FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 February 2007
NEW ALFA SPIDER ON SALE IN UK
The new Alfa Spider, the latest open-topped Alfa Romeo in the company’s outstanding legacy of iconic convertibles, has just gone on sale in the UK.
Derived from Giorgetto Giugiaro’s multiple award-winning Alfa Brera design, the new Alfa Spider was developed by Pininfarina in collaboration with Alfa Romeo Centro Stile. Winner of the Cabrio of the Year award at the 2006 Geneva Motorshow, the new Alfa Spider combines superlative engineering with outstanding performance and handling characteristics appropriate to the pedigree of one of the world’s most famous sporting marques.
Four versions of the new Alfa Spider, priced from £25,995 on-the-road, are available from launch, with a choice of two petrol powerplants: a 2.2 litre 185bhp 4-cylinder unit, and a 3.2 litre 260bhp V6; together withAlfa Romeo’s widely acclaimed 2.4 litre 20v 200 bhp MultiJet (JTDM) turbodiesel.
The 2.2 JTS powerplant is mated to an M32.6 6-speed manual gearbox, whilst 3.2 JTS and 2.4 JTDM engines are equipped with the F40 6-speed manual transmission. Completing the launch range, the 3.2 JTS V6 unit may be ordered with Alfa Romeo’s QTRONIC 6-speed automatic transmission, featuring a manual sequential-shift override facility, and optional gearshift ‘paddles’.
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With specific power outputs of over 80 bhp/litre, and almost 90% of maximum torque available at just 2000 rpm, both the advanced JTS (Jet Thrust Stoichiometric) petrol units feature direct injection and continuously variable valve timing governing both inlet and exhaust camshafts. They offer outstanding performance, yet provide significant fuel savings and readily comply with stringent Euro Stage 4 exhaust emission limits.
Continuing the company’s on-going pre-eminence in the field of diesel engines, the latest example of Alfa Romeo’s renowned JTD MultiJet (JTDM) common rail direct injection diesel engine technology joins the UK range.This version’s 2.4 litre 20-valve 200bhp 5-cylinder powerplant, features variable geometry turbocharging and incorporates a ‘for life’, maintenance-free particulate trap (DPF) in anticipation of Euro 5 emissions regulations.
The 3.2 JTSAlfa Spider is equipped, as standard, with Alfa Romeo’s Q4 permanent four-wheel drive system. Q4 employs three differentials, with a self-locking Torsen C unit at the centre of the system which divides drive torque by a ratio of 57% to the rear wheels and 43% to the front. Torque split between front and rear axles is constantly modulated by the central Torsen differential on the basis of available grip, with a bias towards the rear axle promoting handling characteristics appropriate to a sporting Alfa Romeo.
Sharing platform and components with the Alfa Brera, on an identical 2528mm wheelbase, the suspension of the new Alfa Spider combines a proven high double wishbone system at the front, with a sophisticated multilink rear configuration. The combination promotes smooth, accurate steering response, exceptional stability and controllability – even when close to adhesion limits – and first class body control allied to remarkable comfort over all road surface conditions.
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The 2.2 JTS Alfa Spider’s braking system comprises powerful, 305mm ventilated front discs and 278mm solid discs at the rear. Versions powered by the 3.2 JTS petrol and 2.4 JTDM turbodiesel engines feature larger, 330mm ventilated discs and Brembo four piston monobloc aluminium callipersat the front, with 292mm ventilated discs at the rear.
The Alfa Spider offers direct, lively and responsive speed-sensitive power assisted steering, with a rack requiring just 2.25 turns lock-to-lock; the most direct steering in its class. The turning circle is just 10.7 m between kerbs.
