Alfa's. Someone explain to me....

[Bebee]

Racing history, and I like the chrome pipes under the bonnet, this has to be the best looking estate ever made:

[Ali_T]

MarkwG said:

- off topic, Civic Vti owner too? Loved ours, great engine, beautiful handling, pretty car with a practical side! Reminded me of an...Alfa, maybe...? Would still have it, were it not for some old f4rt in a Clio

Absolutely. Brilliant little hatch, and such a magical little engine. Could even forgive it the corduroy seat coverings! Far better than the later Civic Type R I owned which was just disappointing.

Edited by Ali_T on Thursday 26th March 19:10

[Ali_T]

Bebee said:

Racing history, and I like the chrome pipes under the bonnet, this has to be the best looking estate ever made:

Oh yes!

[errek72]

Plipton said:

White ones are faster than black ones (even the ones with the steering wheel on the passenger side). Red ones are faster still ... especially when they are not actually moving

There's a mathematic certainty that the majority of owners will agree with you.

[MarkwG]

Ali_T said:

MarkwG said:

- off topic, Civic Vti owner too? Loved ours, great engine, beautiful handling, pretty car with a practical side! Reminded me of an...Alfa, maybe...? Would still have it, were it not for some old f4rt in a Clio

Absolutely. Brilliant little hatch, and such a magical little engine. Could even forgive it the cordurouy seat coverings! Far better than the later Civic Type R I owned which was just disappointing.

Agreed, really fun motor - wife loved it too, which was nice. (We dodged the corduroy, black leather ). After it was written off, she wanted something the same, but bigger - hence a 156 V6 SW (man maths is a wonderful thing!) - so here we are in Alfaville

[Ali_T]

My man maths decided the VTi was costing too much to run and decided that a 33 P4 would be soooo much cheaper. That worked well...haha! In hindsight, when I turned up to Ramponis to buy the 33, I should have bought the mint 75 3.0 V6 Cloverleaf with less, miles, same age, same price and not an ex-lease car. But we live and learn!

[Mound Dawg]

MarkwG said:

I didn't appreciate we're into a 0-60 sec p155ing contest, though: those numbers mean nothing.

We're not, that's why we drive Alfa Romeos.

[SturdyHSV]

zygalski said:

OLooking at some of the specs

There's your problem, stop using your head to buy a car

Use your heart (or your trouser area...)

THEN you'll end up in an Alfa

[bqf]

Oilchange said:

a little update here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Scuderia_F...

coetzeeh said:

bqf said:

Oilchange said:

I think Enzo Ferrari raced them before he made his own cars...

Edited by Oilchange on Saturday 7th March 18:13[/footnote]

Oh lordy...don't they do history at school any more

Do tell us more!

[footnote]Edited by Oilchange on Sunday 8th March 16:58

You've been totally whooshed there fella

[Oilchange]

it appears so, serves me right for jumping between topics and not reading between the lines. Still, life goes on...

[caelite]

I genuinely dont see the appeal. They are just glorified fiats with dodgy electronics and cheese metal mechanics... I had to sell my 147 TS only 5 months ago for a sensible Skoda when the gearbox disintigrated and yet now im looking at V6 GTVs. Dont buy one or you will never be able to settle for a "sensible" car ever again.

Also if anyonea looking to sell a v6 gtv or spider in red. Drop me a PM lol.

[Bebee]

Did you just contradict yourself?

[caelite]

Bebee said:

Did you just contradict yourself?

Yes. They are terrible cars and there is no reason to own one. But I need another.

[Benzo26]

caelite said:

I genuinely dont see the appeal. They are just glorified fiats with dodgy electronics and cheese metal mechanics... I had to sell my 147 TS only 5 months ago for a sensible Skoda when the gearbox disintigrated and yet now im looking at V6 GTVs. Dont buy one or you will never be able to settle for a "sensible" car ever again.

Also if anyonea looking to sell a v6 gtv or spider in red. Drop me a PM lol.

Are the electrics not German in the form of Bosch equipment? At least the more modern ones use them anyway.

[errek72]

Benzo26 said:

Are the electrics not German in the form of Bosch equipment? At least the more modern ones use them anyway.

The only thing that refused to work properly in my GTV6 was the German clock. It was accurate but very loud and unpleasant. Typical really.

[Evoluzione]

Oilchange said:

it appears so, serves me right for jumping between topics and not reading between the lines. Still, life goes on...

Research the Lancia D50 story and then you'll gain a better picture of who and what put Ferrari on the map.

[zygalski]

So apart from the electrics, the only thing to really worry about are the mechanicals?

[MarkwG]

zygalski said:

So apart from the electrics, the only thing to really worry about are the mechanicals?

You don't really need to worry about either: there are rogue cars, & known issues, but most of them are related to the cars age, these days. There are good specialists that know how to deal with both. With buying Alfas, the thing to worry about would be the main dealer who's worked on it...

[Oilchange]

In my experience the thing to worry about with Alfas is the previous owner who has completely neglected the car

[exgtt]

With my 156 v6 it was the quick steering, great gear change, responsive engine and suspension that coped pretty well when pressing on at under 80%. This is where the car spent its life so was a joy to drive. Over 80% and its suspension and brakes were easily overwhelmed, so I just enjoyed it for what it was.

Still remember that 2 turns lock to lock steering, fabulous.

I had a ford probe 16v for a month or so, and the 156 was sat on the drive, got back into the Alfa a month later with a bloody huge grin.