The 156 For Dummies?

[Beatle]

Is there a single source of model information on the 156 (Australian market)?  My Alfa model knowledge stops at the 164.   If not, anyone care to have a go (spreadsheet even)?

I can glean snippets from various threads on various websites but I'm after something all on one page.    I've never really looked at the model with anything other than a passing interest but am now considering one as a family vehicle. 

For example I always thought the Selespeed was what was considered the Alfa automatic transmission (which I found odd), but now understand that the V6 156 had a true auto, whereas the 2.0L had the Selespeed?  I often see Selespeed cars adverstised as automatics....

Is the V6 available with Selespeed?  Is the 2.0L available with automatic?  What is JTS (I thought it was only on 4cyl but see 3.2L JTS advertised on a GT...?).

So, I'd like a rundown on the various changes in the year models over the years, and what options were available, what engines, what constitutes SI-SII-SIII cars, transmissions available, special versions (Monza) etc etc.  Do these changes align with the GTV and Spider?

It took me 20 years to get an idea of the various incarnations of the 105 series, hopefully it won't take that long to work out the 156.

Further, is the 159 just a 156 with different body, or is it an entirely new vehicle?  Does the 159 mark the introduction of the 'new' V6 engine, making the 156 the last of the 'Alfa' V6?  What is a 'Busso....'?

[colcol]

The Selespeed is not an automatic, it is a manual with an auto clutch, the advantages are, it doesn't have a power robbing torque convertor, so it does the same fuel consumption as the manual, and the selespeed doesn't use any more fuel the dissadvantages are........., well read the forums, they are wrongly advertised as automatics, you sometimes see them as manuals, but then look at the specs, and it will say auto clutch.
The V-6 has a proper torque convertor automatic, the 4 cylinder didn't come with an automatic, loosing thousands of sales for Alfa Romeo.
The 2, 4 cylinders are twin spark, with 2 spark plugs per cylinder, they plugs don't fire at once, but at slightly different times, not for power, but to clean up emmisions, the JTS stands for Jet Thrust Stoichometric, which means , High Pressure Lean Burn, its Alfa Romeo's version of direct injection, the JTS has one spark plug per cylinder and a more expension injection engine managment system, it is claimed it has 10% more power and torque, and torque is developed at lower revs, and the fuel consumption is 10% better than the twin spark, but the JTS is no faster than a twin spark, as the gearing is higher in the JTS due to more torque being available, Colin.

[colcol]

The series 1 cars were built between 1997-2001, they have rubber strips on the bumpers and black mirrors they were powered by the twin spark and the V-6, which was a proper V-6 built by Alfa Romeo, not like the 159, who had V-6 Commodore motors, the 4 cylinders had cast iron blocks shared with Fiat, the JTS engine was also used by Lancia, [remember them?].
The series 2 cars were made between 2002-2004, and they had painted strips on the bumpers in place of the rubber strips and they had color coded mirrors, the air conditioner went to dual climate control, with improved centre dash air conditioning vents and a information display on the top of the dash, the twin spark engine was disscontinued and replaced by the JTS.
The series 3 cars were built between 2004-2006, they had a different nose  with 4 headlights with a sharper nose looking like a 159, they had different [longer] tail lights, it also introduced a new model to the 156 range the 'TI' which had lowered suspension sportier seats with red stitching on the seats, the centre air conditioning vents and information display was changed slightly as well, they can be identified by 'GUIGARO' on the front gaurds, as it was ITAL DESIGN that did the face lift on the original Walter De Silva Masterpiece, Colin.

[colcol]

The 159 is completely different to the 156, it marked the General Motors era, GM drunk with money wanted to get into the Italian market, and at that time Fiat was struggling, so GM purchased 15%???, of Fiat with the plan to supply them with 4 and 6 cylinder petrol motors, in exchange Fiat would supply GM with their Diesel knowhow that was best in the world, for GM who had no idea, the 4 cylinder 2.2 was a version of the Family 2 motor which dates back to the Camira, it was built in Austria by Adam Opel, and the V-6 was built here in Melbourne at Fisherman's Bend, the 159 was going to be developed with GM sharing the underpinnings, but this didn't happen, the 159 under pinnings ended up being a lot more sophisticated than the equivelent GM version, the 159 is quite a lot heavier than the 156 and about 225mm longer.
When GM went bellyup during the GFC, it cost GM a lot to pull out of the deal and Fiat done nicely out of it, with no more GM motors Alfa put in the 1750TBI turbo petrol motor and the fabulous 2.4 , 5 cylinder Diesel engine in the 159, it also got a lot of weight out of it by using more aluminium and redesigned the interior for more passenger room, Colin.

[Beatle]

Thanks Colin.

Was there a Ti with V6, or only the 4cyl?

[colcol]

The TI only came out in the series 3 with the JTS motor, great seats in that, similar to the V-6 GTA, which only came out in the series 2, and no GTA 159, there was a 156 GTA wagon, but that didn't come to Australia, the 156 was also voted European car of the year 1998, the series 2 & 3 156 also had important upgrades such as Stability Control, head airbags, front and rear and emergency brake assist, it was the big 'comeback' car for Alfa Romeo in 1998, the old Alfa Romeo Australia upset a lot of people when they pulled up stumps in 1992, ATECO was the new Alfa Romeo distributor in Australia, and the car had to work,and it did it, was a good one, erased a lot of memories of the bad old days, it shared the underpinnings with the Fiat Bravo and the Lancia Libra, the Lancia using the JTS motor, it was mostly assembled in South Italy at the Pomigliarno De Arco Plant that was built in 1969 to build the Alfasud, some were built in Malaysia at an General Motors plant for the locals only, the 156 was the 2nd biggest selling Alfa of all time, the biggest seller was the Alfasud, Fiat also built a people carrier of the platform, so i beleive, Colin.

