Aside from rebuilding itself in North America, Alfa Romeo is set to introduce a new family of high-performance engines into the lineup, the first of which will come in the next six months.
Automotive News Europe reports three of those engines — two gasoline, one diesel — will debut with the automaker’s new midsize sedan in June 2015, hitting showrooms sometime in 2016.
The main unit will be a direct-injection 2-liter turbo-four with MultiAir VVT on-board. That engine, dubbed the Global Medium Engine, is expected to produce 180-330 horsepower, with the power directed to the back or all four corners via a range of automatic and manual transmissions. A 2.2-liter turbodiesel four-pot will also be available, delivering 135 to 210 horses in the same manner.
The crown jewel, however, will be a 2.9-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V6 — remade from Ferrari’s 3-liter unit found in the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli — which will throw down up to 480 stallions for the trouble.
VM Motori has also been called upon, working with Alfa to develop a new version of the 3-liter V6 diesel found in a handful of Jeep and Maserati products. Two variants are expected, ranging from 275 horsepower — like the current mill — to 340 horsepower. The engines will be used in AWD applications, and will only be found under the hoods of a large sedan and midsize SUV down the road.
What are those two little plastic containers up top, Cool Ranch and Honey-Mustard?
Red one on the left is barbeque
Barbequed *Italian*?
I’d try that.
And look at that black PVC water line between the battery and barbecue tub. This must have an ice-maker.
The yellow is obviously the MC, guessing the blue is the windshield washer reservoir. If you look closely it looks fairly deep.
“blue is the windshield washer reservoir”
Then the car is a no go in Wisconsin. That would only hold a half day supply
Look closer, I think its fairly deep.
If it doesn’t hold a least a gallon it’s pointless
You apparently never drove in WI. Compared to Germany my wiper fluid usage went to 5%. Winters are dry and way below freezing. You need a lot of fluid in climates with near freezing temp.
Salt changes the freezing physics dramatically
You guys need to quit arguing about how much windshield washer fluid that thing can hold, as it’s obviously the coolant reservoir. :^P
I dunno… I’m starting to see a lot of Hoshizaki in those components.
This is thinly veiled Food Service stuff.
The Blue Cap is Engine Coolant.
Washer Fluid Bottles don’t have warning stickers telling you not to open them as they’re under pressure.
Washer fluid on the Brera is located next to the LH side (In the US–Drivers Side) fender.
Thanks, I couldnt enlarge the picture enough from my phone to see the stickers, hence why I was “guessing” at the washer reservoir.
I believe that is the furthest I’ve ever seen a coolant reservoir from a radiator.
Neon/SX2.0
Washer fluid is next to the battery on the left hand side. The blue cap is engine coolant.
And ugh, first comment marked as “spam”.
Y’all are nuts. They’re obviously the matter and antimatter chambers for the twin phaser banks called out on the valve cover.
So, they decided not to go with the Mr. Fusion Flux Capacitor?… interesting
NIH syndrome. No self-respecting Italian would use something as gauche as El Sr. Fusion.
Are you kidding, with the “Marinara Sauce” setting this thing could run forever on leftovers
Naaah, why waste perfectly good sauce? They’d just use the 10 million unsold cases of Riunite in “La dellicatarazza della ennerofuzione”.
“They’re obviously the matter and antimatter chambers”
Yeah, Cool Ranch and Honey Mustard. Or have you never combined those two in a sandwich?
Maan.. you be tearin’ them Romulans UP!
I’d be tearing something up, but I think any injury done to the Romulans would be collateral damage.
“any injury done to the Romulans would be collateral damage.”
Plausible deniability.
Starfleet ain’t so dumb. Just a little hard on its officers.
These are Romulans we’re talking about here, they are without honor.
So that’s why the Enterprise is always breaking down… made in Italy.
Engineered by Italians, and the chefs are Scots.
Must sound like an old subway when accelerating. Is it only restricted to tunnels?
The Dijon comes from the yellow handle at the front.
There do seem to be some widely variant power #s for that turbo 4. Is it the difference between “little boost” and “ludicrous boost”?
That would make sense.
They could just be like VW/Audi and say the engine has more HP in the Audi for whatever ridiculous reason.
Yeah, just different boost settings. The engine in the Fiat 500 Turbo and Abarth are the same; the Abarth just has an option for the computer to hold the wastegate shut longer to build more pressure.
Mostly. The lower powered motors might have some small internal differences too. BMW does that with the N20 – the version in the 320i has some lighter internals than the version in the 328i. No reason not to save a few bucks on the lower powered version, even if it is MOSTLY software that makes the actual power difference.
.
+1
You don’t think it was too harsh?
Boom headshot!
Not at all. I think you erred too much on the side of subtlety.
Well, you might want to try a more subtle approach next time.
Washer Fluid is next to the left fender.
