A TRUE Italian sports car developed specifically for Britain's roads?

Believe it, now that motorsports specialist Prodrive has worked its magic on a new, limited edition, the Alfa Brera S.

The car has just spent a year in development at Prodrive's headquarters, in Banbury, to get the right kind of driver feedback and handling needed for Britain's demanding, often badly-maintained, roads.

Prodrive was briefed by Alfa Romeo to make the Alfa Brera S less of a long-distance tourer, and more sporty on UK roads, leading the engineering team to develop a unique suspension set-up.

The team experimented with spring rates and ride heights to match the reduced weight of the 2008 model Brera.

Prodrive's Peter Cambridge says the result is "a car that shrinks around the driver".

Mr Cambridge said the Brera delivered all the fun and engagement of a sports car driving experience on A- and B-roads, but still offered a composed ride on motorways.

He said that the sports car driving experience was achieved by reducing roll and pitch, flattening the cornering attitude, and instilling the Alfa with confidence-inspiring steering.

"Painstaking work with the springs set-up controls exactly how much the car pitches and rolls with every lump, bump, camber and pothole on our roads," he says.

"Then we developed the dampers to control the rate at which the springs respond.

"Once we were satisfied with that, we set about really affecting the feel and response of the steering to inspire confidence."

In a nutshell, spring rates are increased by over 50 per cent compared to the standard Alfa Brera, giving the car a more nimble and agile feel. The specially tuned gas-filled mono-tube dampers give tighter body control.

The Brera S is imported from the firm's Italian home to Alfa Romeo UK's dedicated import centre near Bristol, where the specialist conversion work is overseen by Prodrive.

There is a choice of two direct-injection petrol engines, a 185 horsepower 2.2-litre, or the 260 horsepower 3.2-litre V6, and prices range from £24,950 to £28,450.

Adding lighter components in the UK has also seen the Brera S limited edition models come in lower than the rest of the more standard range, and the engines have a deeper growl, too, thanks to work on the rear silencers.

The 3.2-litre version gets a special leather interior, which can be specified for the 2.2-litre model, too, and the Prodrive logo can be seen on front stone deflectors.

Performance figures for the Alfa Brera S stand at 0-62mph in 8.6 seconds for the 2.2, and at seven seconds for the 3.2 V6, with their respective maximum speeds at 139mph and 155mph.

Marketing director at Alfa Romeo UK, Nicholas Bernard, said: "The Alfa Brera S isn't simply about brute force, it's about how the available power is transferred to the road, and how the road surface is communicated back to the driver to bring new levels of sports handling and driver-focused confidence and involvement."

He added: "The standard Brera delivers a great all-round driving experience.

"But the Alfa Brera S is honed, tuned, and fettled for British roads and is aimed directly at a dedicated audience of driving enthusiasts."