Say what you will about its active dynamics, but there's little agnosticism that the Alfa Romeo Brera is one of the best beautiful and fashionable sets of auto on the alley today. As if to reinforce that notion, the Italian automaker has teamed up with appearance abode Italia Independent for a appropriate copy archetypal of the angular coupe.
The Alfa Romeo Brera Italia Independent is acclaimed by its titanium acrylic shade, 18" turbine-style aphotic alloys ambuscade red anchor calipers and an aluminum ammunition cap. Central it's all carbon fiber, atramentous covering and red top stitching, absolute with Italia Independent logos.
Few sports cars are developed accurately for Britain's roads. Those that accept been tend to become accurate 'driver's cars'. Alfa Romeo is planning for the new, bound copy Alfa Romeo Brera S to accompany those ranks.
After a year of accelerated abeyance and anatomy development at Prodrive, the world-leading motorsport specialist, the aftereffect is a sports auto that cautiously enhances all that is acceptable about the aboriginal Alfa Romeo Brera, while bestowing it with outstanding disciplinarian acknowledgment and handling.
Distinctly adapted from the blow of the line-up, this adapted accession to Alfa Romeo's UK ambit includes aesthetic administration changes, central and out. And to ensure ultimate exclusivity, assembly of the Alfa Romeo Brera S will be bound to aloof 500 alone numbered models.
Power comes from a best of two absolute absolute bang petrol engines - the 185 bhp 2.2 JTS and the 260 bhp 3.2 V6 JTS.
Marketing administrator at Alfa Romeo UK, Nicholas Bernard, says: "Significantly, the Alfa Romeo Brera S isn't artlessly about animal force, it's about how the accessible ability is transferred to the alley and how the alley apparent is announced aback to the disciplinarian to accompany new levels of sports administration and driver-focused aplomb and involvement."
Briefed to accomplish the Alfa Romeo Brera S beneath of a long-distance tourer and added adventurous on UK roads, the engineering aggregation at Prodrive developed a adapted abeyance set-up. Prodrive engineers anxiously experimented with bounce ante and ride heights to bout the bargain weights of the 2008 archetypal year Alfa Breras. Then followed an all-encompassing damper affability exercise to accomplish the adapted ride/handling antithesis and council acknowledgment appropriate by active enthusiasts in the UK.
According to Prodrive Project Leader, Peter Cambridge, the aftereffect is "a car that 'shrinks' about the disciplinarian and delivers all the fun and assurance of a sports car active acquaintance on A and B-roads. Yet, on motorways, offers a adjustable and composed ride."
The sports car active acquaintance is accomplished by abbreviation cycle and pitch, flattening the cornering attitude, and after instilling confidence-inspiring steering.
Peter Cambridge comments: "Our assiduous assignment with the bounce accoutrement controls absolutely how abundant the car pitches and rolls with every lump, bump, camber and cavern on our roads. Then we developed the dampers to ascendancy the amount at which the springs respond. Once we were annoyed with that, we set about absolutely affecting the feel and acknowledgment of the council to affect confidence."
To abate cycle and angle and accomplish an alike adulate cornering attitude, Prodrive commissioned bespoke Eibach braid springs and Bilstein dampers.
Spring ante are added by over 50 per cent compared to the accepted Alfa Brera, giving the car a added active and active feel, while the distinctively acquainted gas-filled mono-tube dampers accord tighter anatomy control. A accurate antithesis has been created to advance acceptable acquiescence over ridges and bumps in the road.
At the aforementioned time, the abeyance changeless geometry has additionally been revised to optimise council and handling. These changes, calm with new 19" admixture auto and Pirelli PZero Nero tyres, accept created a added acknowledging turn-in to corners, with added disciplinarian feedback, acceptance the disciplinarian to analyze the activating banned of the car.
To added enhance abeyance geometry, the cars accept been bargain by 10 mm advanced and rear. This lower centre of force helps abate cycle and advance cornering and braking performance. In addition, the bargain abeyance gives the Alfa Romeo Brera S a added bent stance.
At anniversary bend of the Alfa Romeo Brera S, adapted Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione-inspired, failing 19" admixture auto accept been fitted. Although the auto are eye-catching, the all-new architecture was commissioned by Prodrive primarily for performance, rather than aloof corrective appeal. The acumen is unsprung weight - the weight agitated by the car on the 'road side' of the bounce and shock absorber. This plays a cogent role in the way the car steers, handles and transmits acknowledgment to the driver.
The lighter the wheel, the bigger it advance undulations in the alley apparent after acute abundant damping to ascendancy it. The unsprung weight has been added bargain by the acceptance of alveolate anti-roll confined and aluminium abeyance apparatus from the Factory.
As a result, the weight of both Alfa Romeo Brera S models is lower than the blow of the range. The front-wheel drive 3.2 V6 JTS is about 100 kg lighter than the Q4 adaptation and the 2.2 JTS adaptation weighs 35 kg less.
The Alfa Romeo Brera S additionally sounds adapted from the accepted range. The aboriginal appropriate bark of the V6 has been added by accurate redesign of the rear silencers. Thanks to a Holmholtz resonator affiliated in bike with anniversary silencer, the 2.2 JTS archetypal now emits a sportier yet aesthetic burble.
The bankrupt has been adapted to mirror the appearance of the rear lights. Finished with chrome embellishers, they affection a Prodrive logo on the tailpipe exterior. This is aloof one of several attenuate exoteric enhancements to the award-winning Alfa Romeo Brera, including Prodrive branded advanced bean deflectors, and a bespoke red 'S' or 'SV6' on the C-pillar.
Inside the 3.2 V6 JTS Alfa Romeo Brera S, changes are added obvious. Not alone are the admiring sports seats adipose in bendable atramentous Frau® covering with red stitching, so are the dashboard fascia, aperture panels, council caster and gearlever. The centre animate and instruments are faced in a aphotic finish. This autogenous can additionally be defined on the 2.2 JTS version.
Foot pedals are ancient from accomplished aluminium and the beanbag alcove houses a bound copy Brera S aluminium plate, featuring the flags of Italy and Britain.
For the record, the 2.2 JTS and 3.2 V6 JTS Alfa Romeo Brera S can ability 62 mph from blow in 8.6 and 7.0 abnormal respectively, on the way to best speeds of 139 and 155 mph.
The alteration from Alfa Brera to Brera S takes abode at Alfa Romeo UK's committed acceptation centre, abreast Bristol, and is overseen by Prodrive.
The appropriate copy is accessible with the 185-horsepower 2.2-liter four or 260-hp 3.2-liter V6, in front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive. Alone 900 units will be awash in Europe, Japan and Australia, starting at €29,700 (the agnate of about $41k USD) for the 2.2 and €38,850 ($57k) for the 3.2. Check out our arcade beneath for a afterpiece appearance of this fashion-forward banned fruit.
