Alfa Romeo 147 2003 Review

What we liked
>> Selespeed gearbox
>> GTA V6 engine is awesome
>> Drop-dead sexy

Not so much
>> Tight rear seat room
>> Tight boot room
>> Awkward switchgear

OVERVIEW
Alfa Romeo has a reputation for building stylish cars with plenty of sporting character. In the fading years of the 20th century, however, the wonderful character was often marred by less than acceptable build quality. Fiat taking over the reins of the famous marquee seems to have fixed most of the old problems without destroying the traditional flair, if the crop of Alfa Romeo beauties launched here since 1998 are any indication.

The Alfa Romeo 147 compact hatch arrived in Australia in 2002 with style and good looks that raise it above less inspired models. On appearance alone the baby Alfa, with its cute retro nose and sensuous shape, is a standout. Alfa Romeo's 147 range consists of 3-dr and 5-dr models, all with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, twinspark engine mated to either a 5-speed manual or semi-automatic Selespeed gearbox. Pricing in August 2003 stretched from $38,500 to $42,500.

Alfa Romeo's Australian importer -- Ateco Automotive -- launched the rip-snorting 147 GTA onto the market in August 2003. It gets big daddy 156 GTA's fire-breathing 3.2-litre engine, a six-speed manual gearbox and bucketloads of aggression. At $59,990, this hyper-charged hot hatch is about as affordable as European prestige performance gets.

FEATURES
As you'd expect from a prestige Euro hatch, the 147 comes well equipped with climate-control air-con, remote entry, power windows, electric mirrors, cruise control, and single CD player. For those who like changing gears with paddles on the steering wheel, the Selespeed automatic gearbox is available for an extra $3000.

Visually, the GTA model's sports body kit sets it apart from the more mundane 147. Inside it gains high-backed sports seats, unique three-spoke steering wheel, leather gearlever, drilled aluminium pedals and a unique instrument cluster with more gauges and a black background.

COMFORT
The sharp styling extends inside, with its all black interior and fake brushed metal highlights. The comfortable and supportive front seats can be trimmed in optional leather -- a worthwhile $2500 investment just for the intoxicating aroma. Other options include sunroof ($1875) and metallic paint ($890). Leather is also on the steering wheel and gearknob, while a stylish instrument pods surrounds the electronic display.

Access to the rear seats is good, with an easy, flip-forward seat. Legroom is passable, provided the front seats are pushed right back. Taller rear seat passengers will get sore necks banging their heads against the low sloping roofline. Alfa does its best with the limited room, providing plenty of small storage spaces including a fold-down centre armrest and credit card holder in the dash. The boot can be opened by remote, or by inserting the key in the latch hidden behind the badge.

The GTA model's high-backed sports seats are an absolute godsend in a car with such phenomenal mechanical grip. The seats' big side bolsters keep you firmly in place during serious cornering aggression, and the firm yet compliant cushioning gave us no troubles during our four hour stint behind the wheel.

SAFETY
All 147 models come fully loaded with safety features, including front, side and window airbags, side curtains, anti-lock brakes and traction control.

The 147 GTA gains VDC -- Vehicle Dynamic Control -- as standard. This system can brake individual wheels to reduce understeer or oversteer. The GTA's antilock brakes are enhanced with electronic brakeforce distribution to send its stopping power to the wheels with the most grip. Interactive traction control, or ASR, is also standard on GTA.

MECHANICAL
The 2.0-litre engine pumps out a respectable 110kW at 6300rpm and 181Nm of torque at 3800rpm. Alfa claims it will shoot from standstill to 100km/h in around nine seconds, with fuel economy on average hovering around 10litres/100km.

All 2.0-litre models come standard with a five-speed manual gearbox sending drive to the front wheels. A semi-automatic Selespeed gearbox is optional; it can act like a clutchless five-speed manual or a fully automatic gearbox depending on the driver's mood. An extra benefit of the Selespeed gearbox is the steering wheel-mounted paddles, which can also be used to change gears.

The hi-po 147GTA enjoys thundering performance from its 3.2-litre V6, which delivers 184kW of power and 300Nm of torque to the front wheels via a six-speed manual transmission -- a Selespeed clutchless manual based on this six-speeder is due in 2004. Alfa Romeo claims the 147 GTA will accelerate from rest to 100km/h in just 6.3 seconds. Top speed is perilously close to 250km/h.

The GTA rides lower on unique springs and shock absorbers, combined with wider 17inch, 225/45 tyres. Brake discs are bigger; 305mm front and 276mm rear, and equipped with antilock and electronic brakeforce distribution.

COMPETITORS
The Alfa Romeo 147's major rival is the Audi A3 and BMW Compact. Mercedes-Benz's C-class sports hatch is also a rival, along with Peugeot 307, Volkswagen Golf and perhaps Holden Astra, though this last one is much cheaper and perhaps doesn't have the prestige kudos.

GTA steps up to bat against a very eclectic mix of vehicles that includes hatches, sedans and coupes with all manner of engine and drivetrain configurations. The Mini Cooper S, Audi S3, Subaru WRX STi, VW Golf R32, BMW 325ti, Holden Astra turbo, Lexus IS300, Nissan 350Z and Mazda RX-8 all could be shopped against the Alfa. All have their strengths and weaknesses, though none bar the Mini and Astra are front wheel drive like the GTA.

