Having been lurking in the shadows of the compact executive car market for so many years now, Alfa Romeo’s 159 is coming back for another fight and while you won’t see any changes to the exterior metal (a good thing in our book) it has taken a good step forward in the performance department, particularly at the bottom of the range.

Here, Alfa Romeo has installed its latest 1750cc turbopetrol engine, which develops 147kW between 4750 and 5500rpm and 320Nm of twist from 1400rpm.

The advanced direct injection motor boasts continuously variable valve timing and a scavenging control system. Effective scavenging is achieved by monitoring and optimising, instant by instant, the engine operating parameters of fuel dosage, valve, ignition and injection timing to make better use of the turbocharger. According to claims, it’ll dart from 0-100km/h in just 7.7 seconds and reach 235km/h.

Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s 191kW/322Nm direct-injection 3.2-litre V6 engine soldiers on at the top of the range and while the engine itself hasn’t been changed, it is now available without the Q4 all-wheel drive system when mated to the six-speed manual gearbox. AWD is still standard on the six-speed automatic version.

The drivetrain changes also usher in a new line of specification levels, namely Progression, Distinctive and TI.

The entry-level Progression trim level is available only on the 1750 TBi and it offers 17-inch alloy wheels, electronic key with start button, dual-zone climate control, cruise control, sport ’3D’ fabric upholstery, trip computer and leather multifunction steering wheel.

The new Distinctive Trim on the 3.2 (manual and auto) adds electrically folding heated wing mirrors, interior trim inserts in black aluminium, leather/fabric combo upholstery, sports instrumentation with white backlighting and multifunctional display, Blue&Me hands-free communication system with USB port, rain sensor, light sensor and electrochromatic mirror.

The sporty Ti trim, on the other hand, is available with both engines and receives a bespoke body kit comprising a special Ti exhaust, lowered sports suspension, red Brembo brake callipers and 18-inch turbine-design alloy wheels finished in matt black.

Inside the cabin it adds sports leather/alcantara upholstery, heated front seats with extra adjustment, sports pedals and red stitching on the leather sports steering wheel and gear knob.

All models are sold with seven airbags and an arsenal of active safety equipment, while aftermarket peace of mind is sorted by a five-year/150 000km warranty and six-year/105 000km service plan, with intervals pegged at 35 000km.

PRICING:

1750 TBi Progression – R340 000

1750 TBi Ti – R370 000

159 3.2 V6 Distinctive – R398 500

159 3.2 V6 Ti – R428 500

159 3.2 V6 Q4 Distinctive AT – R430 000

ALTERNATIVES:

Audi A4 2.0T Ambition (132kW) – R349 500

Audi A4 3.2 quattro (195kW) – R485 000

BMW 323i (140kW) – R374 071

BMW 330i (190kW) – R469 340

Honda Accord 2.4 Exec (148kW) – R356 700

Lexus IS250 S (153kW) – R429 900

Mercedes C200 Classic (135kW) – R379 000

Volvo S60 T4 (132kW) – R331 600

Don’t be shy, ladies, there will be just as many women as men attending October’s Johannesburg Motor Show – and with good reason.

Just as many (if not more) women as men buy cars, or have a big say in the buying decision. In the United States women account for 85 percent all consumer purchases, including everything from cars to health care – and 91 percent of all new homes!

Here in South Africa, with increasing numbers of two-car families, and lots more ladies moving up the corporate ladder to the level where a company car is part of the deal, women are increasingly choosing their own cars and negotiating their own deals.

They know what they want, and why they want it. After all, they have to drive it.

Sales rep Claire Veitch isn’t about to miss the show.

“I want to see every single car there, if it takes me all day to walk around,” she said.

She’s never had any hesitation about buying a car she likes, for herself or the family – and she doesn’t take any advice from her husband.

“But that’s because I have no interest in Lancias, beach buggies or clapped-out old Landys,” she said.

She loves new checking out new models (after all, this is retail therapy on a grand scale!), and when she’s in the market for a new car, she enjoys doing her homework, reading reports and asking around for friends’ opinions.

But nothing beats a day at the show, sitting in all the new cars and getting a feel of the controls.

Because, in general, ladies go with gut instinct first, and then worry about price and fuel efficiency, while men are more concerned with size and performance (what else is new?).

But a lot of women still feel they they’re not always afforded the respect they deserve from salesmen. Durban travel agent Kim Duffy said she felt perfectly comfortable deciding on the family car and her own car (they have three children, so her input is crucial on the family sedan) but she was reluctant to sign the deal without a man present.

“When I bought my last car my father-in-law squeezed the salesman for extra carpets and got a towbar thrown in,” she explained. “I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

New Zealand photographer Sherelee Clarke has always bought her own cars – and negotiated the deal from start to finish.

“I did ask my brother to take my latest car for a drive before I bought it,” she admitted. “But I would have bought it anyway, even if he hadn’t liked it.”

She said her brothers felt strongly that women shouldn’t be in charge of making the final decision on a family car.

“They seem to think a woman is incapable of making the right choice,” she laughed.

