Alfa Romeo 156 Sportswagon 2000 - 2006

Alfa's 156 offers an alternative to the norm within the Compact Executive market and their estate version confirms how seriously they are taking the sector. It's something of a leftfield choice giving with one hand and taking with the other in many respects. On the plus side are the good looks and great drive; on the minus side are the cramped rear seats and the reliability problems. This is nothing new to Alfa but in the past is may have mattered, or stood out, less because many other vehicles shared the build quality issues. Times have changed and with so many other cars offering good drives and superb reliability, Alfa is in danger of being left behind. Artistic genius is no fun if you've broken down late at night.

There's no doubting the Alfa's good looks and walking round the car you notice nice touches throughout. From the sun shining from the Stainless Steel tailpipes and headlight washers on the outside to the Velour trim and wooden steering wheel inside the 156 is brimming over with nice touches. Inside the cabin the front seats offer great support but fall a little short of comfort for long journeys. They could do with a tiny bit more padding to take the edge off. This isn't necessarily anything that you notice while actually driving but it's not uncommon to get out of the car feeling stiff.

Once on the road the driver is instantly reminded of the reason they brought the 156 in the first place. The engines all sound great, like an Aston's baby brother, with an unbroken voice but revealing acres of potential. The manual gearbox is neat and tidy and transmits the power with ease and confidence. Gearchanges are both swift and slick, to the point of really adding to the driving experience. The same cannot be said for the Selespeed Semi-automatic gearbox, which is difficult to get used to and never really feels convincing. The entry point on engines comes with the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which is smooth and willing; the 1.8 is similarly refined and versatile. The petrol engine of choice though is the 2.0-litre JTS with direct-injection. It pulls well from low revs right through the range, developing 165bhp at its peak. The 1.9 JTD Multijet turbodiesel is a 140bhp unit, fairly quiet at idle and reasonably powerful. The oil-burner of choice is the 175bhp 2.4-litre five-cylinder JTD turbodiesel though. It has astonishing power as low as 2000rpm because of its 283lb ft of torque, and this pull carries on through the rev range. The most frugal engines are the diesels by a country mile typically weighing in with MPG figures in the forties; 42 for the 2.4 JTD and 47 for the 1.9 JTD. The petrol options are something of a shock with figures in the low twenties but they're almost worth it.

As well as having great engines the 156 comes with superb handing and an engaging drive. The steering makes the driver feel fully involved in the process of driving, it is neutral and precise and working with the great suspension gives the driver a real reward every time you take the car out. You're unlikely to have any issues with too much weight making the car handle differently as the room in the back is extremely limited. The boot space is similarly limited with 360 litres of carrying space available. But this sportswagon is what's termed a 'lifestyle' estate, which means it's an estate in name but not really in practical usage terms. It's bigger than te saloon but not big compared to it's rivals.

Reliability issues are well documented for Alfa but the networks are making a concerted effort to overcome their bad reputation for customer service. If that's the case then the 156 could be worked on to make it more reliable and better as an everyday motor. If it was a bit bigger it may even make a decent family car, but as it is it's likely to be for the young and childless.

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