Both passive and active safety features are comprehensively represented in the new Alfa Spider. Inaddition to up to six airbags, five of which are fitted as standard, seatbelt pre-tensioners and a fully integrated Fire Prevention System, the new car comes with a comprehensive range of state-of-the-art electronic braking, traction control and stability systems fitted as standard. ABS anti-lock braking is combined with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution over all four wheels, and a sophisticated, switchable Vehicle Dynamic Control unit enhances cornering stability. VDC is further augmented by ASR to limit wheelspin during acceleration, MSR to modulate braking torque when changing down through the gears, and a unique Hill Holder function to facilitate smooth hill starts.
The Alfa Spider is fitted with a fully automatic, double-layer fabric roof which may be retracted via a single dashboard mounted control switch in less than 25 seconds. A separate dedicated roof storage compartment ensures that the Alfa Spider’s generous stowage capacity is not compromised. The luggage compartment offers a 200 litre capacity – 36% more than the previous Alfa Spider – even with the roof folded away. The storage compartment is concealed beneath a flush-fitting body panel
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incorporating aerodynamic blisters which adopt the profile of individual, driver and passenger roll-over bars. A transparent wind break installed between the roll-over bars significantly reduces air turbulence within the passenger compartment during high speed driving.
As with all Alfa Romeo models, driver orientated ergonomics, superior passenger comfort and lavish standard equipment levels are fundamental to the interior design of the new convertible. The Alfa Spideroffers one, extremely generous standard equipment specification across the model range, includingmany features only available as expensive options on rival models, including automatic Dual Zoneclimate control, cruise control, ‘Follow-Me-Home’ headlights, rear parking sensors, a multi-function display and trip computer, fog lights,17” spoked alloy wheels and an RDS 6-speaker stereo radio with CD player. A leather interior is standard on 3.2 V6 versions.
Optional equipment includes xenon headlights, satellite navigation, electrically adjustable front seats, a Bose® sound system, Blue&Me™ hands-free mobile phone connectivity and 18” alloy wheels.
Sales of ‘H’ segment vehicles – sports cars – have more than doubled in Europe over the last 10years to almost 400,000 units, of which half have been soft-topped models. Unusually, the more northerly the market, the higher the demand amongst European women for convertibles, and, in Britain, almost 50% of convertible buyers are women.
DESIGN
Derived from Giorgetto Giugiaro’s multiple award-winning Alfa Brera design, the new Alfa Spider was developed by Pininfarina in collaboration with Alfa Romeo
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Centro Stile at Arese, Milan, and is assembled in Pininfarina’s San Giorgio Canavese plant in Turin. It was voted Cabrio of the Yearby the Comite Cabrioletat the 2006 Geneva Motorshow.
Alfa Spider history
On Saturday 27 May last year, over 130 of the most beautiful open-topped Alfa Romeos ever built travelled from Villa San Carlo Borromeo, Senago, to the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of perhaps the most famous Alfa Spider of them all, the legendary Duetto.
This tribute to an alliance which combined the genius of Alfa Romeo engineering with Italy’s unparalleled coachbuilding pedigree, charted a near century-long success story, which began with the company’s first open-topped vehicle, the Alfa 24 HP, in 1910.
Early Alfa Romeos produced at Casa del Portello, such as the 40-60 HP, 20-30 ES and RL, became synonymous with motor racing at the Targa Florio, Brescia, Modena and Parma. And the impeccable1500 and 1750cc powerplants of engineers such as Merosi and Jano, allied to the coachbuilding artistry of Zagato andTouring, allowed Alfa Romeo to achieve rapid motor racing pre-eminence and iconic status amongst the motoring public throughout the world.
The English speaking world came to describe these streamlined, high-performance, open-topped cars as ‘speeders’, a name which quickly became ‘corrupted’ into ‘spiders’.
Throughout the 1930s, the cutting-edge engineering and styling of these cars underwent further refinement. The engines were upgraded to eight cylinders, their
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cubic capacities were increased, and in the hands of the great Tazio Nuvolari, models such as the 8C 2300 Spider Corsa, and the 8C 2900 A and B dominated European circuits from Le Mans to Monza.
