Discussion
I have a TVR V8S which i´ve just bought but need a car for commuting, and was thinking of a Alfa 156 (preferably Sportwagon/estate/whatever it´s called). Have a budget of about 10k. Would be grateful for any tips re trim levels, which models to go for/avoid.
Is the diesel any good? Never owned a diesel before but thinking if get a diesel may be able to afford petrol for the TVR!
Cheers,
Martin
Is the diesel any good? Never owned a diesel before but thinking if get a diesel may be able to afford petrol for the TVR!
Cheers,
Martin
The diesel is about as good as diesels get. The latest JTS models are superior to the equivalent petrol engines!
Trim levels - you should be able to get the full monty leather unless you are looking for a very recent car.
Engine size - big as you like but the 2.0TS is the most balanced and makes for a very good ride. The V6 is noticibly quicker though.
Trim levels - you should be able to get the full monty leather unless you are looking for a very recent car.
Engine size - big as you like but the 2.0TS is the most balanced and makes for a very good ride. The V6 is noticibly quicker though.
2.4 JTD is fantastic and I can not recommend it enough.
Keep an eye out for summer 2002 mild facelift. Brought new and tidier centre console, colour coded wing mirrors and an extra 10bhp to the JTD - makes it 150bhp. Also 165bhp 2.0JTS petrol came out at the same time.
Veloce suspension is quite hard and crashy but handles well.
Lusso/Turismo is too squidgy for me, and it cannot cope with the huge weight of the JTD and V6 - lots of grounding and sump smacking!
If you don't want 225lb ft of torquey JTD all the petrol engines need working hard as they don't have much torque, but it is a pleasure to row them along and they do sound nice and sing up to 7,000rpm sweet as a nut. Need cambelt change ideally every 36,000 miles - £400 or so to be done properly by a specialist. JTD belt can hang on for 72,000 miles.
1.6 a bit feeble, 1.8 better than you think, 2.0 perfect (also has balancer shafts so nice smooth for a four pot) 2.5 fantastic noise, but petrol bill will rival the TVR.
Dealers are pants but plenty of independant specialists around.
They are not Volvo style load carriers, but if you view it as the most beautiful 5 door coupe ever made, you won't regret it.
Keep an eye out for summer 2002 mild facelift. Brought new and tidier centre console, colour coded wing mirrors and an extra 10bhp to the JTD - makes it 150bhp. Also 165bhp 2.0JTS petrol came out at the same time.
Veloce suspension is quite hard and crashy but handles well.
Lusso/Turismo is too squidgy for me, and it cannot cope with the huge weight of the JTD and V6 - lots of grounding and sump smacking!
If you don't want 225lb ft of torquey JTD all the petrol engines need working hard as they don't have much torque, but it is a pleasure to row them along and they do sound nice and sing up to 7,000rpm sweet as a nut. Need cambelt change ideally every 36,000 miles - £400 or so to be done properly by a specialist. JTD belt can hang on for 72,000 miles.
1.6 a bit feeble, 1.8 better than you think, 2.0 perfect (also has balancer shafts so nice smooth for a four pot) 2.5 fantastic noise, but petrol bill will rival the TVR.
Dealers are pants but plenty of independant specialists around.
They are not Volvo style load carriers, but if you view it as the most beautiful 5 door coupe ever made, you won't regret it.
All JTD's (and indeed most 156's) have A/C as standard.
You will also find that most cars have leather as well. It is full, proper leather too, not bits of leather and bits of vinyl like some manufacturers! It is quite soft so expect a few wrinkles and it does benefit from a good clean and feed every so often. You can get it in red, blue, black, grey and tan for the normal seats but only black with red stitching on the optional Recaros.
For a facelift car on a 52 plate, you would be looking £10-12,000'ish for a Veloce with leather. Unfortunately you have chosen the most popular (i.e. hardest to come by!!) spec, and the cars are fairly rare to start with.
Happy hunting!
You will also find that most cars have leather as well. It is full, proper leather too, not bits of leather and bits of vinyl like some manufacturers! It is quite soft so expect a few wrinkles and it does benefit from a good clean and feed every so often. You can get it in red, blue, black, grey and tan for the normal seats but only black with red stitching on the optional Recaros.
For a facelift car on a 52 plate, you would be looking £10-12,000'ish for a Veloce with leather. Unfortunately you have chosen the most popular (i.e. hardest to come by!!) spec, and the cars are fairly rare to start with.
Happy hunting!
Will aggree with all of the above, I have one and it's great, the average MPG over it's lifetime has been 45.5, not bad for a car that regularly embarrasses so called sporting hatchbacks and saloons, on the m-way probably one of the fastest diesels going other than the top of the range BMW's and Merc's. A 330d touring just and I mean just crept past me coming out of the blocks at the Dartford tunnel the other week and they don't get the MPG I get, they are also twice the price. My record so far for a run is 52.7MPG over 120 miles of mixed roads and no slower than 70 on the M-way.
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