Few sports cars are developed specifically for Britain’s roads.  Those that have been tend to become true ‘driver’s cars’.  Alfa Romeo is planning for the new, limited edition Alfa Brera S to join those ranks.

After a year of intensive suspension and chassis development at Prodrive, the world-leading motorsport specialist, the result is a sports coupe that subtly enhances all that is good about the original Alfa Brera, while bestowing it with outstanding driver feedback and handling.

Distinctly different from the rest of the line-up, this unique addition to Alfa Romeo’s UK range includes refined styling changes, inside and out.  And to ensure ultimate exclusivity, production of the Alfa Brera S will be limited to just 500 individually numbered models.

Power comes from a choice of two existing direct injection petrol engines – the 185 bhp 2.2 JTS and the 260 bhp 3.2 V6 JTS.

Marketing director at Alfa Romeo UK, Nicholas Bernard, says: “Significantly, the Alfa Brera S isn’t simply about brute force, it’s about how the available power is transferred to the road and how the road surface is communicated back to the driver to bring new levels of sports handling and driver-focused confidence and involvement.”

Briefed to make the Alfa Brera S less of a long-distance tourer and more sporty on UK roads, the engineering team at Prodrive developed a unique suspension set-up. Prodrive engineers meticulously experimented with spring rates and ride heights to match the reduced weights of the 2008 model year Alfa Breras. Then followed an extensive damper tuning exercise to achieve the desired ride/handling balance and steering response required by driving enthusiasts in the UK.

According to Prodrive Project Leader, Peter Cambridge, the result is “a car that ‘shrinks’ around the driver and delivers all the fun and engagement of a sports car driving experience on A and B-roads.  Yet, on motorways, offers a compliant and composed ride.”

The sports car driving experience is achieved by reducing roll and pitch, flattening the cornering attitude, and subsequently instilling confidence-inspiring steering.

Peter Cambridge comments: “Our painstaking work with the spring set-up controls exactly how much the car pitches and rolls with every lump, bump, camber and pothole on our roads.  Then we developed the dampers to control the rate at which the springs respond.  Once we were satisfied with that, we set about really affecting the feel and response of the steering to inspire confidence.”

To reduce roll and pitch and achieve an even flatter cornering attitude, Prodrive commissioned bespoke Eibach coil springs and Bilstein dampers.

Spring rates are increased by over 50 per cent compared to the standard Alfa Brera, giving the car a more nimble and agile feel, while the specially tuned gas-filled mono-tube dampers give tighter body control.  A careful balance has been created to maintain good compliance over ridges and bumps in the road.