In celebration of the advent of post-war prosperity, Alfa Romeo commissioned two convertible prototypes, from Bertone and Pininfarina. The outcome was the Giulietta Spider, produced by the factory of Giovan Battista Farina,and which he referred to affectionately as ‘la signorina’. More than mere style icon, this outstandingly popular convertible maintained Alfa Romeo’s competitive motorsport pedigree; perhaps its most unusual victory coming at the hands of Sanesi, who brought his Giulietta Sprint Veloce home 20 minutes ahead of the Italian state railway industry’s flagship, the Settebello train, on the Milan-Rome line.
The Touring bodied 2000 and 2600 convertibles of the late 1950s and early 1960s maintained the tradition of open-topped versions derived from saloon or coupe models. But, at the Geneva Motor Show in 1966, Alfa Romeo unveiled an entirely new, bespokedesign by Pininfarina, the 1600 Spider, the double convex, cuttlefish-bone shape of which paid homage to the 1900 C 52 convertible known as the ‘Flying Saucer’, some 14 years earlier.
Christened ‘Duetto’ by competition winner Guidobaldo Trionfi, the 1600 Spider achieved such celebrity status through its appearance in the 1967 film,The
Graduate, that a special, namesake version of the car went on sale in the United States. Following radical rear-end restyling in the 1970s, the evergreen Duetto’s popularity remained undiminished until it was ultimately replaced by a new, Alfa GTV-derived version of the Spider in 1995.
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Styling
4393mm long, 1830mm wide and 1318mm high, the 2007 Alfa Spider is 17mm shorter and 23mm lower than the Brera with which it shares the same 2528mm wheelbase. Elegantly compacted through sharp front and rear bodywork tapering, the Alfa Spider exterior is rich in styling cues from Alfa Romeo’s peerless tradition of sporting convertibles, from the Giulietta Spider of the 1950s to the legendary Duetto and the Alfa Spider of the 1990s.
Continuing a design trend prevalent in the recent Alfa Romeo model range, the legendary Villa d’Este style Alfa shield with horizontal chrome bars dominates the front. Extending almost full height, the grille bisects an upper air intake housing purposeful, three-lamp headlight clusters before punctuating a deep front air dam featuring an expansive lower air intake with integral fog lamps. The top of the shield generates powerful bonnet coachwork lines which flow seamlessly into steeply raked A pillars. Once again, the number plate is offset to the left; a style signature echoing past classics, and unique to Alfa Romeo.
In profile, the new Alfa’s taut, rising waistline flows from the pronounced flare of the front wheel arches to give the Alfa Spidera purposeful stance. A strong waistline crease demarcates the side indicator and door handle positions, reaching its broadest
point above the rear wheel arches where powerful shoulder ‘muscles’ pay homage to the Giulietta Spider of the 1950s.
At the rear, the Alfa Spider’s broad ‘shoulders’ taper to the focal point of the Alfa Romeo badge, and lean,4-lamp horizontal light clusters demarcate the shut-line of the luggage compartment lid, which features a residual spoiler. Integral, colour coded bumpers and four chromed, flush mounted exhausts further reinforce the new Alfa Spider’s presence.
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With the option of black or dark blue roof fabric, the new Alfa Spideris available in a choice of 10 colours at launch, including Solid Black, a specialAlfa Red and eight metallic finishes.
Roof
The Alfa Spider is fitted with a double-layer fabric roof shaped over five steel and aluminium frames. The outer skin is a multi-ply cloth with superior durability, waterproofing and flame propagation resistance characteristics, whilst the inner layer offers excellent sound-proofing to the passenger compartment. Particular attention has been paid to ensure minimal wind noise, even at high speeds, through the seamless roof junction with the windscreen head and the detailing of the window retaining channels.
Via a single dashboard control switch, a fully automatic system incorporating six hydraulic controls and 14 sensor positions, folds the roof into a dedicated storage compartment in less than 25 seconds. The storage compartment is concealed beneath a flush-fitting body panel incorporating black and aluminium finish blisters which adopt the profile of individual, driver and passenger roll-over bars. A transparent wind break
situated between the roll-over bars significantly reduces air turbulence within the passenger compartment during high speed driving.
