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Alfa Romeo Spider car review

16/01/09

Price25,374
We like...Style, cabin, engine
We don't...Awkward boot

Spirited Italian two-seater can easily steal your heart away. But will your head be convinced that it adds up for value?It’s a beauty. The business of sizing up, weighing pros and cons, just dsn’t apply when choosing an Alfa. Your heart rules your head. Luckily, there is at least a side helping of common sense that comes with this car – or at least as much as you’d expect, given its two seats and soft top.

There is, for instance enough luggage space for a couple of huge, soft bags, though you’ll need muscle to haul them in and out because the boot is tub-shaped and has a steep lip to it. And the cabin is a comfy place in which to spend time – there’s good space even for big people, while the cloth roof shields you efficiently from wind, rain and road noise. And the black and silver colourway of fittings and fabrics is as you’d want for a sports car.

But the car’s more about looks than usefulness. It shares elements of its design with sister car, the Alfa Brera: Giorgetto Giugiaro penned both. From its chiselled nose to its twin rollover hoops and fairings, it’s heart-tuggingly pretty.

Alfa Romeo Spider Fit the keyless fob into its dash slot, poke the ‘start’ button and the 2.2-litre four-cylinder direction-injection petrol unit gurgles into life. Modern noise restrictions mean motors no longer blare and yowl as they did once, but this Alfa manages so sound like no other. It’s involving and sporty and you’ll rev the engine just to hear it play.

Mind you, this is no high-end screamer that you need rev to get at its power. Four fifths of its 185bhp is there from just 2000rpm, making it a friendly to drive at low speeds through town. And while the gears, wheel and pedals have a sensible, reassuring weight to them, you don’t need huge strength to master them.

Top up, the two-layer roof provides generous head roof and keeps the cabin civilised when it’s raining. Lowering the roof is a doddle – you just press a switch and 25secs later, all’s done. The hood folds into its own hidey-space, so boot capacity is the same whether it’s erect or folded.

Alfa Romeo Spider To drive, you notice the quick, dartiness of the steering first. It’s so eager than it will have you ‘over-steering’ into the first couple of corners, especially if you’ve just stepped from another, slower-witted car. Next you’ll appreciate that revvy engine, ever-helpful from low revs but willing to keep delivering the power up to high crank speeds.

And then there’s the ride. It’s stiff, as you’d expect given Alfa’s heritage, but there’s restlessness, too, which is more evident whenever the roof’s lowered. While not as unforgiving as the Brera S that we’ve also tested, it could prove tiring on longer trips.

Alfa Romeo Spider So-so fuel economy and high exhaust emissions make this a pricey cat to fuel and tax for the road, but you’d expect that. Where it ds hit hard is in the speed at which it loses value from new. At three years old, it’ll command just 46% of its original value. Compare that with Audi’s TT roadster, a comparable car in many respects, except that at the same age, it will return 59% of what you originally gave for it.

Factor in that the TT has arguably the more prestige of the two, and is the better all-round to drive, and the Alfa begins to lose its sheen. Your heart may say Alfa, but you head would have to take the Audi.

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