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The Alfa Romeo 159 (Type 939) is a car built by Italian marque Alfa Romeo between 2004<!--Do not change to 2005--> and 2011. It is a large family car in the compact-executive market segment with four-door saloon and five-door estate variants. Introduced at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show as a replacement for the 156, the 159 used the GM/Fiat Premium platform, shared with the Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider as well as the Kamal and Visconti concept cars.
The 159 placed third in the 2006 European Car of the Year awards. Production of the 159 ended in November 2011, with 247,661 cars manufactured. The 159's late transition to what was fundamentally made as an E segment platform resulted in the 159 having excessive weight, a problem shared by the Brera coupé and Spider.
Styling
thumb|Interior.
The 159 was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in collaboration with the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo. The nose features a traditional Alfa Romeo V-shaped grille and bonnet, as well as cylindrical headlight clusters. Similar to its coupé counterpart, the front of the car was influenced by the 2002 Brera Concept also designed by Giugiaro, as Fiat asked Giugiaro to transfer the design of the latter on its future saloon.
A high waistline broadens until it reaches the rear "C" pillar. Several exterior design cues were intended to make the car appear larger, supposedly to appeal to potential buyers in the United States; where the 159 was ultimately never marketed.
For the 2009 model year, Alfa Romeo introduced a turbocharged petrol engine variant badge as "TBi", this 1,742 cc unit has direct injection and variable valve timing in both inlet and exhaust cams. This new engine is rated at and of torque. Eventually this unit would replace the GM derived 2.2 and 1.9 JTS units. Also in the same year, a new JTDm diesel engine became available.
The 159 was discontinued in the United Kingdom on 8 July 2011.
Powertrain
The 159 was available in both front and four-wheel drive configurations. The "Q4" four-wheel-drive system utilises a Torsen Type-C twin-differential (front and centre differential in the same unit with an open front differential) and was available on the 3.2-litre petrol and 2.4-litre diesel engines.
Due to its platform, the 159 is longer, wider than its predecessor. The considerable growth in dimensions deterred many 156 owners from considering the 159 as a direct replacement model.
The gearbox is a six-speed manual on most models (with the 1.8-litre model having a five-speed manual), and a six-speed automatic Q-Tronic gearbox (Aisin AW TF-80SC) was available for the 1.9 diesel, 2.4 diesel, and 3.2 petrol models. The Selespeed automated manual gearbox was available in some markets with the 2.2 petrol engine.
All petrol engines featured direct fuel injection (except the 1.8l), named as JTS (Jet Thrust Stoichiometric). JTD diesel engines have common rail direct fuel injection.
Specifications
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;"
|-
! Model
! Engine
! Displacement
! Power
! Torque
! Comp. ratio
! Years
|-
!colspan="7"| Petrol engines
|-
|1.75 TBi||I4||1,742 cc|| at 5,000 rpm|| at 1,400 rpm||9.5:1||2009–2011
|-
|1.8||I4||1,796 cc|| at 6,500 rpm|| at 3,800 rpm||10.5:1||2007–2010
|-
|1.9 JTS||I4||1,859 cc|| at 6,500 rpm|| at 4,500 rpm||11.3:1||2005–2007
|-
|2.2 JTS||I4||2,198 cc|| at 6,500 rpm|| at 4,500 rpm||11.3:1||2005–2010
|-
|3.2 V6 JTS Q4||V6||3,195 cc|| at 6,200 rpm|| at 3,800 rpm||11.25:1||2005–2010
|-
!colspan="7"| Diesel engines
|-
|1.9 JTDM 8V||I4||1,910 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 2,000 rpm||18:1||2005–2010
|-
|1.9 JTDM 16V||I4||1,910 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 2,000 rpm||17.5:1||2005–2010
|-
|2.0 JTDM 16V||I4||1,956 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 1,750 rpm||16.5:1||2010–2011
|-
|2.0 JTDM 16V||I4||1,956 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 1,750 rpm||16.5:1||2009–2011
|-
|2.4 JTDM||I5||2,387 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 2,000 rpm||17:1||2005–2007
|-
|2.4 JTDM||I5||2,387 cc|| at 4,000 rpm|| at 1,500 rpm||17:1||2007–2010
|}
Performance
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%;"
|-
! rowspan="2"|Engine
! colspan="2"|Top speed<br>km/h (mph)
! colspan="2"|0–100 km/h (seconds)<br>0–62 mph (seconds)
! colspan="2"|Combined consumption
! rowspan="2"|Years
|-
!manual||automatic||manual||automatic||manual||automatic
|-
|1.75 TBi||235 (146)|| ||7.7|| |||| ||2009–2011
|-
|1.8||206 (128)|| ||10.2|| |||| ||2005–2007
|-
|1.8||208 (129)|| ||10.2|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|1.9 JTDM 8V||191 (119)|| ||11.0|| |||| ||2005–2007
|-
|1.9 JTDM 8V||193 (120)|| ||10.7|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|1.9 JTDM 16V||210 (130)||210 (130)||9.4||9.4||||||2005–2007
|-
|1.9 JTDM 16V||212 (131)||209 (130)||9.2||9.5||||||2008–2010
|-
|2.0 JTDM 16V 136 PS||202 (135)|| ||9.9|| |||| ||2010–2011
|-
|2.0 JTDM 16V 170 PS||218 (135)|| ||8.8|| |||| ||2009–2011
|-
|1.9 JTS||212 (132)|| ||9.7|| |||| ||2005–2007
|-
|1.9 JTS||214 (133)|| ||9.5|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|2.2 JTS||222 (138)|| ||8.8|| |||| ||2005–2007
|-
|2.2 JTS||224 (139)|| ||8.7|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|2.2 JTS Selespeed||222 (138)|| ||8.8|| ||||||2005–2007
|-
|2.2 JTS Selespeed||224 (139)|| ||8.7|| ||||||2008–2010
|-
|2.4 JTDM||228 (142)||224 (139)||8.4||8.4||||||2005–2007
|-
|2.4 JTDM (210 PS)||231 (143)|| ||8.1|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|2.4 JTDM (200 PS Q-Tronic)||||225 (140)||||8.3|| || ||2008–2010
|-
|2.4 JTDM (210 PS)||230 (143)|| ||8.2|| |||| ||2007–2010
|-
|2.4 JTDM Q4 (210 PS)||226 (141)|| ||8.4|| |||| ||2005–2007
|-
|2.4 JTDM Q4 (210 PS)||227 (141)|| ||8.3|| |||| ||2008–2010
|-
|3.2 V6 JTS Q4||240 (149)||240 (149)||7.0||7.2||||||2005–2007
|-
|3.2 V6 JTS FWD||250 (155)||||7.1|||||| ||2008–2010
|-
|3.2 V6 JTS Q4||244 (151)||242 (150)||7.0||7.2||||||2008–2010
|-
|colspan="8"| Note: Consumption figures according to European Commission Directive 1999/100/EC.
|}
Sources:
Safety
The 159 is fitted with seven airbags as a standard, with additional knee airbags also available as an option. The car performed well in rear end crash protection tests, benefiting from "anti whiplash" seats.
- Design Award in the 2006 Fleet World Honours
- Die Besten Autos 2007 Import category (Auto, Motor und Sport)
- L'Automobile più Bella del Mondo
Motorsport
The 159 contested the Bathurst 12 Hour race for production cars in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Competing with the 2.4-litre JTDM diesel engine, it won the Alternative Energy Class in each of these three races.
References
External links
- Alfa Romeo 159 UK Site
- Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon Official Website