Sports Saloons - Italians leaving the Germans dead.

Sports Saloons - Italians leaving the Germans dead.

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Ares

Original Poster:

11,000 posts

119 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Time to replace my 640d. Probably the best non-2 seater I’ve had (especially post Schnitzer modifications wink ), but with mileage going down and space requirement reducing, I’m targeting something sportier, but still with 4 doors.

Narrowed to M3 Comp, C63s, Maserati Ghibli S and Alfa Quadrifoglio.

6 weeks ago, I contact all four local dealers directly and asked for details via websites.

Alfa came back within 20 mins, and 7 days later I had 2 hours in the Quadrifoglio.

Maserati took a bit longer, 3 days and a chasing call, but a week later and I was given a Ghibli S for 2 days.

BMW were st. 4 dealers, several approaches through website and 3 walk-ins later, and over 3 weeks wasted, I dropped an email to a UK Board contact, the result being a weekend in an M3 Competition.

Merc were even worse. Non-functioning website, 7 phone calls, 11 emails, walking into 5 different dealers and an email to the UK MD got no interest, no ability to help and the only contact being a) a sales guy trying to sell me GAP insurance, and b) Customer Services who were looking into the website glitch, but never came back. Eventually, I got offered a test drive (thanks to social media).


It’s not Brexit threatening the car market….it’s dealer apathy!


Anyway…the cars:

Alfa. Amazing. The comments of it being a 4-door Ferrari are very close. Goes, grips, drives, sounds fantastic. Very pretty and very different. 510bhp and a rev hungry engine. Great Jekyll & Hyde ability - drives like a average car when you want it….turns into a sports car when you want it. Interior ‘OK’, but once on the move, who cares….

Maserati. Surprised. Bigger car, class above but ‘only’ 410bhp. Doesn’t feel slow, best sound of them all (in sport/valves open) and a class act. Dynamics only show themselves when pressing on a bit, and takes a bit to get used to. Seat too high. More mature, but a real emotive choice. Also very expensive compared to the others (business lease)

BMW. Coming from a succession of 7 BMWs, this was the one I thought was the obvious choice….but it’s probably sitting in last place. Far better than the non-Competition M3 and very nicely put together, best gearbox no surprise. But almost too solid, too capable, a very heavy driving experience. Good feel but a world behind the Alfa. Punchy engine, but lacks character - just ‘noise’ until high revs. Crazy high limits of grip and traction, but leaves anything under 8/10th feeling very ordinary. Push on to 9/10th and it comes alive and is a very very fast and capable car - but 9/10ths is well beyond common sense on UK roads.

Mercedes….well, I was due to borrow one for 2 days on Tuesday, but the dealer forgot to get the car there, so collecting tomorrow for the weekend. Took a quick drive in a normal c63 for 20mins, and it presently surprised. Steering was good, not Alfa-level. Engine is a beauty, and makes for a easy but character-filled drive. …..will know how strong a contender it is after the weekend. Plenty of A/B road plans ready wink








lucido grigio

44,044 posts

162 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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Seems like a no brainer,Alfa.

That BMW looks ugly too ,has horrible wheels too.

SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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Good to see Alfa back

Cudd Wudd

1,084 posts

124 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
lucido grigio said:
Seems like a no brainer,Alfa.

That BMW looks ugly too ,has horrible wheels too.
And there was me thinking just how good the M3 looked and how much I liked the wheels.

Out the 3, the Maserati looks don't do it for me...but will no doubt be the best looking for someone else on here smile

generationx

6,645 posts

104 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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In their full road test last week Autocar rated the Alfa second only to the C63S, due to the sheer brutality of the Merc´ engine and the quality of some of the interior bits and pieces. But it was REALLY close.

Go for the Alfa. You will not regret it for a second.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/alfa-romeo/gi...

Edited to add link

Edited by generationx on Thursday 20th April 14:06

Vitorio

4,296 posts

142 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
The germanic brands have been complacent, and have been so for years

a decade ago i was a young IT upstart, on a mission to find a new company lease, budget would allow for entry level "premium" cars. I was ignored for 45 minutes in a BMW showroom, walked into the alfa showroom and had a 147 to test drive within 10 minutes.

