This is a short video about an Alfa Romeo 156 with a 3.0liter V6 engine inside of it. It belongs to a friend of mine and it looks superb inside and out. I think this could be the nicest 156 in the country at this moment.
This was once a 156 2.5 V6 but it is now has a 3.0liter V6 heart pumping now. This car runs a Q-System 4 speed automatic which is essentially an Aisin torque converter based 4 speed automatic in disguise. It has a quirky 'U' shaped shift pattern rather than the traditional P, R, N, D, L in a straight line or a 'J' gate. But the main point of this transmission is that it allows stress free traffic crawling which you could never get in a manual or even the 'Selespeed' or 'sillyspeed' AMT transmission which breaks down like clockwork here.
The car should now make 226hp at least with the 3.0liter V6. The smaller 2.5liter made 190hp. More importantly is the extra torque. Just enough so that it would not over power the front wheel driven chassis. It sounds super sweet though. Check out the video and hear is sing.
As for Alfa Romeo here in Malaysia, they are a dying breed. There has not been an official import since Sime Darby Auto Connexion pulled the plug and gave up on the franchise a few years ago. We last had the 159, the Giulietta and even the beautiful Brera for a while. Now there are no more official imports of the brand and it seems that no one has been brave enough to bring in the Giulia super sports sedan. There were brave folks which imported the 4C and the 8C, but so far no news on this Giulia.
I also think that whilst the new Giulia is jaw droppingly good looking and first time testers have said that the car drives very well, I have a sinking feeling that this car may not be enough to stop the brand from sinking. Or being flogged off by the Fiat Chrysler Group.
Why? They have decided to push the brand upmarket with the Giulia and the new Stelvio SUV. They have not spent money on a new MiTO supermini or the Giulietta compact hatchback which have been around since 2008 and 2010 respectively. Imagine the same platform for almost a decade for the MiTO.
Pushing the Alfa Romeo brand upmarket may be a good thing to do but the thing with the Fiat Chrysler Group is that they already own a brand where they are pushing Alfa into - Maserati. I cannot help but think that some sales from this brand may be cannibalised in-house rather than from high end Mercedes-Benz, Audi or BMW cars out there.
Basically the only reason we harp on this was the fact that Alfa Romeo filled a niche of those that actually wanted a performance sedan or hatchback that wasn't German or French. One which was a hot blooded Latin with flair and gusto. Of course, the reliability issues (which sometimes was more of the old unfounded fears rather than reality) kept people from buying the brand. Maybe this is why Fiat Chrysler decided to push the brand upmarket to those that wouldn't worry so much and just buy the car for what it is.
It may be a good move. But it may be a swansong for the brand if this does not go well.
But in any case, watch the video, look at a classic Alfa Romeo. The 3.0liter V6 sitting in the engine bay is reason enough.
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