ALFA Romeo test drive 156 1997 - 2003 sedan

Organized sports

Going on a trip, people boring people take their suitcases with them and get on the train. People are funny and restless throw a sports bag in the Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagen.
Designing Sportwagen, Alfa Romeo engineers did not sought to radically increase the carrying capacity of their station wagon. The passport volume of the trunk is only 380 liters, as in the sedan. The rear wheels are occupied in the trunk of the rear wheels, and the back door smoothly flows into part of the roof - minus a few more liters of useful volume. Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagen is just a tribute to fashion.
Circular guarantee. In 1998, the classic version of Alfa Romeo 156 became a car of the year in Europe. In addition to the excellent combination, price-quality, the car bribed all the unusual style of the body: the usual handles are only on the front doors, the rear are disguised in the body racks. This is a solution that is dubious from the point of view of hygiene - it is impossible to open the door and staying with clean hands in sloping weather - it was a brilliant find. Many confused Alfa Romeo 156 with a sports compartment and bought solely because of an unusual shape.
The station wagon, created on the basis of the 156th model, can be considered as the further development of the sports direction in the Alfa family. The engineers did not inflate the shape of the car in the land of carrying capacity, but retained it light and fast. From my subjective point of view, the station wagon is even more athletic than the sedan.
Inside is the famous design of Alfa Romeo, which, no matter how argued there, no one has really surpassed. The basis is a circle. The dashboard - two separate dials: speedometer and tachometer. On the speedometer, a liquid crystalline display with the indications of the odometer. The work of other systems is monitored only by control lights. In the dark, not only numbers on the instruments, but also the company's emblems on each dial shine with greenish light.
The control of the stove and air conditioning is also designed in the form of three round handles, which are located on the central console. ALFA Romeo salon is generally the most stylish among all modern cars of this class.
Sit and lead. The range of adjustments of the chair and the steering wheel as in any other, less sports car. But their move is so great that in Alfa Romeo it can not only conveniently get a driver of any height and complexion, but it is even possible to choose a landing, in accordance with the mood. Like this? You can sit like in a sports car - reclining, far pursing from the steering wheel. You can like a great -aging driver of an old Muscovite: clinging to the steering wheel, like a sailor to the helm. But in any pose, it is easy and pleasant to drive this car - only a small and thick bagel always blocks the upper corner of the devices, no matter how you get happy.
There are several complaints to the seats. Firstly, there is no lumbar support that is so needed for those who spend a lot of time driving. Secondly, the seats in the American manner are too soft. Obviously, hemorrhoids are preferable to Italians than corns ...
It is better to travel on this car together - with a normal landing of the driver and a relaxed passenger, there is practically no place on the back sofa. Of course, you can sit, but a long trip can turn into medieval torture.
Pack! All cars go to Russia without any Russian package. The suspension, about which there are rumors that it is pouring on the 10th thousand kilometers, no one consciously prepares for our difficult conditions. Is it necessary? Firstly, rumors were not confirmed-the investigation established that no one has contacted the service centers with complaints about the suspension of model 156. Secondly, the Italian tincture of the suspension was quite suitable for our roads. She perfectly works out all the bumps without the slightest hint of a breakdown of shock absorbers. It even seemed to us that in a sports car it could be a little tougher.
In steep turns, however, Alfa Romeo behaves quite in sporting-the minimum telnity, which allows you to constantly keep the car under control. This is largely facilitated by a very responsive steering wheel. The hydraulic power steering works hard enough, and the car does not shy away from side to side with the slightest movement to it left-right.
But you need to get used to the brakes on Alfa Romeo. The pedal is quite soft, and the front wheels react much faster than the rear. As a result, with sharp braking, the car makes a rather tangible dive forward.
The facets of talent. They say that the sound of the Alfa Romeo engine was worked out in cooperation with acoustics specialists. If this is true, then the specialists do not in vain eat their bread. The release system is configured by the car so that the motor sounds like a racing car - with the difference that is twice as quieter and not as aggressive as Formula I.. It is heard in the salon in any mode - both at idle, and at idle. At that moment, when the tachometer rolls over to the red zone. But it causes not irritation, but a sense of pride in himself and his car.
The gas pedal on Alfa Romeo is long -term, and thanks to this, the driver of any temperament easily adapts to Alfa Romeo 156. If you can’t put pressure on it, but practically stroke, then the car behaves surprisingly calmly, in the spirit of a sedate family sedan. The elasticity of the motor is enough to confidently accelerate with the second or third transmission. Only you need to carefully monitor the tachometer - you will miss the arrow below 2 thousand. And the car begins to twist noticeably, demanding to add a gas.
The most fully all the charms of the Twin Spark 1.8 L engine are revealed in front of an aggressive driver. If you put pressure on the pedal to the polish and actively work as a gearbox, maintaining speed within 3 thousand, then the character of Alfa Romeo is changing rapidly. From a state of rest, she rushes forward with swift jerks, and again, an amazingly elastic motor comes to the rescue and very neatly selected gear numbers in the gearbox - in the second gear you can accelerate to 80 km/h, on the third - up to 100 km/h/h/h. and so on. The acceleration limit on each gear is 10--20 higher than that of competitors.
This model in its mass enters Russia in the simplest configuration. Electro -grinding, windows only for the front doors. The climatic installation and not even a proprietary car radio, but a trivial audio training, which is now found only on cheap Koreans. In the car dealership, Philips radio tape recorders are amazingly installed on cars - this gave us the opportunity to evaluate a very good standard acoustics. A rather picky buyer can twist his nose, but regarding the price at which Alfa Romeo is offered in our market, this car can be a worthy choice for a very ambitious driver.
Text Nikolay Kachurin, photo Alexey Ilyin

 

Source: "Autopilot"