Spam Filter…..ugh
Blue cap is engine coolant. Washer Fluid is next to the battery, can’t see it in the photo.
It’s weird, I read your comment even responded to it and then it d1sappeared. What you say makes sense, thanks
Twin phasers? I was wondering when someone was going to do that. Where are the photon torpedoes? I think my commute is about to get much easier.
I was secretly hoping that this engine unlocked the key to obtaining the fabled EVH “brown sound”.
“brown sound”
Our culinary speculation is that’s exactly what you’d get.
Cool Ranch + Honey Mustard = Brown Sound
Q.E.D.
Falling gas prices the diesel may lose its allure in NA market. Rear drive souds like fancy chances with BMW. They’ll have to get it right.
Don’t worry, the Saudis are putting a choke hold on all the fracking taking place here and by this time next year gas prices will be right back to what we’ve all become accustomed to.
Not really, they can slow it down, but not stop it. The cost of production is lower than people assume, but many smaller operators are financially over-extended. They won’t go out of business, they’ll just be bought out by better financed larger outfits, since their leases are valuable. Those buyers will have to resume production to get their money back. Long term, the Saudis will fail.
The wild card is new tech that promises to fracture the shale with non-hydraulic means, promising to eliminate the problem of acquiring water and disposing of the chemically polluted used water afterward. While the cost of high tech drilling has skyrocketed, there’s always a payoff – there are no dry wells, they know where the shale is. Some of those experimental means of fracturing, like ultrasound, promise higher output too.
The Saudis would be better off lobbying Congress to keep the ban on crude exports. That presents a problem in itself, since shale oil is high quality and produces higher volumes of distillates which CAN be exported. Users can buy from US refiners, reducing demand for middle east oil. That’s what is REALLY hitting the Saudis and OPEC, whose oil is lower quality.
The problem is few will be able to operate at full production at $55 a barrel (and dropping) for an extended time. Eventually the small guy, whether its here or Russia or the middle east, or most likely a combination of all, will be forced to throttle back, and the supply will realign with global demand.
A Morgan Stanley report I saw recently identified the cost of extracting fracked oil in North America as averaging $55/bbl.
Assuming that to be the case, and adding things like transportation, G&A, other overheads, the real breakeven is somewhat north of there. So, at a market price of $60/bbl, there’s no money in fracking.
I’ve read similar things and I concur. What will happen now is a shakeout of the frackers as I do not expect them all to fold right away (some wells are already completed and pumping at less than that figure). However fracked wells do not have a long lifespan from what I understand, so the Saudi gambit is certainly a timed venture. Just long enough to destroy US fracking (and eliminate the few new “good paying” jobs added outside of dot gov) and give a little bump to the overall depressed economy in six months hence so the overlords can cite a “real recovery” for twenty minutes before we slip back into the depression.
What the Saudi’s want. As well this is a war with Iran, and Russia who are supporting the Assad regime in Syria
I just want to write that I can’t believe some automakers haven’t gotten the concept that donning a motor with an odd number after the period in terms of displacement (e.g. 2.7, e.g. 4.3) usually dooms the motor and its end users to a life of horrors.
Even famous quality obsessed Toyota put the voodoo on the 3.0 when it went 3.3 and turned into a sludger in many (statistically relative basis) cases.
And this IS Alfa Romeo, to make things worse – they, in particular, should’ve stuck with ONLY Chinese lucky 8s after the decimal point.
Meh. The odd number (3.5/3.7) V6s that Ford, Nissan, Honda, and Toyota have seem to do well enough. Also, the various 2.5L four cylinder engines seem to be fine too.
Chrysler’s 5.7L HEMI V8 and the old 3.3L pushrod V6 don’t seem to have many problems, either. Guess the sludge-prone 2.7L DOHC V6 makes up for the both of them.
Chevrolet Small Block V-8 started out as a 4.3L, BMW AG Inline-6 was 2.5L. So much for superstition
Or the 5.9 Cummins, the most common engine in the light duty segment to breach the million mile mark.
Is it just me, or is an entire bank of cylinders missing in the picture?
Alfa is logically pushing the envelope with respect to the (in)famous BMW survey indicating that most drivers don’t know which wheels of their vehicle provide motive force. Couple that with the decoupling of model names from engine displacements and you have the MagicAirGreenEarth Alfa V-6 three cylinder engine. I’m sure marketing has figured out millions of ways to shoehorn it into your e-stream.
Maybe they are under the windshield? Maybe the coolant tank is partially in the valley?
There does seem to be a bank missing, maybe marketing photo gone wrong.
It’s just you, the other three cyl. are under the turbo. Here’s a better picture…
http://www.italiaspeed.com/new_models/2005/alfa_romeo/alfa_159/Alfa_159_024.jpg
You guys have obviously never had the pleasure of working on a Diamond Star variant. The rear bank was designed by DeSade, for the little people of Darby O’Gill to attain full employment. Especially with a 400k sales projection. It must be the sweater.
