Alfa Romeo GTA 147
Discussion
I test drove the new GTA 147 today, after reading all the rave reviews. Ended up very impressed indeed, so paid a deposit on a new one.
The car is much curvier in the flesh than the magazine pictures indicate. It sits fairly low, with large 17" alloys, big red calipers and pretty tasty rotors. Sat next to a standard 147, you soon notice it's about 6" wider, with flared steel arches. Much meaner in the metal than you'd guess.
The interior is high quality too, with two tone leather, bose amplified stereo, dual zone aircon, very deep seats and nice little touches here and there. The rear seat is big enough for a six footer too, which was suprising.
When you start it up and blip the throttle, it really comes alive. The exhaust note is really amazing, like a baby maserati. The harder you push it, the more tuneful it gets. Your always aware of a deep rumbling tone that seems to reverberate around the cabin. If you cruise in a higher gear it's fairly docile, although if you pop it in second and nail it, all hell breaks loose. Bloody great fun making people turn round with the noise!
The handling is great too. I was throwing it around some country lanes today, with the sales guy holding on pretty tightly! It's really fluid and stable round the corners. Pushing harder, you can feel the back end getting a little lighter on some corners, which was fun. Even though it handles so well, it's also very comfy on bumpy roads and soaks up sleeping policemen very well. A million miles away from the girlfriends harsh TT.
At the end of my run I couldn't believe how well it had all the bases covered. I reckon it's the best car on sale right now under £40k M3 money. It even has that licked on style and engine noise. Can't reccommend a test drive highly enough. Worth considering if some of you guys fancy a sensible runabout. All I need now is those weeks to fly by until delivery, and a Tubi! Silly value for money at 22k.
The car is much curvier in the flesh than the magazine pictures indicate. It sits fairly low, with large 17" alloys, big red calipers and pretty tasty rotors. Sat next to a standard 147, you soon notice it's about 6" wider, with flared steel arches. Much meaner in the metal than you'd guess.
The interior is high quality too, with two tone leather, bose amplified stereo, dual zone aircon, very deep seats and nice little touches here and there. The rear seat is big enough for a six footer too, which was suprising.
When you start it up and blip the throttle, it really comes alive. The exhaust note is really amazing, like a baby maserati. The harder you push it, the more tuneful it gets. Your always aware of a deep rumbling tone that seems to reverberate around the cabin. If you cruise in a higher gear it's fairly docile, although if you pop it in second and nail it, all hell breaks loose. Bloody great fun making people turn round with the noise!
The handling is great too. I was throwing it around some country lanes today, with the sales guy holding on pretty tightly! It's really fluid and stable round the corners. Pushing harder, you can feel the back end getting a little lighter on some corners, which was fun. Even though it handles so well, it's also very comfy on bumpy roads and soaks up sleeping policemen very well. A million miles away from the girlfriends harsh TT.
At the end of my run I couldn't believe how well it had all the bases covered. I reckon it's the best car on sale right now under £40k M3 money. It even has that licked on style and engine noise. Can't reccommend a test drive highly enough. Worth considering if some of you guys fancy a sensible runabout. All I need now is those weeks to fly by until delivery, and a Tubi! Silly value for money at 22k.
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