Alfa Romeo has unveiled a new range-topping 156 saloon – bearing the historic GTA name – in an attempt to underline the marque’s sporting heritage.
Alfa Romeo has unveiled a new range-topping 156 saloon – bearing the historic GTA name – in an attempt to underline the marque’s sporty heritage.
Although based on the standard model, aggressive styling, a wider track and lowered suspension have given the GTA and Sportwagon newcomers a much more purposeful stance.
The new model is due around May next year. A few GTAs will also be coming to South Africa, Fiat SA spokesperson Nancy Rispoli revealed, although she could not supply details of when they would become available here.
“They are very, very Alfa. Everything on the car that touches on dynamics has been changed from the standard 156… that means suspension, engine, gearbox, brakes and steering,” director of product development Antony Sheriff said last month.
Sheriff insisted that there would be no compromises, adding: “It will be what people expect from a high-performance Italian supercar, the experience will be fantastic.”
The bumpers are now body coloured, wings have been widened to accommodate 17-inch alloys, and the foglights have moved to the corners to incorporate the wide air-dam.
The flanks are virtually unchanged, but the back end on both models has been restyled from the boot lid down. In part, that’s because the rear bumper now features an extractor to improve airflow over the car. The back is finished with twin oval chrome exhausts. Sheriff revealed that the styling could have been even wilder.
Under the bonnet is Alfa’s standard 3,0-litre V6 bored out to 3,2 litres. Power will be around 188 kW delivered through the front wheels. Performance figures are not available, but it’s expected the car will hit a 250 km/h top speed and post a 0-100 km/h time of less than six seconds.
Alfa’s engineers are said to be considering the company’s Selespeed transmission as standard fit, although that has still to be confirmed.
The 156 GTAs are first in a new family of Alfa performance models. A 147 GTA is already in development and likely to be unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in September next year.
