Brera or GT

Author
Discussion

Fatrat

Original Poster:

682 posts

190 months

Thursday 23rd February 2017
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I'm looking at a Brera or GT as a daily driver.

My budget is about £8K max and I'd like to get something with about 50K on the clock

As a daily driver it needs to be reliable (yes I know its an Alfa!) so what experiences can any current owners share?

Thanks

Johnny 89

824 posts

151 months

Thursday 23rd February 2017
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What engines are you considering?

Nigel_O

2,858 posts

218 months

Thursday 23rd February 2017
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Brera is a more refined drive, but it's not as precise or agile as the GT

The Brera 2.4 diesel is characterful, but thirsty. It maps to 250bhp quite easily. The petrol Breras are less desirable. The JTS is unloved and the 3.2 V6 is just a GM lump with none of the character of the old Alfa Busso

The GT is a surprisingly practical car - huge with the rear seats down. Less refined than the Breara, especially the 4-pot diesel - economical though. The V6 is highly desirable and already appreciating in price.

My own GT has 220,000 miles on it and still goes well and returns high 40s mpg

You'll get a superb GT cloverleaf in your budget - 170bhp as stock, mappable nearly 200. Make sure you get one with a Q2 diff

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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a 2.4 JTD Brera is probably the most reliable choice you can make, bombproof and characterful (for a derv) engine, and the brera/159 was again a step up in build quality from the 147/156/GT generation.

The downside, the 159/brera are a good bit heavier, and swap dynamic handling for cruising comfort, and as said, the brera doesnt have a lot of interesting engine options. Petrol wise, only the late models with the 1750 lump would be on my list. The 2.2 JTS has timing chain issues, the 3.2 JTS V6 is reliable, but heavy and doesnt stand up to the busso V6 of the GT.

It all really depends on what kind of miles you will be doing, and what kind of expectations you have in terms of comfort/driving fun, Id want a (v6) GT myself for my current use (~8K per year), but for mostly highway journeys, a diesel brera would probably be a much nicer way to travel.

Fatrat

Original Poster:

682 posts

190 months

Friday 24th February 2017
quotequote all
Thanks.

I guess something like this

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

Or this

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

My daily commute is about 20 minutes each way and about an hour each way once a week plus some weekend driving. I have an Elise for sunny and twisty roads! What I need is something fun and sort of practical. It also needs to be reliable and I guess that is my main concern about an Alfa. If it's done 50K mikes or so does that mean the problems have been resolved or about to manifest themselves?

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Fatrat said:
Thanks.

I guess something like this

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

Or this

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/a...

My daily commute is about 20 minutes each way and about an hour each way once a week plus some weekend driving. I have an Elise for sunny and twisty roads! What I need is something fun and sort of practical. It also needs to be reliable and I guess that is my main concern about an Alfa. If it's done 50K mikes or so does that mean the problems have been resolved or about to manifest themselves?
Id get the GT then, or possibly look into a 147/156 GTA if you need a bit more practicality.

As for mileage etc.. DO check the cam-belt, and dont just look at miles, look at years as well, and make sure it is done on the GT (or GTA). The term is 75K miles OR 3 YEARS, which ever comes first. The V6 in the brera uses a chain i believe.

What could be a problem for the GT (at any mileage), is the front upper wishbones, those often wear on that type of car (same for 156/147s), and will problably need to be replaced a few times over the cars life

MarshPhantom

9,658 posts

136 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Really not a fan of the Brera's styling but the GT looks great.

kev b

2,708 posts

165 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Drive before you buy, the 5 pot Brera is really nose heavy which puts me off.

Low speed driving will block up the intakes with carbon from the egr, a pig of a job to clean out as removing the manifold is time consuming, you can delete the egr but it needs specialist mapping to keep the mil out.

Subframes can rot through surprisingly quickly, (exchange units are available) the suspension as a whole seems vulnerable to rust. The fancy alloy monobloc six piston front calipers will seize their pins if neglegted which is another time consuming task at pad change time.

I wouldn't consider any Alfa unless I was able to work on it myself or could afford a proper nearby specialist to look after it.

