Alfa Romeo GT

There's a purist view that says front-wheel drive can't deliver when oodles of power is lobbed through the wheels that also do direction. To an extent, they're right. But there is also a joy to be had from an extra-powerful front-drive car, a different kind of tyre-shredding frenzy that's not necessarily worse, just different.

Which was why I was looking forward to this Alfa 3.2 V6 GT from Alfa tuners Autodelta. It builds on the standard car's 178kW by adding a Rotrex supercharger to make 238kW. Other additions include a limited-slip diff à la Focus RS. It works, after a fashion. It makes the GT a rapid piece of kit, with a delicious noise. Tractability is notably improved, and there's a surge through the rev range that makes the GT feel infinitely boisterous.

But it isn't a fire-breather. Having driven a 147 GTA recently, the Autodelta simply doesn't feel like 238kW. There's a fair amount of torque steer, but not the silliness that we wanted. It puts the power down almost too well, robbing you of the joy of trashing a set of tyres  in one back-road-infested weekend.

And then there's the cost. It's more than $25,000 more with the supercharger, brakes and diff which kicks the cost up to that of other sensational cars. Rather one of these over an M3 or Evo? Thought not.

Tom Ford