ALFA Romeo test drive 156 2003 - 2005 sedan

La Bella Macchina

Talking about what you like is easy and difficult. Excessive enthusiasm may appear, which often interferes with understanding the true state of things and being objective. Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon - just such a case. Sergey Ivanov.
 
It seems to me that it is difficult to find a person who would not like this car. And here I am not subjective. The efforts of Italian masters were appreciated by merits - the Alfa Romeo 156 sedan was recognized as a 1998 car. The station wagon shown this year in Geneva on its basis did not shake the authority of one of the most beautiful cars of our time, in many respects representing a mockery of the addictions of a mass consumer. One location of the front license plate is not in the center of the car already looks like a slap in the face of a social taste. And the elegantly missing handle of the rear door? This, by the way, emphasizes the sportsity of the car - the sedan visually pulls on the compartment, and Sportwagon - on the universal compartment.
 
In the range of Alfa Romeo, there was once a station wagon - on the basis of the 133rd model. It seems that its creators themselves tried to quickly forget about their creation. The current Sportwagen is a completely different matter. Designers created a small miracle, combining into one of the tendencies of modern form formation and the tradition of Alfa Romeo. Any expert on the brand will say that the narrow cracks around the branded mask in front are a reference to the racing Alfa Romeo of the 30s, and wheel discs with large round holes first appeared on Milan cars in the 60s. Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon does not look massive and fascinated - on the contrary, its image is exquisite. In my opinion, the station wagon is outwardly even more interesting than the sedan - only the back door is worth it!
 
Alfa Romeo cars have always been distinguished by sports accent. Our ward does not have the most powerful motor that are used in the 156th model range. This is a gasoline engine with a working volume of 1.8 liters with a proprietary sparking Twin Spark - two candles per cylinder. The motor develops 144 hp. at 6500 vol./min., And the torque is 169 Nm at 3500 rpm. A mechanical gearbox operates in a block with a transverse engine, the drive wheels - the front.
 
Now the suspension. In front - a modified design on the transverse levers with a rotary fist extended up and, accordingly, a shifted upper ball support. The spring with a coaxial shock absorber rests on the lower lever through the vilky intermediate element through which the semi -axis passes. The rear suspension is like a sedan (it uses a completely independent Macpherson) plus a BogE NIVOMATIC hydraulic system, which supports the constant roadlight of the rear axle, regardless of the loading of the trunk.
 
Sportwagon brakes were slightly surprised. There are discs in front and behind, and there is nothing strange in this, but the front ones are solid, without internal ventilation. Probably on more powerful modifications they are ventilated.
 
We still have to get acquainted with the operation of the engine and the elements of the chassis, but for now we are engaged in the salon. The front door opens with a traditional handle made of polished metal. The opening is wide enough, and I end up without difficulty in the driver's seat. The first thing that caught my eye is the central console facing the driver, on which there are three round scales of analog appliances traditional for ALFA Romeo cars. The main attraction of Torpedo is the lack of a combination of devices in its usual sense. In Alfa Romeo 156, it is presented in the form of two separate large growths with round scales located on the sides of the steering wheel axis. It is also an appeal to the traditions of 40 years ago, such a decision was then in the order of things.
 
The round deflectors characteristic of the interiors of Alfa Romeo cars remained only along the edges of the torpedo - for blowing side glasses. In its central part, instead of them, something like a bunker with narrow amzers appeared on the upper surface.
 
The material of the torpedo and the upholstery of the doors with imitation of the oblique stitching is very kind and resembles the skin in texture. It is noticeable that Alfa Romeo began to pay more attention to the quality of manufacture. The material of the seat upholstery looks rather unusual and felt - it looks like twead and makes the interior more comfortable. The seats provide good side support. The driver's seat has a sufficient range of adjustments, the steering column is set along the angle of inclination, while the steering wheel is not littered forward, which is found on some Italian cars and is clearly familiar to drivers of classic Lada.
 
