Alfa Romeo
lfa Romeo has officially put development of the highly anticipated MiTo GTA on hold, indefinately. There goes all hope of scoring a ride in one of the most sporting Alfa’s in a very long time. Sure there’s the 8C Competizione but the chances of that happening is as likely as us getting behind the wheel of a Gumpert Apollo. Now you see how painful this is?
Autodelta has unveiled a tuned up version of the Alfa Romeo 159 2.2 JTS sporting a Rotrex C30-74 supercharger that boosts the car’s power from a quick 185 horses to a rapid 245 horsepower, and torque up from 230Nm to 290Nm. The following are the technical enhancements that Autodelta has given the 159 2.2 JTS, turning it into what it calls the Autodelta 159 J4 2.2 C:
- Intercooled Rotrex C30-75 supercharger running at 0.65 bar boost
- New aluminium intake manifold to replace the plastic OEM manifold to handle the supercharger’s boost level, with improved reduced volume design.
- New ECU featuring improved variator control strategy for intake and exhaust valves improved to suit supercharger.
- NGK Iridium IX spark plugs
- Mechanical LSD to reign in all 245 horsepower going to the front wheels
- New fully adjustable (ride height and bound/rebound adjustment) suspension with retuned damper and spring rates
- Upgrade perforated brake discs on front and rear, and new brake pads with special compounds that allow higher operation temperature
- Quad tail pipe Autodelta exhaust system
- Lightweight 19 inch OZ Wheels Botticelli HLT alloys with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx GT tyres in 245/35 ZR19 size
- Overall car with additional equipment is 5kg lighter than stock 159 2.2 JTS
Alfa has added self shifting gearboxes right across its 159 range and introduced a new entry-level diesel model to meet the rapidly growing demand for diesel-powered cars in Australia.
The all-new six speed Q-Tronic electronic automatic gearbox is available as an option with the 2.4 JTD turbo diesel engine and the 3.2 litre V6 JTS engine, while the new 159 JTD 1.9 Turbo Diesel is fitted with the Q-Tronic automatic range as standard. The 159 2.2 JTS is now available with an option Selespeed sequential manual gearbox, providing drivers with the choice of letting the gearbox change the gears or doing it manual via steering wheel-mounted paddles or with the gearshift leaver. Over the first generation Selespeed, which was most popular variant of the Alfa 156, the new-generation Selespeed allows the driver to select ‘Sport’ mode in both manual shifting and automatic operating, as well as using new software and hardware for quicker, smoother and more responsive operation. For the first time this software is also adaptive to the driver’s style behind the wheel.
Prices for the new versions range from a recommended retail price of $52,990 for the new 159 2.2 JTS Selespeed, through $54,990 for the 159 1.9 JTD and $58,990 for the 2.4 litre diesel 159 with the Q-Tronic gearbox, to the V6 powered 159 with the Q-Tronic automatic gearbox is the new range-topping Alfa 159 with a recommended retail price of $77,990.
“Although the sales of the Alfa 159 have more than met our expectations since its launch in Australia in June last year, we have always known that, given the Australian market’s skew to automatics, it would not achieve its full potential until the Q-Tronic and Selespeed versions arrived,” says David Stone, General Manager for Alfa in Australia. “The Q-Tronic new gearbox marks a significant market shift for Alfa. Not only do we now have a state-of-the-art gearbox, with six gears, fuzzy-logic operation and Tiptronic-style gear selection, it is also available across most of the range and to further enhance this position we have added an extra diesel model to the range, with the acclaimed 1.9 litre JTD power unit. The Selespeed version was the most popular 156 variant and we expect the 159 Selespeed to account for the majority of 2.2 JTS sales.”
“We ended 2006 on a high note, lifting Alfa sales in a shrinking market and we fully expect the arrival of the Q-Tronic equipped versions of the 159 to maintain this growth through 2007,” says Mr Stone.
Source: Italiancar.net
The 159 is another stunning bit of design from Alfa, sketched by Italian design house Giugiaro and sharing lots of visual cues with the equally handsome Brera coupe. Our only slight criticism is that from some angles it looks a bit too similar to the 156 that it replaced.
The interior is well-designed and well-finished too – far better built that Alfas of old. It can’t quite match BMW or Audi in terms of perceived quality, but materials are good, the dashboard is well laid-out and it’s comfortable over longer distances.
The 159 shares same chassis and mechanical underpinnings as the Brera coupe’s and drives very nicely in consequence. The well-weighted steering yields commendably keen responses, there’s plenty of grip and the reactive chassis relishes the challenge of a twisty road. The downside is indifferent ride quality over rough British tarmac, with more road noise at cruising speeds than direct rivals.
Three petrol engines and two diesels are available. High prices at the top of the range mean that the entry level 1.9 litre JTS petrol and 1.9 litre JTD diesel make the most compelling case for themselves, although it’s hard to deny the attraction of the superb-sounding 3.2 litre JTS petrol V6, which also comes with Alfa’s “Q4″ four-wheel drive system.
As with all Alfa Romeos, depreciation costs are very high when compared to premium-badged rivals, and buyers will also have to deal with the distinctly variable quality of Alfa dealers.
