Its power under my control
Test drive of Alfa 156 1.8 16V
On 21st April I performed a test drive of 1.8 16V Alfa Romeo 156 at Cosmos, Ljubljana. The $20.160 priced car has the following default outfit: power windows, power mirrors and power steering, internally adjustable halogen headlights, coded key, central lock, adjustable illumination of instruments, delayed turning off of courtesy lights, cabling for radio, analogue clock, adjustable steering wheel, vertically adjustable driver's seat, opening of the trunk and fuel lid from inside, heated rear window. Enough to make feeling in the car convenient and favourable, especially if one invests $746 for ALPINA radio or $1333 for BLAUPUNKT's combination of radio and GSM phone and maybe $810 for a sunroof. Test car had an air conditioner ($1609 priced) that was at 24oC outside temperature working very well. As a matter of fact, the design of the interior of the car with a lot of black plastic, spreading decimetres almost horizontally behind the windshield, exposed to the sunshine, almost requires it. Otherwise very nice black leather seats ($1333) additionally increased inside temperature.
I could easily find an adequate position for me behind the steering wheel but nonetheless I felt a bit tightened. Damping of the engine noise is done extremely well. You hardly hear the engine at start and when driving slowly.
The car is relatively light (1230 kg) and extremely easy to drive. 144 HP engine provides enough power to accelerate
easily up to 200 km/h. The machine responded fast at revolutions above 4000. Accelerating at 3000 rpm was a bit
slower. In 3rd gear 6000 rpm are reached at approx. 120 km/h, in 4th gear at 160 km/h
and in 5th gear at 200 km/h. Even at high speed the noise of the engine is low and the car is running
smoothly. Ranking Alfa 156 in terms of noise and vibrations, I would put it somewhere between Alfa 155 and Alfa 164. As far as air resistance is concerned , whistling of the wind was not so quiet, actually it drowned the sound of the engine when driving fast. Besides, around 6000 rpm some plastic part in the car must have come into resonance and an annoying droning uttered.
It was quite difficult for me to get used to brakes, so effective they are. As soon as I touched the brake treadle, the
brakes took effect. Namely, all models have EBS, electronic brake correction system. I can recommend it for female
drivers, because for braking you need only feeling and no power actually.
Steering Alfa 156 is extremely easy, no matter if driving slow or fast. But I must admit that I would prefer a little bit harder steering wheel at high speed, keeping straight line more firmly. Maybe this is only a question of driver's personal
experience but I wonder if the engineers could implement degressive power steering or make some modifications at the wheels.
I am discussing the most important features at last. Namely, in terms of safety Alfa 156 offers a lot:
ABS + EDB, airbags for the driver and the front passenger, adjustable and electronically tightening seat belts and fire
prevention system.
Considering, what you pay and what you get, Alfa 156 has advantage in terms of high performance and high driving
standards and drawback in lower quality of fabrication expressed in quicker depreciation of Alfas generally.
At the end of the test drive I was asked to fill in the evaluation sheet. Here it is:
| roominess of the vehicle | good |
| roominess of the trunk | good |
| stability and grip | excellent |
| steerability | very good |
| visibility | very good |
| outfit | very good |
| convenience | very good |
| external outlook | excellent |
| outlook inside | good |
| quality of the vehicle | very good |
| safety of the vehicle | very good |
Image from:
http://saloni.com-e.com/francoforte/alfa156/default1.htm