Eight years ago, in a confrontation between the then new Alfa Romeo GTV and a BMW 320i, I put my neck on the block and declared that Italy had won against Germany one-nil. It was a bold decision because in truth the pure emotional experience of sitting in the Alfa, hearing its engine at full throttle and feeling totally enclosed by the short windscreen all added up to a more thrilling and special experience than being in the BMW, even though dynamically the 320i probably had the edge.

So here we are about to drive a facelifted and re-worked Alfa Romeo GTV and Spider, wondering whether a similarly emotionally-biased judgement will, eight years later, give the cars a similarly enthusiastic thumbs-up. Actually, make that 'car' singular because I've never been a fan of the Spider. Not because for me it is as attractive as a coal scuttle, but for its usefulness as a teaching aid when describing scuttle-shake and chassis flex. The GTV is still a great-looking car. The same-aged Fiat Coupe has dated terribly but its big Alfa cousin has aged well and this facelift has improved it still further.

Both coupe and Spider get the slatted Lector-mask grille from the 147, slightly larger headlamps (though you'd be hard pushed to notice) and reshaped bonnet plus new design 16in alloy wheels and several new paint colours. Inside, the most obvious change is a new centre console panel in silver, which works very well. It might be eight years old, but the interior still looks smart, good quality and very intimate.

Under those bonnets sit two new engines. First, the 2-litre JTS direct-injection motor that's already used in the 147 and has 161bhp at 6400rpm and 152lb ft of torque at 3250rpm. Then there's a new version of the gorgeous 24-valve V6, up from the original 3 litres to 3.2 litres. The extra capacity has come from a longer stroke crankshaft which, along with re-designed pistons, intake and exhaust ports, and re-mapped software, brings power up to 235bhp at 6200rpm with 213lb ft at 4800rpm. Enough, Alfa claims, to give the GTV a top speed of just under 160mph, which makes it the fastest road-going Alfa in history.

As usual with Alfa Romeo launches it's a confused bunfight and we find that the Swiss hacks have done a moody with the V6 GTVs, leaving us with the choice of a 2-litre JTS-powered GTV and a V6 Spider. The current 2-litre Twin Spark engine will also go into the facelifted cars as an entry-level model but there aren't any at the launch and they'll be introduced into the UK after the JTS and V6-powered models. One questions the need for it at all, in fact.

We take the JTS GTV. Sitting in a GTV feels like sitting in a normal saloon wearing a full-face crash helmet. The windscreen header rail is so low and the windscreen so shallow that you get a real 'looking through a letterbox' sensation. I like it. No other car gives you this view and it's what makes driving the GTV a special experience. Alfa's engineers have jiggled about with the seat mountings, which has lowered the driving position to make it more comfortable. Hard to tell if this has succeeded because although the leather seats in this car look fabulous they're very uncomfortable. The lumbar support seems to be in totally the wrong part of the seatback.

Just how uncomfortable we'll not find out on this short blast on the country roads around Pininfarina's Turin R&D centre (Pininfarina has built both the GTV and Spider for Alfa since 2000). The JTS engine doesn't sound quite as throaty as Alfa fours past, but that's modern regulations. It still sounds better than most other four-cylinder engines. And it comes with a five-speed gearbox (the V6 cars have six-speeders) that has closer ratios than the 2.0 TS's 'box and a shorter final drive. The 165bhp JTS needs two gearchanges to reach 60mph while the 150bhp TS needs only one, which is why the latter posts a quicker 0-60mph figure despite being down on power.

Photographer Andy Morgan and I are following another pair of pen and camera men in a V6 Spider and it's not too difficult to keep up in the less powerful GTV. Alfa's chassis engineers have played around with the spring and damper rates on both GTVs (the V6 also gets a thicker anti-roll bar). The GTV's handling is by no means at the cutting edge of front-drive chassis, but there's barely a hint of torque-steer and the steering has plenty of feel and feedback. Soon we go off the designated rest route and find a brilliant few kilometres of sweeping Italian country road that suit Morgan's lens and the GTV's dynamics. The car feels at its best on fast sweeping corners rather than being hustled quickly into tight hairpins.

We swap into the Spider. The open Alfa is so different from its closed brother that you're best considering them as totally different cars. I can see why it wasn't difficult to keep up with the Spider in the lower-powered GTV. The Spider feels soft at the front, which it needs to be. There's no point in giving a car a very stiff suspension set-up if the chassis flexes so much that the geometry is never constant anyway. Better to use a supple set-up to absorb bumps rather than transmit them through the chassis and exacerbate the problem of body-flex.

The Spider is a cruiser, perfect for top-down driving under a hot Italian sun in beautiful scenery. The new V6 sounds as good as usual but it's really there to add to the experience with its soundtrack, rather than its performance. The JTS engine, or the 2.0TS for that matter, is all that's needed in the Spider. That I find it ugly is irrelevant. If you've always liked the look of the Spider then I'm sure you still will because, like the GTV, it hasn't dated either and is improved with the facelift.

The Swiss are back with the 3.2-litre GTV. Apart from its tail badges you can spot the six-cylinder GTV from its red Brembo brake callipers. This is the evo GTV. Flip the bonnet and there's that fabulous V6 with chrome intake runners and the sound that you know lies within.

One hour until our plane leaves. Morgan is busy snapping fag lighters and badges. It's just me and the GTV. For scientific accuracy I head straight back to those few kilometres of twisting fast roads that we visited earlier in lesser-powered GTV and the less able Spider. I can feel the science slipping away and the emotional judging scale coming in. You need this engine in the GTV. Surprisingly, it feels much more potent than it does in the Spider even though they are identical and the Spider weighs only another 25kg (though of course I am on my own this time, with no camera kit and the Spider did have the electric roof option). I'm sure the real reason for this difference in perceived performance is that in the GTV you are inspired to use it, whereas in the softer Spider one is happy to just cruise along at six-tenths.

Even the gearshift feels more tight and precise in the GTV. You know how it happens: sometimes you just get that perfect 20 minutes when every heel-and-toe movement is crisp and sure and every blip on the throttle accurate and properly timed. This is one of those moments. We're well past six-tenths now.

As with the JTS, the V6 GTV is happiest on fast open corners. For tight turns it's best to go in slow and punch the throttle at the apex. The GTV's ASR cuts wheelspin and stems torque-steer without feeling as though it's stealing power away.

There's only one problem and that's the brakes. It takes more than gloss red paint and big callipers to make a good braking system. After a few very heavy braking moments into tight corners the pedal becomes unpredictable. You have to press a lot harder and the bite point keeps moving.
Perhaps running in close company with the best of the best, across punishing Yorkshire moorland roads, the GTV V6 3.2 will pale a bit. But here, with the slide rule left at home, the GTV is every bit as seductive and desirable as it was in 1995.