Alfa 166 :-)

[captaintact]

Having had several Alfas over the years, including, 33, 164s, 156 and all various engines and trims, i have just bought a 166 3.0 Sportronic Lusso. It's gorgeous............let me say again GORGEOUS! Quiet, smooth, powerful, and yet understated. Best car i've had so far.
I look forward to getting into it in a way that i never did with my TVR Chimaera!
Will try to get a couple of piccies up soon.

:-)

[TorqueRacing]

Congratulations, have fun....All Alfas are special

[captaintact]

Well......the car is beautiful and classy. Its comfortable, quiet (even when pushed hard) and very smooth. Sitting in the car is beautifully relaxed place to be. Close those heavy but solid doors and you're cocooned in luxury instantly feeling relaxed. You're already smiling. Then you turn the key....yes it has really started.....so quiet.
Plenty of room for 4/5 adults, Huge boot.

Downsides.......a bit thirsty but it's a heavy car. On the motorway i average 33/34 and mixed town between 20/24. Depending on driving style, using the cruise control could save a bit more as most people can tend to stop/start the accelerator a bit.

Biggest problem and it's very annoying...........the car or rather the engine is VERY low to the ground!!!! Have to really watch going over speed bumps etc. Although there is a protective floor below the engine, it's VERY easy to ground it even with no extra passengers/luggage. Either that or i really must lose weight!

I also have a 156 1.6TS Lusso (which i'm selling if anyone fancies one - eBay item 270755587273. This is a lovely car and is much lighter to drive but the 166 3.0 Sportronic Lusso is supreme and just eats up miles effortlessly.

To sum up. Go buy.....a helluva lot of classy car for the money. :-)

[MarkwG]

captaintact said:

Biggest problem and it's very annoying...........the car or rather the engine is VERY low to the ground!!!! Have to really watch going over speed bumps etc. Although there is a protective floor below the engine, it's VERY easy to ground it even with no extra passengers/luggage. Either that or i really must lose weight!

Really obvious, so sorry if you've already checked, but tyre pressure can have an affect as well.

[crostonian]

Pre 2001 cars did seem to have very soft front suspension, in general I think the 166 suffers from too much pitch and dive. At least it's only a piece of plastic that's catching and not the sump, short of rebushing the front suspension with polyflex bushes or fitting harder springs/adjustable dampers there's not much you can do

[captaintact]

I checked the tyre pressures. They were 31 all round on brand new Pirelli P6000 225/45/17. They should be 39F and 36R or 39 all round if loaded. Seems to have helped a lot and also sharpened up the steering.

[Richard Moss]

I've got rubber coil inserts on mine - it's made a huge difference to the springs and ride height. I no longer get seasick or bottom out on every bump.

http://www.graystonengineering.com/spring%20assist...

Buy them from here: http://www.springassisters.co.uk/menu.htm or ebay.

GE14 for the rear and GE13 for the front (bit of a squeeze but will fit!). I actually have two pairs of GE14 (or equivalent) on the back. It's a lot easier and cheaper than trying to ship new springs out to the middle east.

[MarkwG]

captaintact said:

I checked the tyre pressures. They were 31 all round on brand new Pirelli P6000 225/45/17. They should be 39F and 36R or 39 all round if loaded. Seems to have helped a lot and also sharpened up the steering.

My old 164 was very sensitive to tyre pressures: didn't have a scraping issue, but you could feel it wasn't right. The 156 isn't so sensitive, but can scrape if I don't keep an eye on them...

[TRUENOSAM]

Always wondered why the 166 never sold in great numbers. Was a great car in my opinion (even if its it wasnt quite as robust as the 5 series)

[Si 330]

I just told my son's our 166 is going to be sold, they got upset saying how it's part of the family and they love it. Never heard anything like that from them about any other car.

[captaintact]

Si 330 said:

I just told my son's our 166 is going to be sold, they got upset saying how it's part of the family and they love it. Never heard anything like that from them about any other car.

:-)

[14-7]

Loving the look of the 166 facelift recently.

Getting sick of being battered about in the 147GTA and thinking the 166 could be a comfortable ride with the same engine sound .

[crostonian]

The last 166 3.2s seemed quite muted and a bit strangulated from my opinion driving them. I would go for a GT 3.2 on 17" wheels if you want a comfier ride than the GTA and similar performance.