Alfa Romeo Brera

Our verdict

The Alfa Romeo Brera is a fabulous-looking car, but some of the old caveats apply; the interior packaging is shocking for tall people and nobody can sit in the back seats. Nobody, do you hear?

Comfort

The front seats sit ridiculously high so there's no place for six-footers in here - though the glass roof can add a couple of centimetres. The rear seats are just impressions of what a seat might look like if you never needed to use it, and the boot is OK, just a bit inaccessible. Can nibble and tramline on the better-looking big wheels.

Performance

Three engines, none of which particularly want to tear your face off. The range starts with a 2.2-litre petrol four, hits a peak at the 2.4-litre JTDM diesel (yup, diesel coupe) and tops out at the lardy 256bhp V6 with four-wheel drive. All drive into the 140mph area, though the V6 is comfortably quickest. The same economy comes from the smaller petrol and the diesel at 41.5mpg, but you'll be lucky to get 16mpg out of the V6.

Cool

Very cool for people who don't care much about the driving experience.

Quality

Alfa's socks; consider them pulled up. Nice aluminium dash, with an interior based on the 159. The Brera feels solid. Time will tell.

Handling

Definitively not the best in class, the Brera is a strange one. Fast steering tends to highlight body roll as the car snaps into corners, and there's a lack of fluidity when you start to push on. All models understeer like they're trying to escape from the scary apex, especially the Q4 4x4 variant. More suited to cruising.

Practicality

Eh? Pardon me? No. The Brera is a looking-at car, not a load-lugger.

Running costs

The lowest C02 rating comes from the frugal diesel, but these things drop like stones; still loads of Alfa bad voodoo out there and it softens secondhand values.