I DARE you not to fall in love with this car.

Just look at it - curves everywhere, a road-hugging stance and a face that's guaranteed to create a stir in the supermarket car park.

Alfa Romeo is no stranger to making good-looking cars. Such visual shock tactics are usually the preserve of big, showy supercars, but this time it's something costing the right side of £20,000 that's causing the commotion.

From a nose peppered with racy, mesh-type air intakes and the company's trademark grille, your eyes are drawn upwards along the GT's shapely bonnet, past the bulging wheelarches, up and over the perfectly-proportioned cabin area and down to a stubby tail punctuated by slivers of red that act as tail lights and reflectors.

If you get this far without being seduced by the car's suggestively sculptured waistline you've done well.

Despite its pretty clothes, Alfa is pitching the GT as a sporting coup for buyers keen to match day-to-day usability with more than a hint of corner-clipping prowess.

Being based on the firm's 156 helps the GT's cause no end; the car's front-drive chassis has always offered a decent blend of agility and refinement, although ultimately erring on the firm side as it strives to deliver an experience close to that of its German rivals.

With the GT, Alfa engineers have revised the chassis' damper, spring and anti-roll bar settings, introducing more compliance and better bump absorption. The changes have been made to make the car easy to drive swiftly over undulating and harsh surfaces but, thankfully, not at the expense of excessive bodyroll.

Key to making the GT shine on the road is engine choice. Alfa's now familiar two-litre, 165bhp JTS petrol unit is present, along with the firm's tuneful 3.2-litre, 240bhp V6 motor. But guess which one Alfa bosses reckon will be the most popular? Neither, as gatecrashing the petrol party is the company's 16-valve, 1.9-litre JTD diesel.

In the real world, the 150bhp oil-burner would be my weapon of choice over the two consumers of unleaded. In-gear acceleration in the diesel GT is, to say the least, rapid and more than enough to stave off the advances of all but the most determined of boy racers. This performance is largely due to a Tarmac-shredding 225lb/ft of torque at a lowly 2,000rpm - a figure that's only a few digits off that of a Porsche Boxster's output.

The engine's flexibility aside, the other great reason for choosing JTD over JTS is fuel consumption. In the former you can hoon around for hours and still have plenty left in the tank for the journey home. The latter, despite sounding like something plucked from a racetrack when pushed hard, cannot match the JTD's fast yet frugal performance. That said, if you've got money to burn or someone else is paying, it's got to be the V6 every time.

But back to the diesel, the option that delivers ample pleasure with none of the pain associated with oil burning motors. You're likely to have to throttle back for fear of head-butting the horizon - such is the car's willingness to streak away on the merest hint of throttle. And all this can often be done in a gear higher than usual - the ratios being sensibly spaced and more suited to maintaining higher average speeds than matching the JTS model's hooligan point-and-squirt demeanour.

Whichever one you choose, you'll be thankful for the plethora of clever traction aids busy doing their stuff to keep you on the straight and narrow.

The car's ability to cover all the relevant bases also stretches to its cabin. It's all pure Alfa, even down to the hooded main dials and soothing red digits of the trip computer. Front occupants will have no problems; space is generous and the sports seats, trimmed in a curious "Alfatex" fabric on the JTD and JTS, are supportive. Access to the rear is by the usual folding seat method.

Once installed, the aft cabin feels snug. Children will fit no bother, but adults might not want to travel too far as legroom is at a premium. By way of compensation, the GT's boot is a generous size and the rear seats split and fold 60/40 to accommodate awkward loads.

And the catch? What catch?

For more information, call your local Alfa Romeo dealer Alan Gibson on 01256 355221.