It’s no secret that Italians are passionate people — they’re passionate about their food, their family, their culture and, most importantly, their cars.
They are proud to the point of obstinance — try to disagree with Italians about anything that has come out of their country (including the Mafia) and they’ll argue with you until you give up out of sheer exasperation.
A few years ago a friend about to tour Italy was warned that most Italians would make no attempt to speak English and, if he was going to travel on his own, he would need a good grasp of the language. Being young and knowing everything, except Italian of course, he threw caution to the wind, bought an English/Italian dictionary and headed for Rome.
On his first day there, he walked into a deli to buy a slice of pizza. He smiled widely at the old woman behind the counter. She looked straight through him. He opened his dictionary and, pointing to a slice of pizza, said something along the lines of: “Scuzi senora, umm pizza, umm that slice over there, per favore.” She glared at him and then walked to the other side of the counter. He looked at his dictionary again, wondering if he had somehow managed to curse her mother without knowing it.
He walked outside and after 30 minutes had managed to construct in Italian a simple request for a slice of pizza. Only then did the old woman serve him, though she never said a word and it was clear what she thought of foreigners such as my unfortunate friend, who subsequently joined a tour group.
The recently released Alfa Brera speaks volumes about Italian passion, craftsmanship and arrogance. It’s easily the most beautiful hatchback on our roads and it knows it. My test unit was the 3,2-litre V6 Q4 which, when it wasn’t ripping up the tar, would almost turn its nose up at less attractive vehicles — or was that me turning my nose up at less attractive vehicles?
Either way, the Brera comes off as being lovably arrogant. Its lines are distinctive and the two-toned leather interior fits the overall package.
The 3,2-litre features Alfa’s four-wheel drive Q4 system, which goes a long way to inspiring confident driving in a car as powerful as this. However, the Brera doesn’t feel as grippy as other four-wheel and all-wheel drive vehicles and, while it does hold on to the tar in serious twisties, it doesn’t do it as comfortably as a four-wheel drive should.
The red line on the rev counter is somewhere near the 7Â 000rpm mark and I found it quite unusual that the Brera started to lose engine power at about 6Â 000rpm. Most performance vehicles will allow the rev counter needle to go in to the red zone before limiting engine power.
However, the Brera accelerates beautifully and the six-speed manual gearbox is very user-friendly. No torque steer, no unnecessary squealing of tyres. Just a smooth, linear delivery of power that makes you feel as if you’re perfectly in control.
And in the unlikely event of you developing a sudden bout of amnesia, the interior will remind you instantly that you’re in an Italian car simply because most of the sporty dials and instruments are adorned with Italian words — so you’ve got aqua over the water gauge, benzina over the fuel gauge and so on.
The top-of-the-range Brera comes standard with dual-zone aircon, a multi-function steering wheel, an MP3 compatible CD/radio and much more.
Safety features include ABS, traction control and six airbags. Most diehard motoring fans would jump at the chance to own an Alfa, but I’m not sure how many are going to part with almost half a million rands for the 3,2 Brera. Sure, it’s fun to drive, but for what it is, I think it’s overpriced and that could stand in the way of Alfa growing its market share with this vehicle.
Fact file
Model: Alfa Brera 3,2 V6 Q4
Price: R485 000
Engine: 3,2litre V6
Tech: 191kW, 322Nm
Top Speed: 240kph, 0-100kph in 6,8 seconds
Tank: 70 litres
Services: 30 000km