Alfa Romeo Brera (06-10) - Review

Review by Simon Harris on
Last Updated: 22 September 2010
The Brera was never meant to be a road going car - it actually started life as an ItalDesign concept car based around a Maserati in 2003, however, Alfa submitted to demand and went ahead with a production version. Developed alongside the 159 the Brera shares exterior and interior styling cues, as well as engines and gearboxes. It's more of a grand tourer than an outright sports car but is still enjoyable to drive and is available with two petrol engines plus a refined diesel. A sportier Brera S was introduced in 2008 and this limited edition model comes with tuned suspension, a lower ride height and larger alloy wheels making it more focused on demanding roads. In 2010 Alfa Romeo introduced the 200bhp 1750TBi engine on the good-looking Brera range.
4 out of 5

Other Alfa Romeo reviews

3 out of 5

Running costs

The Brera is not cheap. It's been priced to be competitive against the Audi TT - so cars like the Nissan 350Z look better value. Alfa would argue that you get two extra seats and four-wheel drive in the equivalent Brera plus the car is well equipped. The diesel offers 40mpg potential, but you'd be lucky to see 30mpg in everyday driving from the 2.2 JTS and 25mpg would be a pleasant surprise in the 3.2 V6. It should hold its value well as long as Alfa stand firm on discounts. The 200bhp 1750 TBi is a solid performer: on an average journey it should return 34.9mpg but it's still found wanting against a similar powered Audi TT that will return 36.7mpg.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,805 - £2,668 *

Diesel

£1,233 - £1,831 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

12 months or 12,000 miles.

Warranty

Three years/unlimited mileage

Road tax (12 months)

£135.00 - £475.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

2 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
    142
  • G
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M
    286

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

The Brera is quite a polluting model. With an average of 237g/km CO2 across the model line-up, its emissions are a little high for a sports coupe plus it's not very frugal, averaging just 30mpg. The 1750 TBi with 200bhp emits 189g/km of CO2. This puts the car in band J and it will cost £215 per year on road tax.

Find the exact engine and CO2