Alfa--Back?

[enzl]

Cool!

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/05/04/alfa-ro...ing-to-the-u-s/

[Croc]

I LOVE ALFA!!! I'm getting one...

[pow]

Screw the 3-series... we're getting a 159!

[Guest YellowJacket894]

Give me a GT, please, in either pearlescent white or black. Or red.

[ToniCipriani]

159...

[Drew Dowdell]

The '08 CTS better be damn good otherwise I'm getting a 159

[balthazar]

No one wants to read you chowderheads tsk-tsking GM's further marketshare slide as you all tool around in alfas. No, it won't have a noticable effect (esp limited to sales thru maserati dealers- can there be 25 across the country??), but every little bit chips away at that number. So keep it under your hat.

Stylistically, I'd much rather have the Camaro.

[Drew Dowdell]

No one wants to read you chowderheads tsk-tsking GM's further marketshare slide as you all tool around in alfas. No, it won't have a noticable effect (esp limited to sales thru maserati dealers- can there be 25 across the country??), but every little bit chips away at that number. So keep it under your hat.

Stylistically, I'd much rather have the Camaro.

Well, the 159 would likely replace the Passat as it's currently the oldest in our "Fleet". Since Chas was probably going to get another Passat or an A4.... the loss goes to VW/Audi rather than GM.

[pow]

Well, you'll be helping third-world debt by buying a car from Italy...

Plus, isn't the 3.2 V6 from GM?

[Flybrian]

They need to merge with the rest of GM Europe so I can buy and Alfa Omega.

Seriously, these are slick cars. Better GM/Alfa than VW, etc.

[VenSeattle]

As much as I'm thrilled to hear this, I'll still be very happy with a Lucerne or Buick Zeta.

[Cory Wolfe]

Awesome... Alfas rule. My first new car... Well, I can dream, can't I?

[titan]

Screw the 3-series... we're getting a 159!

Yep!!!!

[Robert Hall]

I'm really liking the Brera the more see pics of it..I like the GT also quite a bit..

[Bimmer325]

I'm sorry, but this REALLY excites me.

The Brera's styling puts the GTI to shame.

[The O.C.]

I had a chance to spend three days in an Alfa Romeo GT Coupe with a 6-speed manual and 1.9L TDi.....while I was in Franfurt for the show.

It was an AWESOME drive! However.......the fit-and-finish seriously sucked.....lacked far behind GM, Ford, or even the Koreans. The actual materials were nice...and the styling was nice.....but the actual fit inside AND outside was atrocious. (The GT Coupe is a "last-generation" Alfa design compared to 159 and Brera.)

I'm positive these are issues that Alfa has been working on.....and that is what has delayed their return to the U.S.

The new 159 and Brera should have resolved those issues because when looking at those cars in the auto show, they were executed to a MUCH higher standard than the GT Coupe rental car I had.

That being said, I haven't driven a more charismatic automobile in a LONG time. Even though we won't get turbodiesels, it really made me a believer that IF we had these kinds of TDs in the U.S., american drivers WOULD buy them.

These European turbodiesels simply can't be compared to say, a VW Jetta or Passat TDi (what WE would be most familiar with)....they are in an entirely different class......

This car was fast, punchy, and revved quicker than many petrol engines (although only up to about 4,500rpms....Ha!) I kept running into the rev-limiter in the lower gears. With all that TD torque, the car had minimal-to-no torque steer.....impressive in its own. The car was buttoned down, but had a nice ride on its low-profile tires.

Most impressive was how the car was so eager to run at an indicated 200kph (124-125mph) on the autobahn. It has that same kind of "natural" driving feel that BMWs and others are known for.

I'm truly excited about Alfa's return to the U.S......and I hope this article is more truth than rumor. They won't be cheap....but will compete with VW on the low end, and BMW and Audi on the high end. In fact, they will probably be priced more like the BMWs and Audis than the VWs....

[Flybrian]

Its one of the very, very, very few foreign cars I'd even consider. the Coupe is awkward, but the Brera and 159? Sex.

[Croc]

Wait...why couldn't we get the turbodiesels in the US?

[4gm]

GM needs to use the Brera as a template for a new Pontiac.

