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Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6
The 156 may not be the Alfa people think of first but it has been largely responsible for the renewed success of the brand both here in Australia and around the globe. It has garnered a smorgasbord of awards and prizes and more than half a million models have been sold. How to improve a car that is already good? And if Giorgetto Giugiaro - Designer of the Century - couldn't do it then nobody could. What GG has done is to change the body shape subtly to give the car a more aggressive stance but hardly changing the internal or external dimensions. Under the surface the 156 has been given a new range of engines - the most important being the addition of the fuel-efficient JTS 2.0l - a host of safety features and internal features and better suspension (for a full rundown see our FACTfile).
ItalianCar got its hands on the 2.5l V6 156 recently and had a chance to drive both the Q-System automatic and the 6 speed manual. The test bed was the country roads on the northern NSW/QLD border, taking in Coolangatta Nimbin and Byron Bay. Any hope for good weather was dashed - it was raining lightly for most of the day with a few dry periods (not the best as we were due to drive the new Spider the same day). The immediate impression on jumping in the car was the clear family resemblance of the interior to the 147GTA we drove recently. The 156 is - for the Australian market - available with leather upholstery as standard (apparently a preference of the Australian marketplace) and this helps to give the 156 an 'executive' feel. It may not have as many gadgets as the new BMW 5 series but (we think) turns more heads and - lets face it - is a bargain at sub $60K prices in comparison. The 2.5l engine in the 156 is not as raw as the 3.2l V6 in the 147GTA but has a definite feeling of power - the Q-System automatic gearbox has an economy/sports switch (which we only found after an hour's driving) which forces the gear changes to higher revs but felt a little strange after having driven around for a while in 'economy' setting. The car has a solid assured feel to it with plenty of speed when needed. The 6 speed version allows for sportier driving but in truth the 156 seems more suited to the automatic gearbox - effortless driving - even the radio/CD controls are on the steering wheel so no need to fiddle around on the move. 
 
The badge of the great man himself
Our conclusion - ItalianCar gives the new 156 the
thumbs up - an extremely competent executive car with most of the gadgets
you need and a powerful engine with a nice turn of speed. As to the way
it looks - it is more aggressive and looks fresher than the original but
the new model doesn't look quite as - well 'original' as the original.
That's not to say it won't sell by the truckload…
© 2003 italiancar 21/10/03
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