Sorry to be a bit negative, a good Alfa is a joy to drive but you need to go in with your eyes open.

Pooh

3,692 posts

252 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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I did 105k miles in my Brerea S 2.2 and loved it. I drove it very hard but it was very reliable, the only issue I had was a new timing chain at 96k miles, when I sold it, it had no rattles or squeaks and was almost entirely original, I think I only replaced two drop link bushes and the brake pads.
The GT is very nice but in terms of build quality, reliability and crash safety the Brera is vastly superior.
Alfa made significant improvements to the Brera over its lifetime so I would go for the newest one you can afford, the ones with the new style seats are the best, they are a fair bit lighter and have aluminium suspension components which help the ride and handling a lot.

Evanivitch

19,800 posts

121 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Owned an Alfa GT 2.0JTS. loved it, but...

Eats wishbone bushings, eats front tyres (inner edge wear is typical), timing belt interval was pathetic (36k, I believe V6 was the exception with original 75k still recommend) and build quality was a bit hear and there.

Great place to be though, boot was a good size and rear seats would take a 6ft passenger for half hour or so humanely.

V6Alfisti

3,305 posts

226 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Nigel_O said:
Brera is a more refined drive, but it's not as precise or agile as the GT

The Brera 2.4 diesel is characterful, but thirsty. It maps to 250bhp quite easily. The petrol Breras are less desirable. The JTS is unloved and the 3.2 V6 is just a GM lump with none of the character of the old Alfa Busso

The GT is a surprisingly practical car - huge with the rear seats down. Less refined than the Breara, especially the 4-pot diesel - economical though. The V6 is highly desirable and already appreciating in price.

My own GT has 220,000 miles on it and still goes well and returns high 40s mpg

You'll get a superb GT cloverleaf in your budget - 170bhp as stock, mappable nearly 200. Make sure you get one with a Q2 diff
I had a GT, then later bought a Brera...sold the Brera after a year and bought another GT. As stated above, the Brera is more refined but the GT is more fun/nimble.

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Thursday 9th March 2017
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Looking super.

I'd pick a decent GT. My Alfa garage has a 1.8 for sale and it's tempting. They come cheap and in NL they are 147 money.

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Thursday 9th March 2017
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dinkel said:

Looking super.

I'd pick a decent GT. My Alfa garage has a 1.8 for sale and it's tempting. They come cheap and in NL they are 147 money.
Van neerrijnen in utrecht? Ive seen that 1.8 for sale online, tempting allright (dont worry, dont have the money for it wink )

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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The red one is a Monza. Koos has this 1.8 TS for sale for 4K eu:

My girl bought a antracite 147 2.0 TS - Lusso interior - and it's an absolute peach to drive. Very relaxing. The GT is a bit more hard edge and would suit me better.

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Friday 10th March 2017
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dinkel said:
The red one is a Monza. Koos has this 1.8 TS for sale for 4K eu:

My girl bought a antracite 147 2.0 TS - Lusso interior - and it's an absolute peach to drive. Very relaxing. The GT is a bit more hard edge and would suit me better.
Yup, that one. Havent seen it in the metal, but it looks pretty tempting, especially as id probably prefer the 1.8 TS over the JTS (out of JTS paranoia)

My current 147 suits me just fine though, i just think the GT looks soooo much cooler then a 5 door hatch, even if it shares a lot of the same tech/parts.

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Friday 17th March 2017
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Saw it and it's a steal.

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Friday 17th March 2017
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dinkel said:
Saw it and it's a steal.
Oof, sadly i dont have the money for it right now, else id be over there this weekend

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Friday 17th March 2017
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Are you in NL or B? DSR is coming up: mail me if you like to join wink

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Friday 17th March 2017
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dinkel said:
Are you in NL or B? DSR is coming up: mail me if you like to join wink
NL, i live less then 15 minutes away from van neerrijnen actually

what is DSR? doesnt ring a bell with me right now

dinkel

26,884 posts

257 months

Wednesday 22nd March 2017
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http://albertmensingacreative.nl/dsr/

Good to meet up one day - I'm in Utrecht wink

DSR - FSR this year - entries closing this monday: fancy?