(Auto-matics account for 20 percent of the European market, and that percentage is rapidly climbing.) A Selespeed six-speed automatic by Aisin with steering wheel levers-Alfa’s first six-speed automatic-will be here by year’s end. Gearing on this 159 is smooth and playful. Conversely, reaching the 6500-rpm limit is a gentle experience with no needle-bouncing or sharp accelerator cut-off. More like it’s working really hard and grimacing as it accesses every horse. As on all of our drives with this unit, the moving parts are happiest between 40 rpm, but above 5000 the engine doesn’t sound like it’s singing. Pulling the 159 Sportwagon around the seaside hills of the Liguria region, the Holden-sourced HF V6 sounds long-stroke to our ears. So we again jumped into the 3.2 V6 Q4 version with six-speed manual (engineered by Fiat-GM Powertrain-the best entity to come out of that alliance) and were ready to hike up the rpm count. Another gain comes from the steering wheel orientation, which is closer to a parallel plane with the dashboard, instead of being angled too much forward. The stouter suspension rate ensures every unpleasant bump and all of the aggressive corners are gobbled up whole while maintaining a Germanic sense of comfort and purpose. Helping to overlook any paunch issues is the outstanding ride and handling, even in the twistiest narrow parts of the 1.5-lane Italian coastal-road network. First, the car is gorgeous from any angle and extremely Italian. This Sportwagon, introduced at the Geneva motor show, is still a bit portly, but we enjoyed it more than either the 159 sedan or Brera coupe. Despite this, these are great cars with attractive Italdesign-Giugiaro exteriors. To really feel the Alfa thrills we seek, revs in these cars need to be kept high to adequately tug around the weight. 159 sedans, along with 159-based Brera models, are too heavy by about 300 pounds. And now the moment has arrived to drive this Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon, replacement for the 156 wagon.Īfter driving the four-door, we came away feeling the most attractive version from our American perspective-the loaded 3.2 V6 with Q4 all-wheel traction-is heavy compared to the Germans with which it means to compete. In the large C and D segments, wagons make up around 55 percent of sales. Station Wagons are huge business in Europe.

Alfa romeo 159 q4