They assume people will buy their cars anyway, even if they're treated like st.

But now Alfa is back with a stunner of a car cloud9

AyBee

10,522 posts

201 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Cudd Wudd said:
lucido grigio said:
Seems like a no brainer,Alfa.

That BMW looks ugly too ,has horrible wheels too.
And there was me thinking just how good the M3 looked and how much I liked the wheels.

Out the 3, the Maserati looks don't do it for me...but will no doubt be the best looking for someone else on here smile
Likewise - I think the BMW looks great, but I'd still be getting the Alfa out of those smile

anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Lease or buy? The residuals on the Jerries would probably be a deal breaker if I bought. If I just rented them, then wouldn't care so much.

cbmotorsport

3,065 posts

117 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Not looking to buy anything as prestige as you, but I've been trying to test drive a BMW for the last couple of weeks. I've called dealers who haven't phoned me back, tried their head office with no joy, did manage to get a test drive in the right series but with the wrong engine. Pulling my hair out a bit. It shouldn't be this hard.

Mr2Mike

20,143 posts

254 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
lucido grigio said:
Seems like a no brainer,Alfa.

That BMW looks ugly too ,has horrible wheels too.
Agreed, really nasty wheels and not keen on the front end. The Masser is my favourite looker of the three, but suspect the Alfa would be the better car to drive.

fivepointnine

708 posts

113 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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I have my eye on the Ghibli S personally. Might go look at one soon.

Dave Hedgehog

14,541 posts

203 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Ares said:
BMW were st. 4 dealers, several approaches through website and 3 walk-ins later, and over 3 weeks wasted, I dropped an email to a UK Board contact, the result being a weekend in an M3 Competition.
pretty much exactly my experience when trying to buy an M4, 3 dealers none of them interested in the slightest, i had 5k deposit with me i waved at one lol

not being a powerfully built company director i dont have any contacts to harass lol


its nice alfa have not made the front to low, it will be easy to get it onto a low loader tongue out


Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Thursday 20th April 16:44

Zod

35,295 posts

257 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
fivepointnine said:
I have my eye on the Ghibli S personally. Might go look at one soon.
Watch this first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZnqnB6xDo

hondansx

4,562 posts

224 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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Saw my first Alfa on the move today. Looks great, sounds great, and different.

Anyone brave enough not to get a red one?

lucido grigio

44,044 posts

162 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
hondansx said:
Saw my first Alfa on the move today. Looks great, sounds great, and different.

Anyone brave enough not to get a red one?
I had to look at the configurator to see what else was available as all pics have been of red cars.

2 reds available and a nice blue, all the others are meh......silver, grey and black.

Adz The Rat

13,947 posts

208 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
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That Alfa looks fantastic.

Ghibli wouldnt get a second glance from me.

M4 looks great but becoming a bit common.

C63 would be a tough choice between that and the Alfa.

dannyDC2

7,543 posts

167 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
M4 or Alfa for me.

The Maserati looks a bit plain Jane. I wouldn't feel right calling it a Maserati to 'normal people' when asked what car it was.

What a bloody lovely situation to be in by the way. Congrats. Enjoy the Alfa. smile

Master Bean

3,517 posts

119 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Zod said:
fivepointnine said:
I have my eye on the Ghibli S personally. Might go look at one soon.
Watch this first:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOZnqnB6xDo
Then read this: https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-carpool/masera...

TheAngryDog

12,394 posts

208 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
hondansx said:
Saw my first Alfa on the move today. Looks great, sounds great, and different.

Anyone brave enough to buy one given it will the depreciate like a stone?
EFA hehe

And yes, I would love one, but only after someone else has paid a lot of the depreciation.

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Thursday 20th April 2017
quotequote all
Zod said:
I saw that the other day. Is it pretty much just me who didn't care about all the problems he found with it? He struck me as an idiot. No interest in the car, he seemed interested only in things like radar cruise control, that I've never used anyway in cars that have it.

And the panel gap that was simply the shape of the door card, not a build problem at all. I'm pretty sure he said it was great to drive though. I'm more interested in that than non-HD reversing cameras