RE: Alfa Romeo '5 Series' planned
Discussion
veevee said:
Won't sell any. Too many other decent competitors. Stick to small, efficient and faux sporty.
If it looks good and has a half decent ride, I would buy one. There are some of us who still believe that there is more to life than efficient dynamics, vorsprung durch technic and any other old cobblers designed to make boring metal sound exciting. And we'll put our money where our mouth is, notwithstanding crap MPG, high CO2 and s
t residuals. In the land that time forgot, I believe it was called being a petrolhead..SprintSpeciale said:
If it looks good and has a half decent ride, I would buy one. There are some of us who still believe that there is more to life than efficient dynamics, vorsprung durch technic and any other old cobblers designed to make boring metal sound exciting. And we'll put our money where our mouth is, notwithstanding crap MPG, high CO2 and st residuals. In the land that time forgot, I believe it was called being a petrolhead..
About 20 years ago, maybe. But current safety and emissions regs mean that any new Alfa will have a droning four pot, a raft of diesels, FWD, over servoed brake and soft feel plastics as well as generic 'beaufiful' Alfa styling so that buyers can 'stand out from the crowd*'.t residuals. In the land that time forgot, I believe it was called being a petrolhead..Sadly, the days when Alfas were exciting have long gone so you can forget about the howl of a V6 or the sound of a pair of 40DCOE's, a mechanical feeling gearchange, odd driving postion or comedy instruments - the stuff that made an Alfa really different. Cars like the Sud, Alfetta, 75 etc, cars you didn't exactly buy for their incredible good looks but because of what they were under the skin. Sadly, 2013's car buyer doesn't give a s
t.- Because that is SO important now.
iSore said:
About 20 years ago, maybe. But current safety and emissions regs mean that any new Alfa will have a droning four pot, a raft of diesels, FWD, over servoed brake and soft feel plastics as well as generic 'beaufiful' Alfa styling so that buyers can 'stand out from the crowd*'.
Sadly, the days when Alfas were exciting have long gone so you can forget about the howl of a V6 or the sound of a pair of 40DCOE's, a mechanical feeling gearchange, odd driving postion or comedy instruments - the stuff that made an Alfa really different. Cars like the Sud, Alfetta, 75 etc, cars you didn't exactly buy for their incredible good looks but because of what they were under the skin. Sadly, 2013's car buyer doesn't give a st.
The topic of conversation was whether a large, V6 powered, rear-wheel drive Alfa would sell or not. I wouldn't buy one if it was a front wheel drive diesel, but that was not the premise.Sadly, the days when Alfas were exciting have long gone so you can forget about the howl of a V6 or the sound of a pair of 40DCOE's, a mechanical feeling gearchange, odd driving postion or comedy instruments - the stuff that made an Alfa really different. Cars like the Sud, Alfetta, 75 etc, cars you didn't exactly buy for their incredible good looks but because of what they were under the skin. Sadly, 2013's car buyer doesn't give a s
t.- Because that is SO important now.
And as a regular driver of a Giulietta Cloverleaf (as well as a 50 year old Alfa), I can confirm that the awful driving position and comedy instruments live on.
SprintSpeciale said:
veevee said:
Won't sell any. Too many other decent competitors. Stick to small, efficient and faux sporty.
If it looks good and has a half decent ride, I would buy one. There are some of us who still believe that there is more to life than efficient dynamics, vorsprung durch technic and any other old cobblers designed to make boring metal sound exciting. And we'll put our money where our mouth is, notwithstanding crap MPG, high CO2 and st residuals. In the land that time forgot, I believe it was called being a petrolhead..One would hope that they would then use the RWD platform to kick the ruined Lancia/Chryser 300 into touch as that is now fairly laughable in it's price bracket though it would probably just rob sales from the Alfa so maybe they could just drop it.
infradig said:
Just keep your fingers crossed they don't use the Fiat groups other rwd, 5series sized, 'executive' V6 diesel as the basis for the Alfa. I love mine but it would be a travesty of an Arna scale to use 1990's Merc underpinnings on an Alfa.