But that’s wrong and we can prove it: When the Ford company asked a group of engineers, all ladies, to design the ultimate car “by girls for girls”, they came up with a concept – the YCC – which eventually became the cheeky little Volvo C30 – and that’s anything but a girly car!

So don’t be shy to ask questions and try the cars on for size, girls – you’ll have an absolute ball at the show, on at the Expo Centre, Nasrec from October 6-16.

It can talk, see, drive and no longer needs a human being to control it by remote. The car of the future – completely computer-controlled – is on the streets of Berlin.

Since June 2011, researchers from the city’s Free University have been testing their autonomous vehicle around the German capital.

It maneuvres through traffic on its own using a sophisticated combination of computer, electronics and a precision satellite navigation system in the boot, a camera in the front, and laser scanners on the roof and around the front and rear bumpers.

Raul Rojas, the head of the university’s research group for artificial intelligence, said on Tuesday: “The car can recognise other cars on the road, pedestrians, buildings and trees as far as 70 metres away – and even see if the traffic lights ahead are red or green and react accordingly.

“In fact, the car’s recognition and reaction to its environment is much faster than a human’s.”

The scientists have worked on their research car, a Volkswagen Passat worth €400 000 ($551,800) with lots of built-in special technology, for four years.

Several other groups have also been working on such technology recently, notably Google, which has been testing a robotic Toyota Prius in Nevada.

Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, a professor for automotive economics at the University of Duisburg-Essen, said: “There’s a big trend for completely computer-controlled cars – many companies and research centres in several countries are working on it and it is hard to say, who’s got the most-developed vehicle at the moment.”

Dudenhoeffer estimated that with the technology advances, it could only take another decade for the fully automatic cars to start becoming available for consumers.

“Even today’s cars are often partially computer-controlled, for example when it comes to parking or emergency brakes.”

However, he said, besides the technological issues, the legal challenges would be another issue that needed to be regulated: “Who will be responsible when there’s an accident – the owner or the passenger of the computer-controlled car or the company that produced it?”

“However, all in all, one can definitely say that computer-controlled cars will be much safer than human drivers,” Dudenhoeffer said. “Especially if you keep in mind that most of today’s accidents are caused by human error.”

The driverless Passat passes the famous Brandenburg Gate, with nobody on board; nobody human, that is.ASSOCIATED PRESS

In Berlin, the university researchers received a special permit from the city’s security and safety controllers in June to use it in regular traffic – under the condition that a safety driver sits behind the steering wheel, even if he doesn’t touch anything.

The team has also been allowed to let the car run without anybody aboard on a special testing ground.

Rojas said: “This kind of technology is the future of mobility.

However, he was more conservative than Dudenhoeffer, saying that it could be 30-40 years before they became available to the average consumer.

The key to the automobile’s intelligence is in the way the computer program runs.

Rojas explained: “In the beginning with had trouble with the robotic driving style of the car; but we’ve worked on the programming and now its driving style is as smooth as a human being.”

Rojas estimates that once the technology – specifically the sensors – becomes less expensive, such cars will eventually conquer the roads.

“It is similar to the beginnings of the computers – 40 years ago, only research labs could afford computers, now everybody is walking around with a computer in his pocket.”

Ideally, the car will respond to orders by remote control, for example on an iPad or an iPhone. With a click or a touch, the passenger can call the car to his personal location and then order the car to drop him off at his desired destination.

“This kind of car is actually perfect for car sharing,” said Rojas. “There will be no more need for owning a car – once the automobile has dropped off its passenger it will drive on to the next passenger.” – Sapa-AP

It was the first British sports car with all-wheel drive and the first with ABS, but in other ways it was the quintessential Transatlantic hybrid – a painstakingly hand-built chassis with quirky English styling married to a big, lazy Detroit V8 – in this case a 290kW, 7.2-litre Chrysler lump.

It was, of course, the Jensen Interceptor, a comfortable and remarkably capable Grand Tourer with a distinctly odd, all-glass fastback body. Sadly, the 1973 oil crisis pushed Jensen into receivership and the last Interceptor was built in 1976, before ownership of the brand passed to Healey Sports Cars Switzerland.

But now the marque is set to be revived; a new Jensen Interceptor will be launched next year. It will echo the two-door, four-seat layout of the original, built between 1966 and 1976, but based on based on an all-new aluminium chassis and handcrafted aluminium body.

The public unveiling of the Interceptor is planned for late 2012, with deliveries to customers beginning in 2014. Annual production and pricing are yet to be confirmed, but numbers will be limited ensure exclusivity.

Healey has retained a team of Coventry-based consultants, who have completed the design – these are their sketches you’re looking at. The car will be developed for production by specialist coachbuilders CPP and hand-built at a new plant in Browns Lane, once the home of Jaguar.

Brendan O’Toole, founder and co-owner of CPP, said: “”I started by restoring bodies and components for classic British sports cars, so for us to take the lead in reviving this iconic brand is very exciting for me.

“The Jensen design team has respected the heritage of the original Interceptor, while adding a contemporary edge and advanced technologies to appeal to the discerning enthusiast of today.”