2001 Alfa Romeo 166 3.0 V6 review from UK and Ireland

Integrated Control System was faulty at time of purchase, dealer replaced the main display screen 3 days later.

Interior:

Seats are very comfortable, adjustable lumbar support is highly effective. At over 6' 5" tall the lowest height setting is only just low enough, but all other settings are good, especially with all electric control and three memories.

Dashboard is well styled in a sports manner with chrome trim, no plastic feel at all, no squeaks.

Auto dimming rear view mirror is excellent, reacting well to bright headlights behind.

Integrated control system is very easy to navigate without reading the instructions except for advanced functions.

Climate control is fast and effective.

Rain sensing wipers do not appear worthwhile, standard time delay functions would work just as well.

All cabin items feel well put together.

Built in rear sunscreen is also useful in bright sunlight.

Storage space is limited, door pockets are not deep, glove box is small and the small front and rear storage compartments only hold a pack of cigarettes and lighter. But if you want real storage just look in the boot - it's huge, with a brilliant touch, two rubber straps for holding small items clip into the floor and stretch enormously.

Exterior:

Styling is a main issue here, the car looks stunning, chrome handles and roof strips highlight the appearance.

Headlights although small are very effective especially with beam alignment control.

Look under the engine bay, the chrome air headers look fantastic compared to the plastic/alloy monotony of most modern engines.

Performance;

During the course of my work and many previously owned cars, I've driven many executive class cars, no car this size has ever handled as well, it allows you to take corners at high speed with complete confidence and has enormous stopping power. This is aided considerably by the way Alfa make the auto gearbox hold low gear when you lift off the accelerator to corner, most others change up making the car feel unstable. During braking the gearbox also changes down giving much more engine braking than any other car I've driven, this feels a little strange at first as you suddenly seem to be slowing down much more than pressure you're putting on the brake should result in. However you soon adapt to this effect and learn how to use it. The gearbox does have a slight quirk when lifting off the gas after a high speed session like entering a built up area, for a few seconds the car employs the hold the gear technique resulting in relatively high engine revs for the speed you're going. This soon sorts itself out though and serenity is restored. On the upside of the auto gearbox is the manual sport mode, this allows very easy overtaking of other traffic by shifting to sport and selecting the next gear down. The speed builds quickly and in no time you're way over the speed limit and the car you overtook is a dot in the rear view mirror. Sport mode is not full manual, if you ask for something silly, the car will not engage a lower gear than maximum engine revs can cope with, nor will it engage top gear at 15 mph. If you exceed the red line in your current gear and don't select a higher gear it will do it for itself, this means it would be really difficult to destroy the engine, at the cost of maybe not being able to screw every ounce of power out of it. This is not a nippy hot hatch pocket rocket, it's a big luxury car that goes surprisingly fast, and more importantly keeps going faster when others are out of steam. It's packed with more electrical goodies than the space shuttle and is as comfortable as sitting in your front room. I've owned hot hatches - they can't compete, sports cars are fast, but have zero luxury, this car has it all, it's not the fastest I've owned, but it's sure close enough with all the luxuries on board. This does come at one price, fuel econonomy is not great, 23mpg is my average over a mix of built up areas, fast country roads and faster still motorways. If you're an environmentalist you shouldn't be seen in this car. If you want the best mixture of performance and luxury money can buy - this is it - Enjoy!