Development
The Alfa Romeo 159 had a troubled development, being designed in the midst of the Fiat-General Motors joint venture which was terminated in 2005. Originally the 159 was intended to use GM's Epsilon platform, however late during its development it was changed to the GM/Fiat Premium platform. (The Premium platform is more refined and expensive, being intended for E-segment executive cars such as an Alfa Romeo 166 successor but that never materialized, so Alfa Romeo attempted to recoup some of the platform development costs with the 159. General Motors originally planned Cadillac, Buick and Saab models for this platform but ending up discarded them over cost concerns.) Unfortunately, the 159's late transition to what was fundamentally made as an E-segment platform resulted in the 159 having excessive weight, a problem shared by its sisters, the Alfa Romeo Brera coupe and Spider convertible. In 2008, changes made to the interior, dashboard, instruments and materials, and aluminium components were introduced, which reduced kerb weight by 45 kilograms (99 lb).
As a result of its executive car platform, the 159 is larger than its predecessor at 4660 millimetres (183.4 in) long some 225 mm (8.9 in) longer than the Alfa 156, 1828 mm (71.9 in) wide and 1417 mm (55.7 in) high. The 159's size made it considerably more comfortable than the 156 due to its larger roomy interior. However the considerable growth in dimensions deterred many 156 owners from considering the 159 as a direct replacement model.
Due to the sophisticated Premium platform that the 159 is based upon, high level of passive safety was achieved, and the torsional rigidity of the chassis is one of the best in this category at 180.000 daNm/rad.
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