ON THE ROAD
The Alfa Romeo 147 driving experience doesn't disappoint. This 2.0-litre version of Alfa's Twin Spark engine emits a glorious note through its chrome pipes and loves to rev all the way to its 7000rpm cut-off. When you become tired of racing through the twisty bits, it's also quite happy cruising on the highway in fifth gear at 3000rpm.

Acceleration is not lightning fast but quick enough for most. Gear changing with the five-speed manual is a little rubbery for a hot hatch pretender, but otherwise positive and fast.

Handling is sporty without being hard-edged like some other sporty hatches. The 147 has a nice, 'chuckable' feel about it. You can throw it into corners with confidence, with predictable levels of understeer and plenty of grip provided by the fat Pirelli tyres. For a small car it's very solid over bumps and rough surfaces, the taut suspension soaking up everything but the biggest potholes with ease. Overall, it offers a good compromise between sharp handling and a comfortable ride.

The GTA takes all the positive on-road elements of its siblings and turns the volume up to 11. Its mid-corner grip is absolute, 17inch tyres almost welded to the road surface. The GTA's suspension settings are definitely firm, biased towards performance, and the chassis's nimbleness reflects this with just a hint of oversteer on corner entry.

Sharper bumps can upset the balance, but not dangerously so. And the car's light steering is too quick for Aussie roads, it wanders over bumps and road cambers, but that's the price you pay for such razor-sharp response.

The engine is a true gem, definitely one of the best mid-capacity V6s around. It's strong and tractable down low and loves to rev hard right through to the 7000rpm cutout -- making it suitable both for urban combat and back-road blasts. The manual gearbox is also a sweetie, if a little rubbery and the brakes deliver plenty of bite but lack feel.

Around town the GTA's sharp steering would almost be a downside, but moreso it's lousy turning circle, which turns three-pointers into five. Fuel consumption may be an issue if you delight in revving the GTA's sweet singing six as we did - such a sweet, emotive sound.

It's unlikely that the judges awarded last year's European Car of the Year to the 147 for its looks alone. After spending a pleasant few days in the driver's seat, it's evident that the 147's appeal goes a lot further than skin deep. Not only is it fun to drive, but it's jam-packed with enough features and safety equipment to justify its almost $40,000 pricetag.

The Alfa 147 is available in three and five-door hatchback styles. With two extra doors the five-door version is more practical, but the three-door, which we tested here, has a slightly more sporty design highlighted by big 17-inch alloy wheels.

Practicality points are lost with some awkward switchgear and small buttons, although audio controls on the steering wheel make changing channels a lot safer. The speedo is hard to see, but not at night when the entire display lights up in dazzling red. Fit and finish appears to be a vast improvement over Alfas of old -- there's barely a rattle over the roughest surfaces and even the doors make a promising 'clunk'.

The only drawback is the compact dimensions. The 147 is great for inner-city parking -- despite a big turning circle -- but only has space to comfortably seat four adults and stash a few small bags. Thanks to a spacesaver tyre, there's reasonable room for luggage. But it's too narrow to squeeze in the golf clubs.

It's not surprising that the 147 has become Alfa's top-selling model in Australia and is also selling well against the competition. It offers a big car feel, without the bulk, and is good value for money provided you don't need the extra space.

BOTTOMLINE: Exhilarating pochet rocket performance in a stylish, premium-priced hatchback.

Alfa's steroid-injected hatch is one of those cars that turns every trip, even short ones to the corner shop, into a thrill-seeking mission. It wasn't long into our week-long test before I started seeking the longest, most jagged route to my destination just to prolong the time behind the wheel of this feisty Italian three-door.

Without doubt the muscular 3.2-litre V6 is the highlight of the GTA package. With 184kW/300Nm on tap it pulls hard from standstill and keeps singing all the way to the 7000rpm redline, clocking an HSV-like 6.3secs for the 0-100km/h sprint. You don't have to row the six-speed gearbox for a decent response either; if you're lazy, or forget to change down, it still surges along with little fuss. The only downside is a healthy thirst for premium unleaded that can quickly drain the 63-litre tank; we averaged around 16l/100km with mostly (spirited) city driving.

Venture beyond the urban limits and the GTA's strong performance, handling and braking abilities really come to the fore. Steering is pin-sharp, with just a touch of torque steer fed through the wheel on full throttle, and combines well with the taut and responsive chassis. Fortunately we didn't get to evaluate the stability control feature, but traction control steps in unobtrusively whenever the front tyres light up.

The downside of the impressive on-road handling is a firm but compliant ride that makes it feel unsettled on uneven roads. The low-slung bodykit and distinctive wheels, while great to look at, are also easily fouled on kerbs, gutters and other inner-city hazards.

Along with the added kilowatts the GTA gets extra styling, comfort and safety features to justify the $20,000 increase over the lesser 147. Our test car had standard black/red pin-stripe cloth trim, a sensible choice for our sunny climate but less stylish than the ($3500) black leather option. Either way, the high-backed seats keep driver and front passenger snugly in place in fast corners.

At $59,990 the 147 GTA is less practical but much cheaper than the bigger 156 GTA sedan, and better value if you're mostly attracted by the fire-breathing V6.