Alfa Romeo is launching a new, Prodrive-engineered version of the Brera coupe and cabriolet to address criticism of the standard car’s handling. Developed ‘specifically for UK roads’ by Prodrive, the Brera S will be available with either 185bhp 2.2-litre or a 260bhp V6 petrol engines. The car has the same power as a standard Brera, with changes made to the suspension, styling and interior. There’s also a new exhaust system that gives a more aggressive engine note.Prodrive has developed new springs and dampers for the car to suit UK roads and driving styles. The tuning company claims that roll and pitch have been cut to make the car corner flatter and make it feel more agile, and the ride height had been lowered by 10mm to cut the centre of gravity. New, lighter 19-inch wheels along with hollow anti-roll bars and aluminium suspension components help to reduce unsprung mass.“The car is deliberately honed, tuned and fettled for British roads and aimed directly at a dedicated audience of driving enthusiasts,” said Alfa UK’s MD, Nicholas Bernard.Inside there’s a new ‘dark finish’ trim option for the centre console and the V6 version gets a leather dashboard as standard. The headrest carries an inset, limited edition Brera S aluminium plate.The modifications are unique to the UK market and are carried out by Prodrive at Alfa Romeo’s import centre in Bristol on cars straight off the boat from Italy. Performance is unaffected by the changes - top speed for the 2.2 is still 139mph, with a 0-62mph time of 8.6sec. The V6’s top speed remains 155mph with a 0-62mph time of 7.0sec.500 Brera S models will be built, and prices start at £24,995 for the 2.2 JTS (£1495 more than the standard car) rising to £28,450 for the V6 (a £1455 premium).
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This car can't be replaced
Re: Alfa Brera sharpens up
Teg, the problem is that the development costs for the platforms etc. should have been shared with Saab who went so far with the job then decided to drop out leaving Alfa with the deadline approaching and suddenly holding chassis that they had not had much involvement in, too late to change they were stuck and had to run with it.
The next generation should be more like what Alfa originally wanted, starting with the 159.
Re: Alfa Brera sharpens up
For me the overall question has to be why didn't Alfa go down this route during development, and why has it not been adopted as a standard fitment?
This is a UK only car. Considering the price of these vehicles and the limited amount that are sold in the UK, design, development and build of the additional / replacement parts must be negligible in comparison to what Alfa must spend as a company during the initial design stage.
Before we have been told that British roads are pretty much unique and if a car works here, then it will work anywhere. So why not transfer that to general production for all cars?
If I were in control of Alfa, I would have to be swallowing my pride right now. Either that or kicking the engineers in charge of suspension development.