Alfa’s 159 is a Feast for the Eyes
There’s plenty here to please the eye, and through it, the soul. In fact, it is only recently that the French, with similarly-sized cars like the Peugeot 509 and Citroen C5, are matching the style of their Latin neighbour while over in Germany they still aren’t able to quite combine elegance and style to the same degree.
Problem is, it comes at a price. For starters, the Alfa’s long, low nose spends most of its life in contact with things it isn’t supposed to be in contact with: urban speed humps, driveway entrances and exits and parking lot kerbing all lurk in anticipation of the 159’s arrival. This makes the turning circle seem larger than it is, and manoeuvrability is not a strong point.
That’s another thing which strikes me: for a car with a sporty character it doesn’t feel agile. In fact, it feels fairly stodgy. Sure, you don’t expect a medium-sized front-wheel-drive sedan to handle like a go-kart, but it does have a wheelbase of just 2 700 mm and an overall length of 4 660 mm is not exactly gargantuan.
The problem in suburbia is the weighting of the steering, clutch and six-speed gearbox. They all feel like they lack a degree of subtlety which is expected of a drivers’ car, with a fraction too much effort required. This translates into a sensation of the driver having to work a little harder than necessary, physical effort taking some of the pleasure out of the equation.
The 159 is actually at the end of its life and production has already ceased, and the local arrival of this face-lifted version with the installation of the turbocharged 1.75-litre engine is its last hurrah. It’s a great power-plant, with a masculine gruffness which is certainly appealing. It is pretty potent too and is rated at 147 kW, with 320 Nm of torque from only 1 400 rpm. That’s a healthy output for an engine of this size but it sometimes arrives in a rush, and requires a firm grip on the steering wheel, with more than a hint of torque steer as the front tyres scrabble for grip. But wring it out to the red line in each gear and it is wholly satisfying, with Alfa claiming a believable 235 km/h top speed. In fact, the 159 gets better the harder you push it and conversely, feels less satisfactory when being driven sedately, and requires particularly well-timed driver input for smooth progress to be made in stop-start conditions.
The focus on the driver’s needs is apparent in the cabin, with the centre console angled away from the passengers. The person at the wheel therefore gets the main benefit of the three large air vents, and the hang-down section also houses the dual-zone climate control, a decent sound system, and - unusually - gauges for fuel, water temperature and turbo boost.
Seating is supportive and needless to say the steering column adjusts for height and reach. Yet, I never felt entirely comfortable, with the location of the gearlever relative to the steering wheel and the centre console storage box which got in the way of my left elbow two of the main issues for me.
With the segment in which the 159 competes completely dominated by the Germans (their cause made easier by large dealer networks and a reputation for reliability and generally high standards of aftersales support), the reality is that choosing a 159 is a case of following your heart rather than your head. And I’m fine with that, and believe a life based purely on logical reasoning can be safe and predictable, but not necessarily more satisfying…