Interior
As with all Alfa Romeos, the interior of the new two-seat Alfa Spider convertible is focused on the driver’s immediate surroundings, which have been designed with an emphasis on ergonomic functionality. A height adjustable driver’s seat allied to a rake and reach adjustable, leather clad steering wheel guarantee a perfect driving position for the widest possible cross-section of customers.
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The driver’s instrument binnacle houses large, deeply hooded speedometer and tachometer dials with subsidiary fuel and temperature gauges, strictly analogue in true Alfa tradition and backlit to optimise the driver’s night vision. A multi-lingual, multi-function display gives access to a wide range of functions as well as the trip computer.
The Alfa Spider’s driver orientated, brushed aluminium faced centre console incorporates a new, electronic key-activated engine start button, a sophisticated, Dual Zone automatic climate control and a stereo radio/CD player within easy operational reach of the driver. Specifically built for the passenger compartment, the stereo features a power output of 4x30 watts and six speakers, offering outstanding sound quality. The centre console may also be fitted with a unique system that combines satellite navigation with an extensive range of on-line services via either manual control or voice commands.
Because there isa separate, dedicated hood storage compartment, the Alfa Spider’s generous stowage capacity is not compromised. The luggage compartment offers a
200 litre capacity – 36% more than that of the previous Alfa Spider – even with the roof folded down, whilst numerous additional oddment stowage compartments include a temperature controlled cubby within the central armrest, and two lockable storage bins built into the rear bench.
With great attention being paid to build quality and cabin ambience, superior comfort levels are assured aboard the new Alfa Spider. Major contributions are made by a state-of-the-art platform, a notably rigid bodyshell, a high quality fascia, extensive carpet soundproofing, a double layer fabric roof and 5mm windowglazing, all of which are designed to reduce cabin noise and vibration to a minimum.
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The new Alfa Spider range features a choice of three two-tone interior trim options –Black/Grey, Blue/Tobacco and Red/Beige – with complementary dashboard finishes. The Alfa Spider 2.2 JTS and 2.4 JTDM are upholstered in AlfaTex, a soft, durable, easy to clean fabric patented by Alfa Romeo, whilst both 3.2 JTS V6Alfa Spider versions offer fine-grain leather upholstery fitted as standard. All versionsmay also be trimmed in the finest Frau® Pieno Fiore leather upholstery, an optional specification which also includes electrically adjustable, heated front seats with driver’s side memory and electric, folding, heated door mirrors with a memory function on the driver’s side.
MODELRANGE AND EQUIPMENT
Four versions of the new Alfa Spiderare available from launch, as follows:
2.2 JTS£25,995 OTR
2.4 JTDM£28,995 OTR
3.2 JTS V6 Q4£31,250 OTR
3.2 JTS V6 Q4 QTRONIC£32,700 OTR
All versions of the new Alfa Spider share the same comprehensive standardequipment specification,which includes the following:
- Electric windows with one-touch function
- Electric, folding, heated door mirrors
- Dual Zone automatic climate control
- Electrically operated fabric roof
- Tinted windows
- Remote central locking with alarm and immobiliser
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- Five airbags, including driver’s knee bag
- Electronic key and start button
- Stereo radio/CD with steering wheel audio controls and six speakers
- Brushed aluminium centre console and trim inserts
- Lockable rear cabin storage compartments
- Leather steering wheel and gearknob
- Fog lights
- Rear parking sensor
- Cruise control
- Multifunction display with trip computer
- ABS anti-lock brakes with EBD and HBA
- VDC with Hill Holder
- Stainless steel kick plates
- 17” alloy wheels
- Visibility pack (rain, dusk and condensation sensors)
- Wind deflector
ENHANCED COMFORT AND TELEMATICS