2007 Alfa Romeo Brera Reviews

Alfa Romeo is famed for making great looking sports coupes and few have ever looked better than the sensational Alfa Romeo Brera that was introduced to Australia in June 2006. As well as looking pretty it was also pretty expensive as the importer at the time was charing top dollar for everything. Sales weren’t as high as they could have been.Imports of Alfa Romeo cars are now directly in the hands of the factory and serious price cuts on many Alfa Romeo models have been carried out. Unfortunately, the Brera didn’t survive the Australia takeover, probably because it was getting on in years, and the final imports arrived downunder early in 2012. Though they may not have been sold and registered until well into the year.Brera has styling by Italian automotive legend Giorgietto Giugiaro and was displayed at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show. Interest was so great that Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, the company’s own styling department, worked with Giugiaro to develop the stunning coupe that finally went on sale.A further legendary Italian automotive name comes into the equation as well, for the Brera bodies are built by the coachbuilding company Pininfarina. In Australia, the Brera was sold in two versions; the four-cylinder 2.2-litre JTS 136 kW engine and the top level Brera JTS, a V6 3.2-litre boasting 191 kW.Alfa’s V6 engine is interesting in that it’s based on the V6 block manufactured by Holden in Australia, before being shipped back to Italy for further worldwide on-selling. Alfa likes to point out that the rest of the engine, the parts they say give it soul, are all by Alfa Romeo and are made in Italy.You get more than simply two extra cylinders when you opt for the V6 engine, because you also receive Alfa Romeo’s all-wheel drive system tagged Q4. This has a self-locking Torsen centre differential virtually eliminates the understeer which is a bugbear in some all-wheel drive vehicles. It gives this Alfa Romeo the feeling of a rear-drive car, but with a lot more road grip when things get hard.Six-speed manual gearboxes are standard on both Brera models and work pretty well considering the gearbox is alongside the engine and therefore a fair way from the gearlever.The Brera retains some of Alfa’s traditional idiosyncrasies, such as seats that do not locate the driver’s body as well as they could during hard cornering. Then there are the less than perfectly placed pedals. Having to hold the steering wheel for support when lifting the left foot to operate the clutch pedal detracts from the driving experience.This Alfa is quite a large coupe, but interior volume isn’t one of its strong points. Back seat room is scarce and best left to the kids. Trouble is that the high window line makes it hard for the little ones to see out. But, let's be fair on the car, this is a coupe and therefore really only intended for one or two good friends.Boot space is fine for a car in this class and unless the luggage is on the bulky side you can fit a fair bit in there.The newly revitalised Alfa Romeo organisation is working well in Australia. With a significant number of new dealers being appointed and an emphasis on customer support. Check in your local area to see what’s happening in your neighbourhood.As you would expect in a car in this class most of the dealer are in metro areas, though some country cities and towns have specialists in European, even just Italian, cars.We haven’t heard of any real complaints about hold up and/or price gouging on Alfa Romeo Brera. Keep in mind this was a $100k car in its early years here and expect to be charged accordingly.Though all Alfa Romeo models tend to be seen as sports models by insurance companies premiums aren’t unacceptably high. It pays to shop around as there’s quite a difference from high to low, as always be sure to compare apples with apples.WHAT TO LOOK FORBuild quality is reasonably good, but certainly not to the standards of the Japan, or even latter-day Korean cars.Once upon a time you could say that parts that didn’t fit as well as they should have done gave the car character. Though they aren’t as common as before it’s still wise to call in a professional early in the buying process.Before doing so you may care to test a Brera on rough sealed roads and listen for things that go squeak or rattle in the night.Engines are generally long lasting, but hard-driving enthusiasts may have thrashed them. Be sure an engine starts easily and idles smoothly, the V6 should be all put imperceptible at idle once it’s warmed up.Watch for black smoke from the exhaust when the Alfa is put under load, and when it’s accelerated suddenly after idling for a minute or so.Check a manual gearbox is quiet and smooth in its operation.Feel for a clutch that’s sticky.Automatics are generally OK, but be wary of one that’s too willing to jump from gear to gear. Conversely, an auto that is relocation to change ratios could also be a worry.Crash repairs. Ah, crash repairs. Alfas have been known to run into things. Look and feel for body panels that aren’t regular in their shape. Check for paint that doesn’t match from panel to panel. Tiny spots of paint on parts such as glass and badges probably indicate the car has visited a spray painter at some time in the past.CAR BUYING TIPCar clubs are an excellent source of information on cars that are often owned by enthusiasts. Try the internet or for lists of clubs in car magazines.