[Evan Bottcher]

I find the wikipedia pages for specific models to be surprisingly comprehensive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_156

[Evan Bottcher]

Nice topic Paul!  Things I couldn't quite see within Colin's answers...

Busso: The original Alfa V6 engine designed by Giuseppe Busso and introduced with the Alfa Sei, which was replaced by the GM based engine with the introduction of the 159.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_V6_engine.

3.2 JTS: The GM-based V6 in the 159 and Brera/Spider featured the JTS direct injection.  So they did make a 3.2 V6 JTS, but not in a GT (the GT had the option of a 3.2 Busso V6).  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JTS_engine

Monza: There was a Monza 156 1st series special edition for Australia (we had one) which had dark faced dials, carbon fibre look console, side skirts, and green cloverleaf badges.  There seems to be no correlation between the trim levels and special editions in Australia and with the UK (on alfaowner.com they talk about sports pack numbers etc.).  I think Ateco re-used the Monza name for a special edition 147 GTA with a tacky sticker on the hatch.

The v6 auto 156 is a surprisingly pleasant thing - I don't particularly like autos but this one is quite nice.  The auto was manufactured by Aisin, I'm told it's pretty reliable.

[John Hanslow]

How about this neat review:

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_romeo_156.shtml

also on their site with link at base of page you will find a buyers guide:

http://www.alfaworkshop.co.uk/alfa_156_buyers.shtml

[aggie57]

When the 156 was first released the sports packs (1,2, and 3) were part of the Australian product line.  Never heard much of them after a short while.  Probably lost in distant Alfa history.....

[Beatle]

Many thanks guys.

I'm really concentrating on the Aust market cars and designations for now as I'll be using the info to go looking for a car (so UK designations will just confuse me).

And to think I've owned at least three 'Bussos' and never knew it.........

So to add to the converstaion, what is the difference between the GT and the Brera?  Is the GT a 156 and the Brera the 159?  Or did they cross over model years (wouldn't be the first time Alfa competed against itself....)

Does the 156 have a better turning circle than a 164?   I assume they are comletely different floorpans (164/SAAB 90000/Fiat Croma Vs 156/Bravo/Libra).

So for a 'modern' family Alfa sedan the SIII 156 V6 Auto is the pick?   Must say, the wagons are drop dead gorgeous.  I can't say I've seen and advert for many V6 auto wagons as yet.

[aggie57]

Hey Paul - we never called the V6 engines anything other than Alfa V6 engines in the day....I guess maybe people started calling them something different to differentiate from the later GM engines.  Personally Alfa V6 is an Alfa engine, something made by GM is not.  But others don't agree I know!

So - quick hit of Google for Alfa V6 Busso; earliest hit 2008 for 1st 3 pages and most post 2011 or so. 

[Evan Bottcher]

Interesting - I'm not sure whether the term has become more widely used after the fact or not.  Interesting trivia fact though - I believe Busso died just a few days after the end of Alfa v6 production.  A bio piece here: http://www.italiaspeed.com/2006/cars/alfa_romeo/01/busso/2601.html

[wankski]

So to add to the converstaion, what is the difference between the GT and the Brera?  Is the GT a 156 and the Brera the 159?  Or did they cross over model years (wouldn't be the first time Alfa competed against itself....)

correct. the gt is the 932 platform, in common with the 156/147.. there were NO change overs with engines. The 932 had the 'busso' named after the designer of the v6 (a.k.a the arese, after the arese plant in which it, and the last alfa engine ever, was made)

the brera is something else entirely. built on the newer 939 platform, and all 939s only ever had GM engines, whether 4cyl or v6, but for the current fiat sourced 1750tbi.

Does the 156 have a better turning circle than a 164?   I assume they are comletely different floorpans (164/SAAB 90000/Fiat Croma Vs 156/Bravo/Libra).

So for a 'modern' family Alfa sedan the SIII 156 V6 Auto is the pick?   Must say, the wagons are drop dead gorgeous.  I can't say I've seen and advert for many V6 auto wagons as yet.

no, it's shit. well the v6s anyway. comically bad, but i find it endearing b/c it destroys every other criteria that a driver's car ought to have imho...

auto is your choice, the 6sp is the go, as the 2.5 really does not put out too much torque and does so very linearly - but if you must have the auto, the 4sp H pattern aisin japan-sourced box (toyota, lexus etc) is a reliable performer...

i could be wrong on the last point - but i don't think we officially imported in any giugiaro facelift v6 wagons..

actually confirmed by damon, of Lance Dixon doncaster who seems to say there weren't any v6 sportswagons period... so... you know... he made his own!

http://www.ausalfa.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2210


Hope that helped!

[Craig C]

This isn't a bad book from an international perspective, particulary for the racing versions of the 156.

Alfa Romeo Sporting Saloons by John Tipler.