Faults:

Loose power steering hose caused steering wheel to rumble at low speeds. Fixed under warranty by dealer at no charge.

General Comments:

This is my third Alfa Romeo and each has proved to deliver a genuinely thrilling driving experience.

For the money no other four seater saloon has the power, the styling or the history.

In Alfa Rosso (Red) it still turns heads and those who don't see it coming will hear the sonorous V6 engine.

A pleasure to drive particularly over long distances this car is the epitome of power and grace.

With a 0 - 60 speed of 7.3 seconds and a top speed of 143mph very few cars will be overtaking you on motorways.

The V6 engine is quote glorious and was voted the best production engine in the World.

If you do one thing in your life. Dump the BMW or Audi and buy yourself this car - preferably the V6, but definitely ONLY in Alfa Rosso.

Faults:

Steering buttons for gear change have malfunctioned on two occasions, (i.e. not been able to change gear using them) but have "corrected themselves" before I had time to book the car into the dealer. Each fault triggered the warning light on the dashboard and lasted for a couple of hours.

General Comments:

Good points : Great looks, good handling, and driving experience. I have no complaints on rear load capacity. A rare blend of comfort, style and performance.

Bad Points : Interior trim, especially plastics around doors / sills good be better - showing scuff marks already.

Could do with more stowage bins for driver and front passenger - the glove box is well, just about suitable for gloves.. thin summer ones at that.

Rear reversing visibility very poor - potential drivers beware!

Larger than expected turning circle and poor reversing visibility make for some interesting and protracted car parking manoeuvres.

Economy is poorer than expected, with a tank lasting between 350 - 380 miles only.

Much has been written about the selespeed gear box - it took me a couple of weeks to get used to it. I have found that unless overtaking, it is smoother to let the Selespeed transmission change down for me whilst decelerating, and to manually change up using either the gear shift or buttons on the steering wheel.

Automatic "city" mode has a jerky change between 1st and 2nd gear. On reflection I do not think it offers the "best of both worlds" between manual and automatic, more of a compromise between the two. It remains not as intuitive as a manual shift, and certainly slower. At the same time it is difficult to simply put it into "city" mode and forget it, as the jerky gear change between 1st and 2nd, combined with the necessity to remember use of handbrake and throttle sensitivity on hill starts, reversing etc expose it as a brilliant concept only adequately executed.

However, subjectively I can say that the car still scores very highly on "pride of ownership" - would I buy another? Certainly - with a manual transmission and the new diesel engine, I would get the opportunity to enjoy more time behind the wheel and less time at the fuel pump!