CHASSIS

• The first requirement of a car chassis designed for sportiness, comfort and safety, is to ensure the best possible performance from the suspension, ensuring perfect contact between the wheels and the ground even in the most extreme conditions. The chassis and frames used on the various Alfa Romeo models all have high torsional stiffness, rigid mechanical attachments, and are vibration-free. The very best results are ensured by the use of innovative technical solutions and high-performance materials: multi-thickness metals, high-strength steels, laser welding, box and reinforcement elements developed through virtual simulations and countless road tests. The extremely high torsional stiffness of the Alfa 159 structure, for example, which exceeds 180,000 daNm/rad, was not achieved by chance.

  Chassis structure

  Alfa Romeo’s technical expertise stems from years of experience in competition and countless victories on race tracks around the world. Alfa’s road-holding is matched by its outstanding comfort and an unrivalled level of safety. To combine these various needs, Alfa’s technicians and engineers have developed a series of advanced, exclusive systems. The front high wishbone suspension set-up, adopted on Alfa cars since 1997, is the perfect solution for precise control of wheel movement, with a steering axis which is well defined in space. The architecture is derived from competition, and gives the car outstanding dynamic performance, excellent steering ‘feel’ and driving precision, as well as extremely high levels of comfort, credit for which also goes to the use of aluminium components to reduce the amount of non-suspended weight. The rear suspension must guarantee directional precision, stability, safety and driver control. This has led to the development of uncompromising rear suspension systems. On the Alfa 159, the Brera and Spider, for example, the advanced multilink system adopted provides sophisticated wheel movement control, resulting in extremely high levels of performance. The transverse, three-lever solution has enabled the various components under longitudinal load to be optimised for better absorption of road bumps, while the components under lateral load are optimised for speed of response, stability and road-holding. All this combines to provide the best possible combination of comfort, driving pleasure, and absolute safety in all conditions.
  3. Steering system. The steering on an Alfa Romeo is the critical link between the driver’s intentions and the car’s behaviour. It needs to guarantee an immediate, reliable response in all conditions, and must work in perfect harmony with the rest of the car. Every Alfa Romeo is ready to respond with unbelievable agility and precision to your every command, thanks to the direct steering ratio that enables any bend to be taken with the minimum movement of the steering wheel, for greater driving pleasure and safety (for example, on the 159, the wheels turn through 12.7° for every degree of steering, giving complete rotation with only 2 1/4 turns of the steering wheel). Great care has also gone into the design of the power-steering system, which must allow the driver to ‘feel’ the road at high speeds, while at the same time keeping the steering light and easy to handle in city traffic and when parking.

  Suspension system