Hearts and minds were united at What Diesel Car? magazine when it voted the Alfa Brera its Best Sports/Coupe, in the publication’s annual Car of the Year Awards. Short-listed against the BMW 335D and the Honda Civic Type S, the Alfa Brera 2.4 JTDM picked up valuable points in the looks department, with one judge declaring: “For visual impact, the Brera is the clear class-leader,” and another judge announcing: “Drive this and lose your heart.  It’ll be the start of a nerve-tingling, smile-inducing, mind-warping love affair…” Covering the 0 – 62mph dash in a handsome 8.1 seconds and offering a top speed of 142mph, the Alfa Brera 2.4 JTDM will also return more than 52mpg on motorway journeys, prompting motoring journalist Simon Hacker to say: “This engine spells a practical proposition too.  Grand touring couldn’t be grander.”

The new Alfa Brera 2.4, equipped with the powerful 200 bhp 2.4 JTDm 20v engine, was premiered just over a year ago at the Geneva Motor Show. The new engine is derived from the well-known 2.4 JTD 20-valve ‘Common Rail’ engine; it has 5 cylinders in line and is the most powerful of the multivalve JTD engines with Multijet technology, with a specific power output of 84 bhp/litre. The new engine offers several advantages. First of all, quieter warm-up which varies with the engine speed and ambient temperature. Plus plenty of power (147 kW - 200 bhp at 4,000 rpm) and generous torque (400 Nm – 40.8 kgm at 2000 rpm).

There are four valves per cylinder, activated via hydraulic tappets and rocker arms by the twin overhead camshaft. Several changes were made to the new turbodiesel engine to boost performance and engine torque at low speeds, and to eliminate noise and vibration. For example, the ‘Common Rail’ system adopted on the 2.4 JTDm 20-valve engine envisages two new automatic control strategies for the setting and balance of the injected diesel fuel, to reduce noise and vibration.
 

The engine includes a number of new components, such as the cylinder head with small stem inlet valves to increase the quantity of inlet air, con rods of fractured steel and a new shape that increases mechanical resistance to the strong stress created by the increased power, an inlet manifold fitted with a throttle valve on one of the two inlet ports of the cylinders to control the turbulence of the air entering, a throttle valve to prevent shaking when the engine is turned off, and an intercooler that is highly efficient thanks to its shape and position in the car, to guarantee the optimal temperature and density of the inlet air.

The electronic EGR exhaust gas cooling system has also been modified; the lubricating circuit has a new oil pump and an external air/oil heat exchanger to cool the oil, while the water pump on the cooling circuit is also new. In other words, a long list of improvements and changes that have produced a reliable, powerful engine which is sparing on fuel. Excellent results, achieved thanks to different engine control settings, an increase in the direct injection pressure to 1600 bar, and new turboblower settings.

The turboboost is provided by a turboblower with a variable geometry turbo that helps to improve power delivery, but also generates very high torque even at low engine speeds. In fact, 90% of peak torque is available between 1750 and 3500 rpm, figures that translate into extremely enjoyable driving and brilliant performance.