They will most likely base it on the new Maserati Ghibli k-ink said:
It will no doubt be lovely. It will be well built. It won't rust. It won't go wrong, just like all the Alfa's I've previously owned - both new and old. Then people who have never owned an Alfa on here will moan that it will not be well built and it will rust. Then they will go and buy diesel BMWs like everyone else. I'll avoid this thread as it will be 99% BS as per usual form.
Now ain't that the truth. I do get bored of all this b****cks spouted about how unreliable Alfa Romeo's are. Like you, i've had 6 in total and enjoyed all of them for different reasons. Build quality might not quite have been up to Mercedes (when merc still built cars properly) but it was always way better than any ford, vauxhall, volvo or indeed jaguar that i've ever owned.And for doubters about sales appeal. As a boring exec type who needs a family sized car to eat up the motorway my choices today are 5 series or E class.... Maybe an A6?
here's to my new Alfa Romeo then. A car i will be proud to get out of, a car that i will love because of the way it makes me feel. A car that i will buy not giving a flying **** what the neighbours think about it.
LuS1fer said:
Wow, is 190hp all the V6 3.0 produced?
No, 190 is what my old V plate 166 with a 2.5 V6 produces.I would expect a 2008 car to have the later injection system as well as the extra half a litre, so ~220 sounds about right. Mind you, I thought the later models were 3.2l 240bhp, so not sure what is happening with that one in the advert.
They also create a lovely noise and a big grin all the way up to 7K rpm, not bad for a cheap barge
Pr1964 said:
Maybe if they could build one with BMW Audi or Mercedes underpinnings ......
Otherwise forget it would just be another fragile unreliable half arsed saloon.
'fragile unreliable and half arsed' eh? I've had 5 164s and 2 166s (oh, and 3 156s and a GT), in which I've covered about 1/3 of a million miles. In all that time, apart from a few punctures, the only problem I had was with a battery failing.Otherwise forget it would just be another fragile unreliable half arsed saloon.
The battery was German, btw.
I'm guessing that any car that looked like a nicer and more modern Rapide, with Maserati underpinnings, is going to be selling in the £50k+ area. It is a gorgeous thing and would go well, but in this UK premium market, the company car driver is king and how many Purchasing Fleet Managers are going to stick their necks out to buy an Alfa for the Marketing Manager when the prediction of residuals is so poor.
I hope it will still happen, because I like the design of the concept - but Mr Marchionne changes his mind as often as his underwear and currently he is under pressure to get ANY sales going, let alone a niche premium saloon. I could be dead before it comes to fruition.
I owned a 159 from new for 18 months - a diesel, and in spite of its dramatic looks it was a well built, nicely trimmed but dynamically quite average car, and a faint shadow of the 156 I'd owned a few years earlier. It is a sad fact that Alfa saloons have been neutered by the demands of emissions and safety, and are not nearly as sporting as they should and could be.
I hope it will still happen, because I like the design of the concept - but Mr Marchionne changes his mind as often as his underwear and currently he is under pressure to get ANY sales going, let alone a niche premium saloon. I could be dead before it comes to fruition.
I owned a 159 from new for 18 months - a diesel, and in spite of its dramatic looks it was a well built, nicely trimmed but dynamically quite average car, and a faint shadow of the 156 I'd owned a few years earlier. It is a sad fact that Alfa saloons have been neutered by the demands of emissions and safety, and are not nearly as sporting as they should and could be.
Edited by ukmike2000 on Tuesday 26th March 18:16
funwithrevs said:
No, 190 is what my old V plate 166 with a 2.5 V6 produces.
I would expect a 2008 car to have the later injection system as well as the extra half a litre, so ~220 sounds about right. Mind you, I thought the later models were 3.2l 240bhp, so not sure what is happening with that one in the advert.
They also create a lovely noise and a big grin all the way up to 7K rpm, not bad for a cheap barge
The Sportronics only ever had the 3.0 V6 IIRC. The 3.2 in the facelift cars was only ever available in manual.I would expect a 2008 car to have the later injection system as well as the extra half a litre, so ~220 sounds about right. Mind you, I thought the later models were 3.2l 240bhp, so not sure what is happening with that one in the advert.
They also create a lovely noise and a big grin all the way up to 7K rpm, not bad for a cheap barge
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