Someone on the Autopareri forums managed to get a couple of snapshots of an Alfa Romeo 159 GTA test mule.

In the photo from the front you can get a tantalizing glance of the red cylinder heads, typical of Ferrari and Maserati V8s, transversely mounted. The photo of the rear shows four oval exhaust tubes.

There are some doubts about the precise nature of the engine in this test mule: some details seem to point to a bi-turbo version of the Holden-derived 3.2 V6, which was supposed to equip the first mules of the 159 GTA, but was subsequently rejected (too much torque for the transmission) in favor of a V8.

The Ferrari/Maserati-derived V8 engine should weigh just 20 kg more than the 3.2 V6 of the 159, and 30 kg less than trhe 2.4 JTDm turbo-diesel engine, and rumours about the GTA say that it should weigh 7/8% less than the 159 3.2 V6 Q4, with which it shares the four-wheel drive system, with a 65% bias to the rear for torque distribution.

Below the fold you can also find a couple of images of the 4.7 V8 engine of the 8C Competizione and of the 4.2 V8 engine of the Maserati Quattroporte. The question is: which one of these will the V8 of the GTA resemble most ?

Update: added a new image of the engine and corrected the text of the post to reflect doubts on the precise nature of the engine.