This engine bay shot will be on Murilee’s Junkyard Finds within 7 years.
Lol, I can just see Crabspirits’ story now…
“Mario was an Italian playboy, or at least he thought he was…”
Mario may be too obvious, I think something more like, “Kayden was an Italian playboy, or at least posed as one on social media…”
Will it be missing scavenged parts, or still be intact?
Did you mean to say missing, or “fallen off?”
Intact, just like the Daewoo’s and Kia’s of the early to mid nineties.
So the 2.9 will be another Pentastar varient just as the 3.0 Maserati engine is(lively discussion over at allpar). Wonder if the new 4 cylinder is the new FCA corporate base that will make it’s way into all Fiat/Chrysler cars?
And what cars would these go in?
And call me skeptical if I’m not sold on the longevity of a Ferrari engine, taken from a Maser, and redone by Alfa.
Well, the article mentioned a new mid-size sedan. The Dart and 200 are scaled up Alfas already, and they may just tweak the 200 platform with new sheet metal.
Which is fine, but they’ve been teasing product forever (at least Honda had an NSX concept, Alfa is all powerpoint product) and predicting ridiculous sales all while losing market share. I am solidly in the I’ll believe it when I see it camp with Alfa in the US.
In Europe, Alfa is as relavent as Mitsubishi here (.52% market share). Sergio says Alfa will get to 300,000 units by 2016 and 400,000 units by 2018. How? The only model that has been rolled out is the 4C than is limited to 1200 units a year. Alfa has their work cut out for them getting to Volvo sales levels in the US.
Good thing Jeeps and RAMs are selling.
The new cars which are coming out next year, but nobody has seen at all. They’re real.
The small RWD sedan will be the first to get them. You’ll be able to see that this coming June.
Will it be at NAIAS?
Not this year, it’ll be unveiled in Italy in June. I would imagine it’ll be at NAIAS 2016.
Maserati vehicles are already so sporty and “designed,” that I think they’re going to have a hard time getting a full Alfa range that looks special enough, has appeal, and is lower priced than the Maserati.
I can tell you right now, that “large sedan” better not be an up-sized Chrysler. It should be a simplified Quattroporte.
I do doubt the desirable nature and quality of anything which has been in the hands of three different Italian firms but is not food.
what do you think the Ghibli and Quattroporte are? They are updated Chrysler LX’s
Maybe a “crossover” named Ribollita
Yay more overpriced vehicles with motorcycle engines!
Knowing how expensive Ferrari engines are to maintain and fix, I guess we can already see the headlines with this new Ferrari derivative.
Just use the 3.6L, if it needs more power, turbo it or use the Hemi. Course I’m sure that would result in a culture shock to the “fabled” brand.
The luxury market is over saturated, and no one knows of Alfa Romeo, so who are the buyers going to be able to brag to? The performance surely isn’t the selling point, and BMW/Mercedes own the badge market.
Wonder how few millimeters separate the right inner front fender from all the accessory belts and pulleys shown in the jpg of the engine out of the car?
Maybe this time around they can make an engine that doesn’t eat timing belts and grenade. Just ask my 1995 164Q
Those 24V tensioners cannot be as poor of a design as Jaguar’s XJ8 plastic tensioners…
Alfa-Romeo launching a new V6 is always serious news.
…and someday they’ll have a car to put it in!
If they keep the pitch of traditional Alfa engines, all is forgiven.
Would not buy.
Do not care.
Do not care to buy?
” The crown jewel, however, will be a 2.9-liter direct-injection twin-turbo V6 — remade from Ferrari’s 3-liter unit found in the Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli”
Ferrari? Ferrari? Ferrari V6? Don’t make me laugh.
The Maserati V6 is just a version of the Pentastar V6 found in the Chrysler minivan and Dodge Ram. Nothing Ferrari about it, except, and this is a big MAYBE, the heads might have some Ferrari design influence.
The blocks are all cast in the good ole USA and shipped to Italy, where they get their cylinder heads. Supposedly Ferrari, but that’s just marketing BS.
http://www.pentastars.com/engines/ferrari.php
This has been common onowledge for at least 3 years.
Everywhere except TTAC and its commenters, which results in idiotically stupid comments from the usual suspects.
Typos are one thing – having zero knowledge quite another.
So the blocks are cast at the same foundry. Not machined, cast. That’s where the similarities end, unless Chrysler has immediate plans on dropping in direct injected turbo charged engines that utilize variable valve timing and just so happen to hit red line @ 1000 rpm more than the current Pentastar.
The first line in the link you provided says,
“Ferrari has designed a variant of the Pentastar V6 which is very different from the Chrysler version”
I’m still tuned to the days when Alfa was a Brougham Fiat.
Maybe the new turbo-4 will find its way into the 4c, which as it stands pretty much only has one nut (although it’s wound pretty tight).