Club Italia

After a year out, we returned to the BTCC with Alfa Romeo in 1994. The Alfa 155 was almost unbeatable in the hands of Gabriele Tarquini, giving us our fourth BTCC title.

Alfa Romeo and Prodrive Announce Collaboration

Italian Alfa Romeo and British Prodrive have together developed a UK only special edition for the Alfa Romeo Brera Coupe, called the Alfa Brera S. Prodrive is of course best known for their WRC successes and their recent close involvement with the Aston Martin sale to Prodrive owner David Richards, and has developed a new suspension for the recently facelifted Brera coupe.
The Alfa Romeo Brera S will be limited to just 500 units. Pricing and specifications will be revealed at its launch on May 19 2008 but Alfa Romeo has let slip that the car will feature exterior and interior enhancements besides the Prodrive suspension. The two existing petrol engines (185 bhp 2.2 liter four-cylinder and 260 bhp 3.2 liter V6) in standard specifications will be powering the new Brera.
According to Prodrive Project Leader, Peter Cambridge, the collaboration has “built on the existing model’s capabilities to deliver outstanding driver feedback and handling.” Stay tuned for further details or check Alfa Brera S.

It took a year of intense development at Prodrive, and that is saying something, but the Alfa Romeo Brera S is finally done. Alfa Romeo UK will build just 500 copies of the fine-tuned model so if you were eying the Alfa 8C Competizione but can't quite afford it, here is the next best option. Prices start at just GBP 24,950 for the 2.2 JTS (185 bhp), GBP 26,450 for the 2.2 JTS with leather dashboard and GBP 28,450 for the top of the range 260 bhp 3.2 liter V6 JTS.
Marketing director at Alfa Romeo UK, Nicholas Bernard, said: “Significantly, the Alfa Brera S isn’t simply about brute force, it’s about how the available power is transferred to the road and how the road surface is communicated back to the driver to bring new levels of sports handling and driver-focused confidence and involvement.”
This has of course been a major issue ever since the first cars we built, therefor Prodrive did not add any power to the Brera S but merely fine tuned the suspension to perfection resulting in “a car that ‘shrinks’ around the driver and delivers all the fun and engagement of a sports car driving experience on A and B-roads. Yet, on motorways, offers a compliant and composed ride.” according to Peter Cambridge, Prodrive Project Leader.
Prodrive used bespoke Eibach coil springs and Bilstein dampers, 8C Competizione inspired light-weight 19 inch wheels, hollow anti-roll bars, aluminum suspension components and lowered the Brera S by 10 mm in both the front and rear. All this results in superior handling, a weight reduction of 100 kg for the V6 and 35 kg for the 2.2 liter JTS in comparison to the respective Brera Q4 models and a 0 - 62 mph time of just 7 seconds for the 3.2 V6 Brera S (the 2.2 JTS take 8.6 seconds).