Let's see your Alfa Romeos!
Discussion
velocemitch said:
Nice collection. 
Thank you. I see you also have a GTV of the same era. Can you make any recommendation regarding the best size/make of tyres? Mine has old (Barum?) but legal skinny rubber - managed to get the back out somewhat unexpectedly on the way home yesterday. I think a combination of a bit too much right foot and rubber which is past its best.sunbeam alpine said:
velocemitch said:
Nice collection.
Thank you. I see you also have a GTV of the same era. Can you make any recommendation regarding the best size/make of tyres? Mine has old (Barum?) but legal skinny rubber - managed to get the back out somewhat unexpectedly on the way home yesterday. I think a combination of a bit too much right foot and rubber which is past its best.
velocemitch said:
I'd look for something 185/70-14's, currently I'm using Vredestein Quatracs, but that's mainly down to the fact I use mine for Road Rallying which often means loose muddy surfaces. I do find they are good on Tarmac too though. There is not a massive choice of Tyres at these profiles now, but I'm not a great believer in dropping to 65's, or going up to 15" either.
Good advice>I was running my 2000 GTV on 14 inch and upgraded to 15 inch GTA replica wheels purely for wider range of tyres but the car does lose the "delicate steering feel" and does feel as nimble. Do I regret changing, not really but it does have an effect.
arguti said:
velocemitch said:
I'd look for something 185/70-14's, currently I'm using Vredestein Quatracs, but that's mainly down to the fact I use mine for Road Rallying which often means loose muddy surfaces. I do find they are good on Tarmac too though. There is not a massive choice of Tyres at these profiles now, but I'm not a great believer in dropping to 65's, or going up to 15" either.
Good advice>I was running my 2000 GTV on 14 inch and upgraded to 15 inch GTA replica wheels purely for wider range of tyres but the car does lose the "delicate steering feel" and does feel as nimble. Do I regret changing, not really but it does have an effect.
The car drives, steers and stops nicely enough, it's just that I can get the back end to break away with relatively little effort. While that's not in itself a problem
I wonder if it's a characteristic of the car?The larger wheel diameter also maybe explains why my speedo seems to be reading a bit on the low side!
Edited by sunbeam alpine on Monday 31st March 21:18
Earlier 105 GT's were fitted with 15" wheels and narrow profile Tyres like yours. Trouble with 15" if you want to go wider than say 165, then you need to go for lower profiles to keep the over all diameter small enough. It's the wide low profile Tyres which dampen the steering feel.
Your lack of grip is likely to be the fact the Tyres are old and the compound has gone hard, common wisdom says Tyres over 6 years old should be binned. Not sue I entirely agree with that, but certainly your grip will be suffering.
(EDIT) Interestingly yours is a 1750 Mk 2 by the look of it, which would have had 14" wheels with 165R14's as standard when it was built.
Your lack of grip is likely to be the fact the Tyres are old and the compound has gone hard, common wisdom says Tyres over 6 years old should be binned. Not sue I entirely agree with that, but certainly your grip will be suffering.
(EDIT) Interestingly yours is a 1750 Mk 2 by the look of it, which would have had 14" wheels with 165R14's as standard when it was built.
Edited by velocemitch on Monday 31st March 21:52
LJGQV said:
Couple of pics of my GQV after a quick wash a couple of weeks ago with a bit of help from Chris & Fred its just over 300bhp and i love it
its my 4th Alfa but my 1st red 1 and the colour changes quite a lot in the sun. it can look a funny brown colour or a bright red like in the pics
Is that the metallic red or 8C red? Looks lovely. And what have you done for 300bhp? I'm giving serious consideration to the new QV Launch Edition for my daily driver but would like just a little more horsepower. Even 270-280 would be ample. with a bit of help from Chris & Fred its just over 300bhp and i love it 
its my 4th Alfa but my 1st red 1 and the colour changes quite a lot in the sun. it can look a funny brown colour or a bright red like in the pics
Velocemitch/Arguti - could still do with some guidance on tyres. I've got 195-65-15's (Bridgestone Turanza's) on my S4 Spider, and that drives very well.
What do you think of the same on the GTV? Or maybe drop down to 185's? Any/all suggestions welcome.
Also, how do you activate the screen washers?
P.S. I now know why peole used to wear driving gloves. Did a long run yesterday afternoon/evening and the combination of warm sweaty hands, unbelieveably thin wooden steering wheel and no power steering made for a couple of interesting moments!
What do you think of the same on the GTV? Or maybe drop down to 185's? Any/all suggestions welcome.
Also, how do you activate the screen washers?
P.S. I now know why peole used to wear driving gloves. Did a long run yesterday afternoon/evening and the combination of warm sweaty hands, unbelieveably thin wooden steering wheel and no power steering made for a couple of interesting moments!
As mentioned I would avoid going too wide it deadens the steering. Don't forget S4s have power steering, so it's quite different to a GT.
Washer should be a floor switch to the left of the clutch on RH drive car, is yours LH?. Probably the same but to the right. It's a pressure switch which also activates the wipers. Might have been removed though, which affects the self park system.
Washer should be a floor switch to the left of the clutch on RH drive car, is yours LH?. Probably the same but to the right. It's a pressure switch which also activates the wipers. Might have been removed though, which affects the self park system.
Well, I'd say you need to try and keep to something about the same rolling radius as the 185-70-14's. With 15" rims and not going wider than 185, a 65 profile seems about right. 185-65-15's, does give you a reasonable choice of Tyre.
Make tends to be a personal thing, I like my Vredestein Quatracs, but I'd certainly consider most other premium brands.
Make tends to be a personal thing, I like my Vredestein Quatracs, but I'd certainly consider most other premium brands.
Hi there,
Running Bilstein b6 shocks all round with eibach springs in the rear along with all nolathane bushes. Front torsion bars have been rotated to lower it slightly but they are to be replaced by stiffer versions soon. Also running an alfaholics 29mm front anti roll bar. Just magic!
Running Bilstein b6 shocks all round with eibach springs in the rear along with all nolathane bushes. Front torsion bars have been rotated to lower it slightly but they are to be replaced by stiffer versions soon. Also running an alfaholics 29mm front anti roll bar. Just magic!
Here's dad's Alfa: http://www.alfaholics.com/our-cars/completed-build...
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