I did not have to travel to Alfa Romeo 156, but I heard that my legs there are closely in the pedals. Now I can say that this, in general, is not so. A little cramped only with the right leg, sometimes clinging to the edge of the central console, but otherwise everything is quite normal. Pedal efforts did not seem excessive, the adhesion pedal is somewhat large, but it itself is quite informative. The accelerator also allows you to feel the engine well and accurately dose turns, which, however, is characteristic of Italian cars with a sports character.
 
The visibility of the driver’s place in the direction of the forward is not bad, the picture is slightly narrowed by wide and highly tilted front racks of the roof. But the reverse review ... Italian drivers are often accused of not paying attention to what is happening behind their car. On Sportwagon, imitating Italian habits will not be difficult - the station wagon, in addition, the glass of the fifth door is small in width and in height.
 
In the rear places it is quite spacious, even if tall driver and passenger are sitting in front. The space for the legs is like in a sedan, smaller overhead (due to the inclination of the rear door). You can’t call the trunk with a capacious. Not only does the rear suspension racks live there, but also the opening of the fifth door is similar to Hatchback. With a full passenger compartment, the volume of the luggage compartment of the station wagon is even less than that of the sedan. Yes, and with the folded rear seats, Sportwagon will yield in this indicator a treshka BMW Touring or Audi A4 Avant. But this is not a problem - the refrigerators do not carry on such cars.
 
The back door, thanks to the loops cut into the roof, rises very high - it facilitates loading. The usual handle is absent from behind - eliminated for aesthetic reasons. The luggage picture is additionally brightened up with pleasant and practical little things. These include the outlet of the on -board network, two boxes for small objects and a grid dumped in the manner of curtains (it can be fixed on the ceiling), separating the passenger room from the cargo.
 
We proceed to the road part of the program. There were no problems with starting the engine - you can go. The move of the switching lever turned out to be relatively long, and the clarity of the inclusion leaves much to be desired. I had to learn to get comfortable with the transmission management. I want to go immediately on such a car quickly, but with a 1.8 liter engine (even with the Twin Spark system), this venture will have to be left for now. A sharp discovery of gas does not cause a violent response - the car seems to be waiting for something. For a dynamic driving, you clearly need a more powerful engine or a less car weighing. Even at idle, the engine is thoughtful - when you try to play an accelerator with speed. The characteristic of the engine resembles turbo engines, which usually begin to work for real after 3000 revolutions. And if it is constantly maintained in a tone through a gearbox (it is good that there is not a machine gun here) and gas pedals, then Sportwagon justifies its name, demonstrating a completely dynamic ride, accompanied by a pleasant roller of the engine.
 
For confident movement on increased colors, powerful and reliable brakes are required. And Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon in this configuration they have. A very sensitive pedal with an average move, allows you to reliably slow down the machine and use what is called overtaking on the races on braking. This also requires good handling. Alfa is on top and here. The steering wheel with an amplifier becomes noticeably sharper with speed and allows you to accurately calculate the changes in the trajectory. The machine obviously obeys the steering wheel; Working with them together with accurate gas, you can work small miracles on the road. Another renowned moment is the actions of the suspension in terms of energy intensity and smoothness. Almost any road irregularities are confidently extinguished, which is accompanied only by a rumble, vibration and nonsense blows (this, however, does not mean that it is necessary to get involved in overcoming urban obstacles). Of course, I would very much like to know how the Italian machines of the latest issues will behave in our conditions in our conditions, because their predecessors in Russia have been fixed by the reputation of capricious and uninhabited (Fiat 124, Zhiguli - not counting), but there are not very many corresponding statistics yet. .
 
We can only wish Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon a happy fate in Russia - then many will be able to admire this car. Of course, the truly sports character will manifest in cars with more powerful engines, but even in this form, Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon does not impress non -processing for unhurried city trips and can bring the very peaceful driver in order - here her well -balanced chassis will be as well as possible. . You can also add: lovers of cargo transportation in especially large sizes, please do not worry.
 
 
 

Source: Motor magazine [No. 11/2000]