| First Drive | Warwick, England | Alfa Brera S |

Alfa's Brera has always delivered in the looks department, but it has never managed to thrill on the road like it should. Already having undergone a slight weight reduction for the 2008 model year, Alfa Romeo UK has added some excitement to the driving experience by having Prodrive tweak the chassis to create the limited-run Brera S.

In the Metal

The squat lines of the Brera might not do it for everyone, but we're sold here. Bold lines mix with an elegant flowing shape that mixes coupe and hatchback cues to excellent effect. The characteristic front grille and slim headlights give the Brera real purpose while the chunky lines at the rear add even more tension. It's a great looking car. And the new S looks even better, thanks to quad exhausts (their shape echoing that of the rear lights) and a set of stunning 19-inch wheels. Those wheels are styled to ape those on Alfa's other special edition machine, the 8C Competizione - the new rims not just looking sensational but removing around 2kg of unsprung weight at each corner. Other styling changes include S badging on the rear pillars and a pair of Prodrive mudflaps behind the front wheels.

What you get for your Money

At around £1,500 more than the standard Brera the S models actually represent pretty good value. The suspension revisions are fairly extensive, the S sitting 10mm lower than the standard cars thanks to bespoke Eibach coil springs and Bilstein dampers. Spring rates have been increased by over 50% compared to the standard car in a bid to make it feel more sporting for UK buyers' tastes. Both the 2.2 JTS and 3.2 V6 models are also lighter, in part as a result of those lighter wheels, but also due to the V6 car doing without the Q4 four-wheel drive system, and some detailed weight saving changes like hollow anti-roll bars that have been introduced across the entire model range.

Being a special, limited edition model the Prodrive tweaked S comes with some unique details. The 500 cars that'll be built all come individually numbered inside, while they also feature a certificate of authenticity bearing its chassis number. The seat headrest recesses feature plaques containing the Italian and British flag, and the 3.2 V6 version comes with a full leather interior, including a leather-covered dashboard. The 2.2 JTS can be had with the same interior finish for an additional £1,500.

Driving it

You might have noticed that all the changes make no mention to increased power. That's apparently not the point of the S, instead it supposed to add focus to a car that some customers find a little bit too GT in its responses. A resonator in the exhaust adds a more purposeful growl to either, the V6 said to be stronger in its mid-range acceleration thanks to a near 100kg reduction in weight. If sharpness is the ultimate aim then the S can be considered a success. At least in 2.2-litre guise. The suspension modifications in combination with the lighter wheels have increased the steering's response markedly, there less slack and more feel through the wheel's rim. The body control is greatly improved, the 2.2 Brera S coping with the sort of tricky undulating road surfaces the UK has - without being overly harsh. Roll is nicely contained too, Prodrive's alterations on the smaller engined car working rather well. There is a small trade off in road noise though, those 19-inch wheels responsible for a noisier cabin on not-so-perfect surfaces. Alfa Romeo is likely to offer owners of regular Breras the option of some of the S's components, though they won't be cheap.

The changes aren't so successful in the 3.2-litre V6-engined Brera. It's a weightier car, and the dampers and spring rates have been tightened further to cope. The resultant deterioration in ride quality means that despite its extra grunt you'll be backing off much sooner than you would in the 2.2 S. Ridges and bumps are transmitted into the cabin - uncomfortably so - while the front-wheel drive set up, even with a clever differential, sometimes struggles with the 3.2-litre's 260bhp. It sounds great though - much better than the rather asthmatic-sounding four-cylinder car.

Worth Noting

Neither model is particularly rapid, the V6 taking seven seconds to reach 62mph and the 2.2 JTS 8.6 seconds. Audi's TT 2.0T or BMW's 125i Coupé both eclipse those figures, and provide far more entertainment behind the wheel. On the subject of driving, the position of the driver in the Brera is rather high for a coupe, and although there are four seats inside, forget using the rears for anything but additional luggage space. Though the boot itself is of a decent size, the rear end's design does make getting things in and out of it a bit tricky.

Summary

The new Brera S is only partially successful: certainly it looks great on its unique 19-inch alloy wheels, and in 2.2-litre guise it delivers on the road. But the 3.2 V6 is overly firm, leaving it trailing its smaller engined relative when the tarmac is less than super smooth. What is also surprising is that despite a year of work to produce the S, Alfa is only intent on building 500 of them. We'd have a 2.2 JTS Brera S if we were buying it, but even with the dynamic revisions the Brera S is left trailing against its rivals.