Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon

Our verdict

The Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon is not the biggest. But to sacrifice one of the smaller dogs on the altar of style is probably worth it. The only estate that’ll make you double-take – and for all the right reasons.

Comfort

The Sportwagon follows exactly the same pattern as the 159 saloon: finally people of all sizes should fit, and that makes the difference. More space all round than the 156 which it replaces, but it feels sporty and intimate in the cabin. The ride can get a bit nervous over bobbly surfaces, shuddering slightly when it gets confused by the slightly too-hard damping.

Performance

The 1.8 MPI Turismo is a bit sluggardly if you want the go to match the show - it only hits 62mph in 10.6 seconds with 140bhp. If you want anything respectable then you're looking for the 185bhp 2.2. Best of all are the lovely-but-lazy 260bhp 3.2-litre V6 (which is 250kg heavier than the fours) or the brilliant diesels. Money no object? Then the 2.4-litre JTDM five-pot diesel with 200bhp is the one.

Cool

Could even be considered slightly cooler than the saloon if you're of a practical bent. One of the most acceptable ‘practicars' for petrolheads.

Quality

So much better than the horror stories that Alfa deserves a medal. There have been electrical gremlins and we have heard that there are niggles with the Selespeed transmission but nothing that a dealer can't sort.Play on their insecurities, it'll work wonders.

Handling

A proper Alfa again even though it has the big bottom: accurate steering coupled to a lively chassis make the 159 feel faster than it is. For the off-roady among you the Q4 4x4 variant is a joy for lugging stuff up paddocks too, though don't try anything too ambitious when the car is fully-loaded - it adds to the Q4's already hefty weight penalty over the four-cylinder cars.

Practicality

There are 445 litres of bootspace under the retractable loadcover and 1235litres if you fold everything flat, which is commendable but not jaw-dropping - a 3-series Touring gets 520litres with the seats up, for example, and that's quite small. There's the 60/40 split option on the back seats, but who cares when it looks this cool?

Running costs

Alarm at Alfa's reliability history means that these things drop quite heavily over two years, but clean engines mean low company car tax. And they tend to be cheap in the first place.