When the much-vaunted Brera coupe was unveiled at the 2005 Frankfurt fest, the GT was still fairly new.Indeed, the front-wheel drive GT V6 manual had reached us only the previous year, which sold so few that a 2.0 JTS four-pot version with Selespeed robo-manual set-up was introduced. Lighter, better balanced and nowhere near as prone to rabid torque steer or crashing savagely against its stops as the V6, this was actually the better car.Next, out came the hero Brera, priced perilously near six-figures for the top-of-the-range model with a newly direct injected 3.2 V6 and rear-biased all-wheel-drive. It was accompanied by a bum-dragger with the enhanced 2.2 four-pot JTS.Both were manuals which, added to a too ambitious price, saw them sitting in showrooms looking pretty but unloved.Now, accompanying an appreciable reduction in the dollars demanded, the Brera becomes the first Alfa offered with a six-speed automatic — not a Selespeed, but a legit Aisin slusher with torque converter.Just as one of the last bastions of shifting for yourself fell, fate or whatever it is that controls product distribution at Alfa — bequeaths that Australia should at last get the GT JTS with a proper manual.In recent weeks, we've alternated between the pinnacle V6 Brera auto and the new, but technically obsolete, GT.It came as no great surprise to learn from Alfa's PR gaffer, that punters are strolling into showroom with stars and Breras in their eyes and leaving with a GT and a sigh.What the latter has over the former can be defined obviously in practical terms — price, size and comfort but we are talking Alfas here.There's no doubting the Brera's visual impact. It turns heads almost everywhere it goes, thanks to its unique styling and the fact that you just don't see many of them.The sleek lines, curved back end, distinctive headlights and Alfa grille and beautifully contoured bonnet make it Alfa's best-looking machines behind its sibling convertible, the Spider.But with a $90,990 (plus a BMW-beating $1750 for metallic paint!) there are a few too many let-downs.The first issue is space, as in the lack of it. The back seats are utterly useless.Once adjusted for comfort, there is literally no room behind either driver or passenger. Not even a sheet of paper could be slotted into the “leg room” provided in the rear cabin.So the Brera is a two-seater affair, not a 2+2.But for a two-seater it's also heavy, tipping the scales at around 1.7 tonnes. So it's also thirsty. Even on the freeway, the best we could achieve was around 13 litres per 100km. Given a push, it slugged down upwards of 20.At least the V6 JTS was more than capable of lugging the weight.The wonderful-sounding engine produces a healthy 322Nm at 4500rpm and 191kW at 6300 — enough to get the Brera to 100km/h from standing in a claimed 7.0 seconds.The auto is meant to attract soft cogs who can't be bothered to change gear — most of the population in other words. But the manual is not only more fun but actually more functional than the indecisive auto.Far too often it struggles to find the right gear in many situations. Using the steering-wheel-mounted paddles in manual mode was unrewarding, with the gearbox prematurely overriding you or ignoring your inputs.This was particularly distracting on tighter roads, where keeping the V6 above 4500 revs was key to maintaining momentum. Inside our blue test car, we were greeted with an unusual mix of red-tan and blue leather — yes, blue surrounded by blocks of brushed aluminium.After the initial shock, the colour combo actually grows on you, and even the highly reflective block of aluminium between the driver and passenger begins to look good.Of course, looking good is what the whole deal's about, which is no small part why Alfisti are continuing to opt for the ostensibly old-hat GT.Built on the old 156 Sportwagon platform, within the GT boasts the most pleasant cabin of any current Alfas — combining the best of the 156 and soon-to-be-replaced 147.Behind the comfortable front thrones (the right with its good old long arm/short leg driving position) are what could reasonably be called seats.The GT's long-throw manual is a cog shy of the equivalent Brera, but the former's five speeds are better chosen than the too-tall gearing of the latter.The new 2.2 JTS delivers significantly more power and torque than the GT's 121kW/206Nm 2.0, but this has only 1320kg to move — 150kg less than the four-cylinder Brera. Its note is also less muted, closer to the lovely rasping TwinSpark of yore.All-round visibility is hopeless in the GT. Quaint ergonomics aside, though, sensibly softer 17-inch shoes make it friendlier than the newer comer; its sound manual gearbox makes it more fun. And an ask of $52,990 (metallic paint is “only” $950) clinches the deal.If this soapie saga went to script, the GT should have been left jealous and fretting behind the scenes by the arrival of the Brera. Instead, the older player still manages to upstage the newer.