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Model: Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 JTS
RRP: $69,990
Price as tested: $74,990 ($3250 electric seats and folding mirrors; $1750 metallic paint)
Also consider: Audi TT Roadster 2.0 TFSI (more here); Nissan 350Z Roadster (more here); BMW Z4.2.5si (more here); Honda S2000; Mercedes-Benz SLK 200 K (more here)
There are convertibles, and then there are Spiders. Alfa Romeo declares no other model epitomises its sporting heritage and flair for style quite like the Spider, and for most of us, to see a good-looking European convertible is to expect it wears the Quadrifoglio and Pininfarina script.
Based on the striking Brera coupe and styled by Pininfarina and Alfa Centro Stile, the new Spider gets reworked key suspension components, the latest in Alfa's active safety systems and uses the 159 model's platform, with shortened wheelbase especially for the convertible.
The Spider is offered here in two versions: the 3.2-litre V6 with Alfa's Q4-wheel-drive system, or the 2.2-litre four-cylinder JTS, as tested. Both come standard with a six-speed manual.
The 2.2 JTS is rated at 136kW and makes further work of Alfa's version of direct injection (dubbed Jet Thrust Stoichiometric) first seen here used in the 156 model's 2.0-litre four. The 2.2-litre engine is an all-aluminium DOHC unit with weight savings over the previous offering, and up to Euro IV emissions standards.
But this Spider is no speedster. Arguably convertibles are exempt from having to be sportscars too, but the smallest Spider is clumsy and slow. Alfa says 90 per cent of the 2.2's torque is accessible after 2000rpm but the engine is happier at its upper reaches, spinning more freely at 4000 onwards. And that's only 230Nm after 2000, too.
In fact, via the seat of the pants, the 2.2 is so slow to respond to the boot that we can hardly believe Alfa's sub-9sec 0-100km/h claim.
The Spider comes with ABS combined with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, and a switchable Vehicle Dynamic Control (Alfa-speak for stability control) unit. Alfa's VDC incorporates ASR (Anti Slip Regulation) to limit wheelspin. Spider also gets the maker's MSR (Motor Speed Regulator) to modulate braking torque when changing down through the gears, and hill holder function.
Brakes felt slightly over-assisted and the car was prone to tram-lining -- under brakes in particular.
The Alfa comes with the full gamut of convenience features: automatic dual zone climate control, cruise control, a multi-function display and trip computer, fog lights, chrome roll bars, wind break, rear storage compartments, six-speaker CD player and stylish 18-inch alloy wheels.
Typically, the Italians sexed-up the open-top motoring affair and cornered all the 'charm' associated with convertible ownership. In this case, however, that includes compromised comfort and driving dynamics.
Roof up or down, the Spider's scuttleshake rivals the Mitsubishi Colt Cabrio's trembling travel at a third of the price. Funnily enough, Pininfarina did that job, too. The compromise to rigidity is more so in soft tops than folding hardtops but even Spider's steering is affected, with rattle and shake through the wheel that's detectable even with the roof up.
Wind noise into the cabin with roof up was noticeably irritating but thankfully occupants are quite sheltered from buffering with the roof down, due to the Spider's long sloping windscreen and high-sided body.
The Spider's convertible roof operation seems interminable. They say it takes only 25 seconds to open and close but the workings seem to make a contrivance over stowing the two-piece fabric cover and laying the glass in the top half of the boot... or maybe we've grown accustomed to the sub-20sec jobbies in some of the folding hardtops. Some good news is the folded roof doesn't intrude on boot space, which is 235 litres.
The Spider had electric adjustable seating and tilt-and-reach steering adjustment, but this is one model with more attention to fashion than ergonomics. The handles are placed too far forward to ease opening the door, for example, and like the previous Spider, headroom is at a premium. Vision outward is also worse than in other convertibles we've tried, though rear parking assist is standard fit.
Spider's interior is, as you would expect, all-Alfa, with familiar ribbed seating, dash layout and colour palette. The driver's side alloy door trim was dented on the test car, perhaps by some Bulgari-bangled princess grappling with the huge doors and misplaced handles at odds with our friend fulcrum.
Spider's is an awkward cabin for ingress and egress, and to see out of and feel comfortable in. Its bathtub body line is too high and makes the interior feel confining, not cosseting. The climate control is also over-eager, and the dash creaks on its way up to temp.
Accommodation is, admittedly, better than the old Spider. You still feel like headroom is at a premium if you prefer the seat a bit more upright, but you don't have to cant your head to one side and hunch shoulders to peer through the windscreen. The storage space behind the front seats is useful and practical.
Despite the test car being 'Diamante Grey' and not archetypal Spider red, it's oh so pretty. It has a touch of the tiny '50s Giulietta Spider about it and shares Guigiaro-styled Brera's beguiling front-end.
For some buyers, there is nothing to compare with Latin lines. But thinking with the head, not the heart, you should also shop our favourite sporty soft-top, Audi's 2.0-litre TT Roadster. What it might lack in soul, it makes up for in carved-from-billet build quality. And the dollar difference is scant to say the least.
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