Alfa Romeo 156 GTA (2002 - to 2006)
BY ANDY ENRIGHT
With the 156 GTA, Alfa Romeo propelled themselves back into the premier league of sports car manufacturers. Here was a car offered as a saloon or a sleek Sportwagon estate, that was savagely quick and which boasted one of the greatest engines ever built. Of course, it didnt hurt that it was so beautiful it made your head swim either. Used examples occasionally make their way onto the market at rather attractive prices.
So many modern cars are emasculated, dumbed down, politically correct palehearts. Heres a notable exception.
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There are six airbags as standard, plus the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) stability system, brake assist and Isofix child seat mountings. None of this, however, is really enough to make the GTA feel particularly special, so you also get special leather seats and carefully pleated door inserts, as well as bespoke alloy pedals and different speedo and rev counter graphics. No change to the steering wheel position though, so despite four-way adjustment, many will still find it just too far away.
The earliest 156 GTA models are currently retailing for a tad over £13,000 although you will find a number of left hand drive imports washing about the market for considerably less. The Sportwagon model is a good deal rarer than its booted sibling and these tend to command a £500 premium. Insurance is surprisingly reasonable given the GTAs stonking performance. Group 18 is, after all, the same as something like a 3.
0-litre Peugeot 607.
Though the 156's build quality and reliability record is not quite as good as that of, say, Audi, it's not too bad. Inspect the tyres as despite the traction control systems, the 156GTA is very hard on its front rubberwear. Its also worth inspecting for crash damage and getting beneath the car to inspect the underbody. The 156 GTA is quite susceptible to running out of suspension travel in sharp dips in the road and this can damage the front spoiler quite severely.
The engine is a tough beast but it can develop quite an appetite for oil. The interior is well finished but some of the plastics used in the dashboard construction have been prone to the odd squeak and rattle.
A clutch assembly is around £175. Front and rear brakepads are around £50 per set of each, a rear exhaust box about £175 (excluding catalyst), a starter motor around £190. A replacement headlamp is about £145.
Trying to get 247 braked horses through just two front-driven wheels is never an easy task but in this case, the engineers at Alfas Balocca test track appear to have done an outstanding job. Theres no one thing that makes it all work: just a careful combination of detail differences. Specially designed front suspension struts for example, as well as revised attachments for the rear suspension which created a wider track. The steering is more responsive than on standard models too and, fortunately, the brakes were beefed up. Although it feels fantastic on smoother surfaces, the GTA can nevertheless feel a little nose heavy on typically poor British B-roads.
A longer stroke (increased from 72.6 to 78mm) takes the venerable 3.0-litre V6s capacity up to 3179cc and this, along with changes to the exhaust and intake ports, accounts for the increase in power (and torque to 221lb ft) over the standard 156 V6 models. Mind you, its necessary to work the engine hard to get it, the maximum torque figure not achievable until you get to 4,800rpm.
Still, youll enjoy doing that: this engine is wonderful to listen to. Sixty is just 6.3s away from rest in the 156, on the way to 155mph. The automatic Selespeed option is worth considering too, with its F1-style steering wheel paddles and involving design: if I had a largish percentage of urban driving to do, I wouldnt hesitate. Whichever transmission you choose, this car is one of those which just begs to be driven. Maybe its the wonderful steering, that glorious engine wail, the prodigious grip or the well-controlled body roll. Whatever it is, the whole thing adds up to an intoxicating mix nor must you put up with a harsh, unpleasant ride as a penance for it.
Alfa took too long to come up with a sporting flagship really capable of doing the 156 justice. In the GTA it produced just the thing.
Aristippus was a follower of Socrates, who taught that the ultimate goal of all our actions is pleasure, and that we should not defer pleasures that are ready at hand for the sake of future pleasures. He was willing to break the social conventions of his day and engage in behaviour that was considered undignified or shocking for the sake of obtaining pleasurable experiences. With lusty performance, impossibly sensuous styling and an engine note to die for, the GTA is a car for the true aesthete. One suspects Aristippus would approve.
