LIFE BEGINS AT 170 – that means 170 bhp. This used to be a saying among motoring journalist not so many years ago, when cars like Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo and Opel Omage 3000 (Vauxhall Carlsson) with either 12 or 24 valves were hot stuff. Have a look at the sport saloons coming up – and you know, that nowaday life begins much much later. At 211 – or 250...

We are sports car drivers at our site, but we are looking forward to have fun – and a lot of comfort – driving this trio: Alfa Romeo 156 GTA, Ford Mondeo ST220 and Opel Vectra GTS.
We know what a splendid combination of steering response and comfort the 156 2.0 gives, with a lot more power, torque and much more rubber this car simply must handle like a sport scar. We remember the former ST200 and the sportiest version of Vectra V6 – both were fast handling cars – both with a lack of torque at the middle.

The new Mondeo NE (Normal Edition) is sharp at the steering wheel, Opel promises handling in Mondeo class, these information make us believe the ST220 and Vectra GTS both are great handling cars and with 3.0 and 3.2 litre they both are probably strong from the very bottom.

FACTS
· 156 / ST220 / GTS
· Sport saloon / Sports saloon / Sport Saloon
· Front-wheel drive / Front-wheel drive / Front-wheel drive
· V6 / V6 / V6
· 3.2 litre / 3.0 litre / 3.2 litre
· 250 bhp / 220 bhp / 211 bhp
· 310 Nm / 275 Nm / 300 Nm
· 250 km/h / 243 km/h / 246 km/h
· 225/45 x 17 / 225/40 x 18 / n.a.
· Spring / Geneva / Geneva

The coming Sports Saloons are up against:
1. Audi A4 3.0 Quatrro, 220 bhp
2. BMW 330 Ci Coupé and saloon, 231 bhp
3. Honda Accord Type-R, 212 bhp
4. Jaguar X-type 3.0, 234 bhp
5. Saab 9-5 Turbo Aero, 2.3, 250 bhp
6. Volvo S60 T5, 2.3, 250 bhp
7. VW Bora V6 4Motion, 2.8, 204 bhp

Images
Alfa Romeo 156 GTA, saloon and Sportwagon, Opel Vectra saloon, Ford Mondeo ST220 saloon and estate