My head felt heavy as it was pulled back onto the headrest of the 159. I was testing Alfa Romeo’s reported figures of zero to a hundred in just 7,7 seconds.
The Alfa Romeo 159 was pushing out 147 kilowatts, producing 320 Newton meters of torque and blistering the tarmac with it’s thrilling acceleration. Because I had to keep both hands on the wheel, I never really got to see whether I beat the 7,7 second time so I will have to take Alfa’s word for it. It certainly felt a lot faster than 7,7 seconds to me.
The 159 I tested was the 1750cc turbo charged petrol derivative, which was coupled to a six speed manual gearbox. With continuous variable valve timing and advanced ignition control systems, the 159 produced the same power sensation of a three-litre motor.
The 159 is also available with a V6 3.2-litre petrol engine that produces a whopping 191 kW and 322 Nm of torque. Unfortunately I didn’t get to test drive this model, but hey, I’m still young.
The sporty V6 version of the Alfa 159 is available with Alfa’s Q4 all wheel drive system, which is standard with the automatic six speed model.
This car is really complex and has a host of fascinating technological features that are mind boggling. As there is not enough space to tell you all about it in this article, I suggest you let the experts tell you all about it while you take one out for a test drive.