rsk21

My views on my car as per a post elsewhere on the forums:

Hello to all,

I picked up my new Brera a couple of weeks ago and thought I'd post a few thoughts and views now that I've had a good chance to use it and get to know it. It's my first Alfa and I've always wanted to run one ever since my dad had a 164 when I was in sixth form and I was occassionally allowed use of it at weekends but have never been brave enough to take the plunge. I've got what I am told was the last Brera 3.2 available on the Alfa funded PCH deal of £360 per month which includes all maintenance, tyres and road tax so I figure that gives me a fair degree of security should anything go wrong- here's hoping I don't need to put that theory to the test though.

Spec of the car is as follows:

Brera 3.2 SV - Montecarlo Blue - Grey/Black leather - Horseshoe alloys

As it was a stock car I had no choice over colour, options etc - would have loved the Blue & Me but have made do by fitting the Blaupunkt Bluetooth/USB interface detailed elsewhere on these forums which seems to be a pretty good piece of kit for £99. Have also put in a Garmin Nuvi 360T on a Brodit pro clip which fits in very neatly indeed.

Some initial observations and thoughts on the car:

It looks terrific - beautifully styled and the colour looks great in bright sunlight. It attracts loads of positive glances and comments - call me shallow but I quite like that !

It has a fine engine - lots of torque means good motorway acceleration and flexibility plus it makes a terrific noise when in the VVT range in particular although it's not quite the old V6 noise I remember. It's also loosening up nicely as time progresses. Gearbox seems fine to me despite what others have said, quick and positive in action and have suffered no drivetrain shunt so far. Again as you would expect this too is loosening up over time.

It's well put together - yes it's heavy but that certainly lends an air of solidity. The guy who fitted the Blaupunkt kit was quite taken aback at the quality of the way the car was put together in comparison to previous generation Alfas. Only downside is that I now have the rocking seat syndrome which has been widely reported on here - this is annoying and I'll be getting it fixed ASAP.

The weight is apparent but in my mind not a great deal worse than a previously run Nissan 350Z. I have no doubt the weight blunts outright perfromance but it feels pretty quick to me and compared to our other car it's a rocketship so I'm fairly happy with the overall pace of the car.

It has incredible levels of grip - this I like very much ! Living near the roundabout capital of the UK ( Milton Keynes) this grip is both fun and much appreciated at times. In the Nissan damp days could either be amusing or a little too heart in mouth, the Brera is absolutely rock solid and cornering speeds are impressive.

Fuel consumption - Have read a few horror stories on here and TBH I can see how one could achieve these awful numbers. On a motorway run to Sheffield I managed an average of 25 more heavy footed driving sees me down at about 15 and overall I reckon I'm at 21ish. Could be better but I did enter into buying the car knowing it was never going to beat a Prius in this respect !

Dealer experience - From my dealings with the first two dealers I visited it's obvious Alfa have some way to go to sort out the overall customer experience. My view was that product knowledge and overall ambience was a long way below par for a supposed premium car manufacturer . That said my eventual supplying dealer was absolutelyfirst class and a real credit to the trade. On the day of collection I got the full red cover unveiling and very nice bouquet for Mrs RSK - hello to Palmers of St Albans and a particular thanks to Will the sales controller. I can heartily endores this dealership from a sales perspective, when I go back in on Thursday for the seat issue hopefully I'll be able to say the same about the servicing team.

Other bits and pieces - remarkably practical boot but useless back seats and not a great amount of oddment space in the cabin, but maybe that'll just encourage me to be less cluttered.

Stereo headunit is OK but radio reception lousy with the wipers on which is a bit annoying - speakers could be better and I'll possibly look at an upgrade some time in the future. I considered taking it all out and putting in a double din unit with navi etc etc but am so far v happy with the Garmin and the Blaupunkt USB device.

I've had no problems with seat comfort, visibility or headroom unlike some have reported. For the record I'm 6ft2" and of rugby player build.

Having said I'm OK with the performance I'd like perhaps a little more urgency to match the flexibility and will more than likely opt for the Autodelta remap in the future.

So there you have it, one satisfied customer to date. Apologies for the lengthy tome but after having read so much Brera (and for that matter 159) bashing posts on here I thought I'd take the time to put across a positive view or two.

Great forums by the way - have been a huge help to me in my buying decision so thanks to all concerned.

RSK