Alfa 147 GTA Q2

[loader]

Hi all a few of questions to anyway 147 GTA drivers or previous owners

I am looking at purchasing a 147 gta with the Q2 diff on it. How much of a difference does this make in terms of handling etc to the car?. With the diff how does this compare in terms of handling to other hot hatches? One final question is there a lot of feel through the steering?


Thanks
Loader

[147GTA]

Hi Loader,
You'll find that there's two types of GTA owners, those that like to stare at their beautiful car all day and yet hardly ever drive them due to a fear of wearing things out, stonechipping the front, getting the bodywork/engine dirty etc. Then there's those who actually drive them, replacing the budget components that FIAT made Alfa use either after they realise how crap they are or, if they're unlucky, then usually after they break, and there's a few of us who also drive them to the limits all the time so find things that work or don't for the rest.

A car with a standard differential is a very good cruiser and fine in a straight line but show it a corner and you'll soon find it's horrible to drive hard/push and will just understeer and scare you. The Q2 differential is just a torsen differential but it allows you to put the power down in a way that no FWD car with 250bhp has a right to, and the car becomes so much more enjoyable/usable. You can attack corners with confidence and, judging by the collection of cars and the bike in your profile, that is the kind of car you will want to be driving. The suspension is also set up for cruising but again if you swap it for something sporty from the likes of KW and the car will reward you! The chassis isn't crap like it was made out to be in Top Gear, Alfa have just used cheap components and the result was a car with horrible handling.

Now there will be a few people on AlfaOwner telling you the car's fine with everything standard but that is a load of crap, I love my Alfas like the rest of them but some people have some seriously rose tinted glasses or have just never driven the car properly. I would say do yourself a favour and drive a car with a standard diff and then one with a Q2/Quaife diff and make your own judgement, I'm sure you'll be shocked by the difference.

There is also the small issue of the standard diff exploding on quite a few GTAs, now everything on the GTA is expensive already to replace/fix so a diff that leaves a whole in the gaerbox can be very painful to your wallet.

Steering feel is actually pretty good considering how hard the power steering has to work, unless your Popeye it is very difficult to steer the car without it. I would recommend the 17s though as they give you the best feel/ride and the teledials are also the most amazingly detailed wheels specific to the GTA so no point going for the 18s anyway.

If you're ever down South then I'm usually the only 147 GTA owner at the PH meets/events and would be happy to take you for a spin and show you what the chassis is capable of, it's only taken me 4.5 years though to get it to 95% of how I want it to be.

[loader]

Hi 147
Thanks for the information very interesting. I really cant make up my mind if this is the right car for me or not. I have had an Alfa 155 track car before loved the noise and the car was hoot on the track. However I have had a couple of renaultsports that are have been excellent and I am worried that the 147 is more of a GT type car than a hardcore hatchback that I was hoping it would be. Any thoughts on this have you driven other hot hatches how do they compare?


Cheers
Loader

[waynedear]

Best hot hatch i have ever driven (by a million miles), and i have driven most of them from MK1 Golfs to new VXR's was a friends 147 GTA with a 3.7 engine, a supercharger and of course a Q2 diff, i can not even begin to explain just how amazing and savage it was, then you have 'That' interior, it's a no brainer.
On a tight twisty road lots will keep up, good driver probably pass it, so much more than just the performance.....

[147GTA]

loader said:

Hi 147
Thanks for the information very interesting. I really cant make up my mind if this is the right car for me or not. I have had an Alfa 155 track car before loved the noise and the car was hoot on the track. However I have had a couple of renaultsports that are have been excellent and I am worried that the 147 is more of a GT type car than a hardcore hatchback that I was hoping it would be. Any thoughts on this have you driven other hot hatches how do they compare?


Cheers
Loader

A standard GTA is definitely a GT car, ground clearance aside, and the Renault stuff would definitely be more hardcore and far more rewarding to drive hard. If you are prepared to modify a GTA though then it can be a very different animal, as if it's a completely different car.

I've never really liked French cars so have never driven anything from Renault but have had a fair few miles in both German and Japanese cars and from my experience, and the reason I've owned mine for 4.5 years, the GTA does what only an Italian car can do. Every drive in it feels special, from the second you lay your eyes on it as you walk up, get in and fire up the V6 to the when you park up and get out, and you will look over your shoulder for another quick glance as you walk away and smile because that's what it does to you, it pulls at your heart strings in a way it has no right to, like it's trying to woo you. The engine is also just incomparable to anything else in other hatchbacks, the glorious sound, the instant throttle response and the way it just revs so viciously, it all adds to the specialness. There are plenty of ex-owners who will tell you the same and also how they regret ever selling, they've moved on to other supposedly better cars but they just don't feel the same.

Now there are downsides to all this, which everything from Renault would not have. The fuel consumption is awful and is bettered by many super cars, my average over the last 17000 miles is 17.5 mpg, and on a track day it can get really stupid. Being Italian you have to be ready to spend big on repairs, maintenance and repairs can cost you a serious amount on them and parts are getting more expensive all the time. Now if you can live with that then there's the biggest problem, GTAs are fast! I'm not talking about 0-60 times either here, you see on a road where you might have enjoyed a brisk pullaway in a Clio cup going through the gears, shifting just before the rev limiter kicks in, you'll find the GTA will feel no quicker, but I guarantee you'll be going a lot quicker, and it will beg you to keep going and that is the biggest problem for me. Hitting the limiter in third gear means you would be breaking the speed limit on a motorway, yet where other hatchbacks run out of puff the GTA will still be pulling hard, goading you to keep your right foot planted on the accelerator.

Anyway, the only way you'll know if it's right for you though is to drive one, it's a very different experience to what you've become accustomed to.

[john147]

good luck with making your mind up. Like said above get out in one. I would be happy to take you out in mine if your ever in the south west area or at a south west meet. I will be at castle combe on the 10th sept so your welcome to come have a gd look round mine. i will be on the skoda show stand as i will be out on track with them. They had some spare places going so couldn't turn them down as have never taken her round the track before

[loader]

Cheers for that John I may take you up on your offer if I am down this way.


thanks