but it will definitely be 1st when it's judged by the looks! =)

 

Who cares? It's always going to be number 1 in our hearts!

 

TBH, I don't think the Z4 is the natural alternative to the Brera. I think the fairer comparison would be the BMW 335Ci

 

From other discussions on here, I'd have expected the 350Z to be quicker from 50-70 than it is.

 

Thats 50-70 in 6th gear, i.e. three gears out.
Good indication of the driving to the shops ease of livability and effortless overtaking in top gear, but most sporty cars don't optimise for that level of lazyness

From other discussions on here, I'd have expected the 350Z to be quicker from 50-70 than it is.

 

I'm not suprised by this, the Brera ought to have been designed with these cars in its sights. Its massive weight and bargain basement design (component sharing) has cost it dearly. A fantastic opportunity for Alfa to create a truly great car - ruined.

 

Chuckled when the kid sat in the back of the Brera. He won't be looking so keen when they put the seat back!

 

335Ci is a 3 litre turbo engine - hardly a direct competitor for Brera. 330Ci is more like it.

 

If BMW are continuing to produce the 330Ci, which I accept is stll available new at the moment, then I would agree that 330Ci is closer in price. I think the price comparison is more important then the engine size. However, the point I was making is that the Z4 is more a 'sports' car then GT - which the Brera and 3 series Coupe are

 

If BMW are continuing to produce the 330Ci, which I accept is stll available new at the moment, then I would agree that 330Ci is closer in price. I think the price comparison is more important then the engine size. However, the point I was making is that the Z4 is more a 'sports' car then GT - which the Brera and 3 series Coupe are

Not disputing that point although I would not have the Brera on the same list as the Audi or the Nissan either.

335Ci is however by all accounts a very honed beast, comparable in performance to the E46 M3 model. If the future Brera GTA can outperform the 335Ci, I think we will all be secretly quite pleased.

Of course, in public we will maintain that it should aim for the V8 M3 :cheese:

 

214bhp/tonne for the E46 M3, Vs 189bhp/tonne for the 335i.

You just know theres a BMW engineer saying to a Marketing person
"But ve kan make 400bhp out of this Konfiguration!" *
Still BMW are the absolute world experts at carefully stratified pricing, no matter where you are on the price curve they have something just exactly the right amount more expensive to tempt you to spend that bit more.

ITs just like Porsche not giving an LSD to the Cayman, since they know that would mean it would totally embarrass the 911 on track.

BTW Vamos : I'll eat my hat if the Brera GTA isn't quicker than the 335i, even Autodeltas inital mod of the Brera is quicker I think, and its unlikely they will stop there

 

I'm not suprised by this, the Brera ought to have been designed with these cars in its sights. Its massive weight and bargain basement design (component sharing) has cost it dearly. A fantastic opportunity for Alfa to create a truly great car - ruined.

Yeah, did anyone see the Autocar handling test? Apparently the Brera came last - even slower than a Seat Leon and Ford Focus; not good.

 

BTW Vamos : I'll eat my hat if the Brera GTA isn't quicker than the 335i, even Autodeltas inital mod of the Brera is quicker I think, and its unlikely they will stop there

I do hope you are right, TB, I do hope you are right

 

Yeah, did anyone see the Autocar handling test? Apparently the Brera came last - even slower than a Seat Leon and Ford Focus; not good.

Oooo be careful Wanabe - Remember the Alanmo

 

What Kevin said

 

It is a pitty that Alfa didn't address the weight problem of the Brera prior to its launch. I'm sure they will do something for the GTa (other than just give it a Masserati engine, which would be enough to forgive any shortcomings anyway), but will they then try and make the lesser models lighter too?

 

Oooo be careful Wanabe - Remember the Alanmo

..not forgetting the Dubravka of course.........

 

For the record, I tested the Z4 coupe and 350Z before opting for the Brera 2.4 SV. It was more comfortable, more economical, much better equipped, better value, far better looking and so much more exclusive.

As I have mentioned in another thread, the Z4 coupe and 350Z are both tremendous RWD six-pot coupes but as my "only car", there's no way I could live with the thirst, road noise, poor ride comfort and lack of space.

Again, far too much importance seems to be given to handling to the detriment of more real-world attributes. I'm not saying we should all drive diesel Renault Scenics, but if a car is marketed as being "honed at the Nurburgring" that strikes it straight off my list... If it's "honed on the undulating, twisting, climbing, abrasive, pot holed roads of Umbria and Tuscany" then that's far more appealing; I'm then able to feel the positive benefit on a trip through the Cotwolds or up in Scotland, without having to put up with having my spine jarred over the concrete sections of the M25 every morning...

 

Hey, I don't know about Umbria but Tuscany roads are not doing badly in terms of pot holes, you know. Come in the Naples area, you'll see how our roads crumble after the first big rains of November... on top of being slippery.

 

Ach, ganze Fataleizigung der Videoklip is ein some keind of outlandisch lankvash.

But they still do a good job of comparing the TT, Z4 and Brera. The Brera does handle much better than I thought, but 600 more lbs than the 2 others... ouch. That explains everything in terms of the perf difference. Well I guess Alfa know what to do for the next generation. Something tells me they might come out with a RWD Q2 version at some point.

 

Fair point about Tuscan roads... good mix of good and bad surfaces I seem to remember. Looking forward to trying the Naples roads during our next visit...

 

For the record, I tested the Z4 coupe and 350Z before opting for the Brera 2.4 SV. It was more comfortable, more economical, much better equipped, better value, far better looking and so much more exclusive.

Thanks for sharing this with us LordK. Happy to see that not all Alfa purchases are made with the heart rather than the head.