166, the Thesis was designed with its own chassis. The car was fitted with a "complicated multi-arm aluminium-intensive suspension at both ends, augmented by Mannesmann Sachs 'Skyhook' adaptive dampers" which were also used on the Maserati Spyder. It was also the first Lancia with radar adaptive cruise control (by Bosch). Describing the driving quality, Horrell wrote: "You can tell it's a heavy car, but there's no distress in letting this [test car with the V6 engine] build up a gentle sweat. Its autobox is attentive and smooth. The engine, though quieter than in any Alfa, is all you hear because road and wind noise have been quashed. Ditto rattles. This is a tight ship." The Thesis' ride is just terrific. It swallows big lumps, whatever your speed. Yet there's no heaving in distress; the adjustable dampers keep body motion in check. They're even better when the stress is lateral; considering the pillowy straight-line character, cornering roll is amazingly well-controlled." The main criticism was the steering which was considered by Horrell to be too light, and the slight tendency to understeer leading to intrusion of the ESP system. In conclusion, CAR's Horrell summed up the Thesis as being "far more accurate and even agile than it has any right to be." CAR's view was that the Thesis was a dignified expression of Lancia's brand values, then. "Imagine a Rover 95 and you would be spookily close. It's a scary thought: two brands that refuse to be youthful or sporty, two brands that have underperformed." Other suggestions were that the car was a good product in the wrong market place. In this view, it would have been better to offer a vehicle in the Mondeo price range rather than the more conservative sector contested by the Mercedes E-Class and BMW 5 Series. The Thesis is equipped with 6-speed manual or 5-speed automatic "Comfortronic" (not for 2.0) gearboxes. The interior was trimmed with leather or the suede-like Alcantara material long favoured by Lancia. CAR's verdict was that "If Lancia can be turned around this is the car for the job." Despite its very comprehensive equipment level and the improved fit and finish, sales remained well behind its predecessor, the Kappa, quite far behind the competition and finally the model was discontinued at the beginning of 2009, after only 16,000 units built. The Thesis was replaced in 2011 by a new flagship sedan, based