso.
The day I drove the car we were experiencing the usual Irish summer weather; lots of “liquid sunshine” was teeming down from the heavens. But the efficient air-conditioning system ensured that my vision was never impaired by the windscreen becoming almost opaque with condensation, while at the same time keeping me cool and sweat-free.
The speedo and rev counter are both very easy to see, and for those of you who are not content with listening to the throaty and distinctive roar of the Alfa engine, you can pop in a CD and listen to something that is bound to be less pleasant on the ears.
There is plenty of room in the rear for two full grown adults, with adequate (if not great) legroom, but to be honest I wouldn’t want to be travelling for very far as a rear seat passenger if you were trying to squeeze in a third person. (it IS possible though)
Again, the luggage compartment is adequate if not enormous, but would be more than big enough for our three-person family and all its needs.
Safety is not ignored either, and as well as the dual front airbags, there are side airbags in the outer bolster of each front seat, and just to ensure you are well protected in the event of a shunt, it also has a set of side air-curtains.
I felt totally at home in this car from the first moment I sat into it, and would quite happily drive it enthusiastically for hours on end.

Performance and Handling
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~ ~ Now we get down to the nitty gritty.
I took the car out onto a section of dual carriageway in order to give it a bit of a “rip”, and then turned off onto the twisty and pot-holed country lanes of County Kildare in order to try out its roadholding and ride capabilities.

~ ~ Like its big brother, the 156, this little beauty is forever trying its utmost to go faster and faster, and it takes real restraint on the part of a driver to try to keep within the posted speed limits.
To be honest, I didn’t try to hard to keep within the law (I know, I know, so shoot me!!) and on a number of occasions the needle was well above the 100mph mark with still plenty of power to spare.
What is truly incredible is that all this power comes from a 4 cylinder DOHC twin spark 1.6-litre engine; I suppose the smaller size and less weight gives it that extra bit of “oomph”.
Off course, it has that famous Alfa growl, allied to the torque of a bulldozer and the power of a Saturn space rocket!
For the statistically minded, the top speed is quoted at 121mph (I wasn’t too far off it) and the 0 to 60mph time at just a tad over 10 seconds. (it seems faster!)
The quoted fuel economy figures are what I would call reasonable, at 25mpg around town, rising to about 44mpg on a long journey.
Believe me though, if you drive this Alfa the way it is meant to be driven, then you wont achieve figures even close to this! So if it’s fuel economy you are looking for, then go and buy a Fiesta.

~ ~ Once I got off the main highway, and onto the country back roads, the driving experience became even more of a pleasure. (if that’s possible)
The power steering is crisp, light, and responsive, with just the right amount of driver feedback. And while I did know that the infamous Irish potholes were there, it didn’t feel as if the front wheels were about to disintegrate every time I had the misfortune to hit one.
Again, for the techies among you, the suspension has MacPherson struts on the rear, and double wishbones on the front, with an anti-roll bar also fitted.
The gearbox is a delight, and the small gear lever makes it very easy to “work” the car when you are in a sporty mood. (or any other time for that matter)
The attractive alloy wheels were fitted with a set of 195/60/R15 Goodyear “Eagles”, and even though it “hissed” down the whole time I drove the car, never once did I feel I was ever in any kind of danger of losing control, and it stuck to the road surface like a dead hedgehog, even when I was driving it FAR to quickly round tight country corners.
And the servo-assisted ABS brakes stopped the car quickly, efficiently, and with no fuss when required.

Price
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~ ~ OK. How much will all this cost you.
There are three models currently on offer. All are “Twin Spark”, and all sport the 1.6-litre engine.
The cheapest is the “Turismo” at £16,650 (Irish Punts) and £12,985 (Sterling)
Next up is the “Sportivo” at £17,255 (Irish Punts) and £14,090 (Sterling)
And lastly there is the “Lusso” at £17,655 (Irish Punts and £14,350 (Sterling)
I believe there is also a 2.0-litre “selespeed” model available in the UK at £17,340 (Sterling).

Verdict
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~ ~ I have now been driving cars for the best part of 33 years, and rarely have two vehicles made such an immediate and favourable impression on me than this Alfa 147, and the larger Alfa 156.
This is a superb motor car, and like its big brother, comes very close to my idea of motoring heaven.
My only quandary now is to decide what Alfa to buy next January, when we are due to upgrade the family car.
Decisions, decisions!!!

 

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