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The all-new Alfa 159, a true sporting saloon in the classic Alfa Romeo tradition, goes on sale in the UK this Saturday.
Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in collaboration with Alfa Romeo Centro Stile at Arese, Milan, the new Alfa 159 combines superlative engineering with outstanding performance and handling characteristics appropriate to the pedigree of one of the world’s most famous sporting marques. The Alfa 159 is built on a brand new platform, making it one of the toughest cars around, with a best-in-class torsion rigidity of over 180,000 daNm/rad. In terms of safety, it has nothing to fear from the competition, and has recently been awarded the prestigious five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP, which puts it ahead of the field for its segment with regard to crash safety performance.
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One of the Italian sporting car manufacturer’s aims with the Alfa 159 project was to take the lead in the field of automotive passive safety. An Alfa Romeo engineered all-new premium floor pan, which incorporates high performance materials, multi-ply sheet metal, and laser welding, was the starting point. |
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The construction of the body shell also benefits from numerous measures, such as the use of boxed elements that are connected rigidly both transversely and vertically; three ‘load lines’ in the front, longitudinal beams that run the entire length of the car, built-in deformable structures, and a large number of spot welds around structural nodes.
The result is impressive and class-leading torsion rigidity of the body shell. The Alfa 159 also boasts as many as eight airbags, seven of which are standard equipment on UK cars, including special bags to protect the knees, and side bags that extend all along the complete window area. In addition, there are innovative restraint systems (pre-tensioners and load limiters on the seatbelts), and front seats with an anti-whiplash system that automatically brings the head restraint closer to the occupant’s neck in the event of a rear impact.
Nine versions of the new Alfa 159, priced from £19,995 to £28,195 on-the-road, will become available here in the first quarter of 2006, seven of which will be available at launch, with a choice of five power plants. Three new direct injection petrol engines - 1.9 litre 160bhp and 2.2 litre 185bhp 4-cylinder units, and a 3.2 litre 260bhp V6 available from March 2006 - combine the JTS (Jet Thrust Stoichiometric) direct injection technology of Alfa Romeo with continuously variable valve timing, (both inlet and exhaust), for the first time.
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As with all Alfa Romeo models, driver orientated ergonomics, superior passenger comfort and lavish standard equipment levels are fundamental to the interior design of the new Italian sports saloon. The Alfa 159 boasts an extremely generous standard equipment specification offering, even on entry level vehicles, many features only available as expensive options on rival models, including seven airbags, automatic Dual Zone climate control, cruise control, ‘Follow Me Home’ headlamps, heated, folding electric door mirrors, a multi-function display and trip computer, fog lights, 16" or 17" spoke alloy wheels, and an RDS 8-speaker stereo radio with CD player. |
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bCONNECT incorporates voice commands with a 6.5" colour display screen, and is complemented by a Dual Band GSM phone with WAP Internet access, satellite navigation and a CD sound system that will play MP3 music files. |
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Source: Carpages—Visit them here |
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Alfa Romeo 159 & 159 Sportwagon |
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Issue 009, February 2006 |