156 sportwagon 2.4 jtd lusso!

[davidd]

I have just been offered one, 02 plate in black but it is a lusso....not a veloce..

good, bad?

whats the difference?

D

[wombat rick]

02?
Is it a facelift model? Colour coded bumpers, wing mirrors, and big trip computer screen in centre of dash? They came out mid 2002 so it might be.

Lusso spec you say? Shall we just say it depends how you drive...

If you are a cruiser and do lots of A and M-way miles the Lusso is fine. You can caress your wooden steering wheel with the cruise control set as you enjoy the soft and pillowy ride of your high rise luxury suspension.

I hated it.

Unfortunately it is very very easy to out drive the capabilities of a Lusso suspended JTD on a typical British (bumpy) road...

[davidd]

Rick

Thanks, I'm not sure of the exact age etc yet, I get more detail tomorrow.

If I go for the car it will be at a reasonable price (sub £8k) so what are my options to get the handling sorted?

D

[wombat rick]

I would live with it and see what you think. Then (next day ) get in touch with Eb Spares for their new splendiferous HBE kit. www.ebspares.co.uk/news28.htm This has specially sorted Bilsteins "tuned" to UK roads. It's got an excellent write up in this months Owners mag. Get a strut brace too. Makes a huge difference and not expensive. £50'ish from Demon Tweeks, £100 for an offical Alfa Romeo one. If it has a wooden tiller in it, you may want to get that swapped for a leather one as they get a bit slippy! Or get some driving gloves, ay what old chap?

[davidd]

ding dong, driving gloves
Any idea how much the suspension kit cost?

D

[wombat rick]

Nope!
Sorry.
Suspect it's not cheap, but you get what you pay for.
Give EB a quick ring. They are very helpful.

[davidd]

£499 +vat and delivery.

Very, very good, or so they say.

Hmmm.

D

[wombat rick]

It probably will be.
Harvey Bailey are reknowned suspension gurus.
Eibach & Bilstein are top brands and already used on the older 156 "Sportpacks".
EB Spares are (probably) the most popular independant UK Alfa spares people.
I can't see any of them wanting to put their name to something pants, and like I say, the first review of it was very flattering indeed.

[davidd]

Right so apart form the belts and suspension bushes, what else does the man need to check over?

D

[wombat rick]

Belts are not too much of a worry on a JTD. It only seems to be the Twin Sparks which have the big worry. Just check it has a decent service history - every 12000 miles OR 12 months whichever comes first so dead easy to work out.
Check tyre wear is even across the treads - both front and back, as the toe-in is adjustable on the back too.
Check it has four electric windows, leather and headlight washers. If not it maybe an import. Joking apart, the wood steering wheel/dashboard was an option so it may well not have them.
You may be unexcited to find that the pre-facelift standard fit Lusso alloys have 185/65/15 tyres...
Post facelift cars have 205/55/16s, Bose stereo and cruise control as standard as well.

[davidd]

Thanks for all that, I shall tell the man in the morning (I won't see it).

D

[davidd]

Right, it has 16" alloys and colour coded bumpers etc so it looks like a facelift. It needs a little paint here and there so we have set a limit and will find out later if we get it.

D

[wombat rick]

Excellent!
Exciting times.

Other easily spottable facelift bits are a big computer read out display top centre of the dash, integrated stereo, and snazzy dual zone air con with LED readouts in the middle of the controls.
Like this:
www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk/the_north_east/autobytes/images/cars/abc/alfa156ins.jpg

You also get 150bhp as opposed to 140.

Good luck!

[davidd]

I've just had word that there are a couple of dealers at the auction who are very interested so I suspect we might get very outbid.

As you said exciting times.

D

[wombat rick]

When does all this excitement happen?

[davidd]

It is happening now, I'm waiting for a phone call to say if we got it or not.

In fact we've just had the call, it was smoking badly when they drove it into the auction so we've given it a miss.

Dam

D

[wombat rick]

Oh well. Better safe than sorry.

Monzasport have one in if you fancy £14k on a body kitted monster....
www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/scripts/stockList/vehicleDetail.asp?laf=SHOWROOMLNKS&dealer=9224&vehicle=557&ss=



Bit miffed they describe it as an off roader though....

[davidd]

hmm, monster is the word.

I guess we'll keep looking. At least now I know we should be able to get a good one for our money.

Or maybe we'll take the renault lauba route!

D