[Sixty8panther]

No one wants to read you chowderheads tsk-tsking GM's further marketshare slide as you all tool around in alfas. No, it won't have a noticable effect (esp limited to sales thru maserati dealers- can there be 25 across the country??), but every little bit chips away at that number. So keep it under your hat.

Stylistically, I'd much rather have the Camaro.

Thank You.

Italian cars are fun if you're loaded. My girlfriend gives

me enough drama, I don;t need any more. Owning an

Italian car is for sedo-masichists & people wiht too

much free time on their hands. I wouldn't be surprised

if you had to special order windhield wipers & oil filters

for those things. If they made a true to concept 8C

then I might be wecoming thier return.

[Cory Wolfe]

I'm sorry, but this REALLY excites me.

The Brera's styling puts the GTI to shame.   

Yeah....

[enzl]

Ironically, these Alfas are based on the premium GM FWD architecture that Fiat got to use as part of the breakup of their fling. Brera, Spider, 159's and the Fiat Croma all share it, along with an italian tuned HF V6 that sounds like pure sex...

So, technically, we would be driving a GM product, mostly!

Could've been the basis of the new 9-3, 9-5 and who knows what else...

[ZL-1]

I'm really liking the Brera the more see pics of it..I like the GT also quite a bit..

The Fiat Portuguese office is not far from where I live, and I was lucky to see a Brera a couple of weeks ago. To sum it up in one word: SEXY!

[sciguy_0504]

As much as I'm thrilled to hear this, I'll still be very happy with a Lucerne or Buick Zeta.

You may be surprised to hear this but so would I. Alfa performance may be good but the styling...ugh. The Brera looks like it suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome.

[The O.C.]

Wait...why couldn't we get the turbodiesels in the US?

Eventually we might.....but it has something to do with the diesel fuel we have here isn't compatible with the advanced injection systems these new turbodiesels have.....(hence M-Benz is working on introducing it's BlueTech, I think it's called, turbodiesels here in a year or two that WILL be compatible...)

The turbodiesels we are used to such as the VW TDi's are "old" turbodiesel technology and are supposedly compatible....but they aren't as advanced as the majority of turbodiesels overseas.

If you want to read up on them, just buy a few monthly editions of the british mags CAR and TopGear......most of their comparison tests are between cars all equipped with "new" technology turbodiesels.

[Croc]

Well that's interesting about the fuel blend...in EU the only difference is that the fuel is 40% biodiesel...but diesel engines can switch between diesel and biodiesel without problems. I will have to read up on it further.

[Drew Dowdell]

We don't have low-sulfer diesel here in the US. It's the sulfer in the fuel that causes problems with the newer cleaner burning diesels the Euros have. An old diesel can run low-sulfer fuel, but a new diesel can't run US spec fuel.

The refineries have till 2007 <I think> to convert to low sulfer production. It's not that the Euro engines will change, it's that the fuel here in the US will be compatible with the current engines.

[Cory Wolfe]

You may be surprised to hear this but so would I.  Alfa performance may be good but the styling...ugh.  The Brera looks like it suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome.

You must not have any taste... I just see pure sex.

[Croc]

We don't have low-sulfer diesel here in the US.  It's the sulfer in the fuel that causes problems with the newer cleaner burning diesels the Euros have.  An old diesel can run low-sulfer fuel, but a new diesel can't run US spec fuel.

The refineries have till 2007 <I think> to convert to low sulfer production.  It's not that the Euro engines will change, it's that the fuel here in the US will be compatible with the current engines.

Thanks for clearing that up.

[ToniCipriani]

Anyone seen this before?

http://www.motortrend.com/future/spied_veh...o_kappa_spyder/

Apparently Alfa was supposed to get a version of Kappa. Looks like the 8C Concept.

[ToniCipriani]

And some more Alfa Porn...

I heard that this one is coming as well...

[pow]

The Spyder is nice, but the regular Brera is still hotter, IMO.

[MyerShift]

In the U.S., aside from potential- they are Italian after all- quality issues, dealers/distance to service, and availability of parts, this automobile is amazing (of the Brera).

I'd take one!