The Alfa Romeo 159 was truly stunningly beautiful, a real promise for any dance floor, but once in place it turned out to be a lot less carefree than expected. Even the very powerful V6 we had to call a bit lazy at the time. Why the car was so disappointing after the even more beautiful and iconic 156.
From the Alfa 156 the Alfa 159 was dead, alive. That numbering doesn’t sound like a palace revolution, but just like a real succession to the throne, the newcomer hasn’t really stepped into the shoes of the esteemed predecessor. 156 was an icon that retained its dignity even as a dilapidated occasion: too beautiful to die and safe to disappear from the minds of aficionados of Alfisti. For many, the 156 will count as the most beautiful sedan of the 1990s and this alone made succession difficult.
Not as fast as the 156
However, the concerns about it were unfounded, because master Giugiaro to put on paper an incomparably beautiful sequel. And the guide? Very well, but the speed of the 156 was gone. It was as if that model had hastily said goodbye to his carefree adolescence and now, at 159, had embarked on a serious career as an adult. In the old test reports we read of solid handling, steering that has stopped and an extraordinarily quiet interior. Nice, but they are not things that keep the enthusiast awake. The 159 was never bad, but she wanted to be good, with fans turning a loving eye for the mediocre finish here and there.
The V6 was also a bit lazy
And the performance? Well with the exception of the 1.8 engine, with traditionally a leading role for the V6, the flagship engine. In the 159 it was combined with all-wheel drive as standard. It is this version whose specifications are more in line with those of the new Giulia Veloce AWD, only the performance of the largest of the 159 has never been entirely good. The sound was fantastic, the thrust itself more than enough and the road holding up a real show of turning. The really smooth moves weren’t part of the expected dancer repertoire: the V6 (which has nothing to do with the mighty 3.2 of 147 and 156 GTA or in the GT) required at least 5,000 rpm to reach full maturity. Until the time finally came, we could only define machinery as a bit lazy. A real shame, because otherwise the 159 turned out to have all the talent the world could expect from a new Alfa Romeo. The Latere 1750 TBi-turboshaft it would have made up for it a little, but it came too late.
Then don’t dance.
