RE: Shed of the Week: Alfa GTV
Discussion
j4r4lly said:
It was a standard car which spent more time with the front undertray bottoming out than a limbo dancer does under the bar. It also felt brittle and nervous which is a direct contrast with the wallowing. On smooth tarmac it was fabulous and could be really worked hard. British B roads it didn't like at all.
IMO the standard cars were somewhat underdamped, which as they got a bit older, and the dampers got a bit tired, resulted in the bottoming out described. Veloce spec cars were slightly better in this respect. The ARBs were also too weak, and combined with the 15" alloys that some people specced (even on V6s), you could get slightly challenging handling. The standard fix for these now is Eibach springs (-30mm, same as Veloce spec), decent dampers (Bilstein B4/6, FSDs etc) and Eibach ARBs. Stick that lot on with a Q2 diff and they are an absolute blast. 16" teledial wheels are good. 17" GTA wheels better.
GTVs are money pits. I know, I've got two.
One is a £1200 thing of beauty that needs about £2000 worth of work (new engine / complete suspension rebuild).
The other is a shed of £250 that's already had £600 spent on it, and is an exercise in how cheap I can be and keep it going. Better engine and suspension than the shiny one though.
If you think you can keep a £1300 GTV going for more than a few months without throwing money at it you are fooling yourself, but I love em. Fabulous fun to drive and they look great. Truly look like they're worth 10 times more.
One is a £1200 thing of beauty that needs about £2000 worth of work (new engine / complete suspension rebuild).
The other is a shed of £250 that's already had £600 spent on it, and is an exercise in how cheap I can be and keep it going. Better engine and suspension than the shiny one though.
If you think you can keep a £1300 GTV going for more than a few months without throwing money at it you are fooling yourself, but I love em. Fabulous fun to drive and they look great. Truly look like they're worth 10 times more.
Ares said:
sgtBerbatov said:
Ares said:
sgtBerbatov said:
Ares said:
Eygpt isn't a country mate
Egypt is though
Fair point.Egypt is though
Are there any more vacancies at the grammar police or are you all fully booked out? :P
....and if your autocorrect changes Egypt to Eygpt, I'd give it a kick (or stop using Windows
)Yet again the new limit has turned up a quality shed. No reason why it should be unreliable, I had a 1.8 TS Sportwagon for 7 years and nothing actually went wrong with it although replacement of cambelts and suspension arms came round with monotonous regularity. It was an ex-Alfa company car and bought from what appears to have been one of the few dealers who knew their stuff, which is no doubt why they are now selling Hyundais. Performance was adequate rather than mind-blowing, but you could use most of it most of the time, and still keep petrol consumption reassuringly under 30mpg. Unfortunately I eventually needed a bigger boot and as I had the only car on the market where that on the estate is smaller than the one of the saloon on which it was based, it reluctantly had to go and be replaced by a barge, but that is another story.
rxe said:
IMO the standard cars were somewhat underdamped, which as they got a bit older, and the dampers got a bit tired, resulted in the bottoming out described. Veloce spec cars were slightly better in this respect. The ARBs were also too weak, and combined with the 15" alloys that some people specced (even on V6s), you could get slightly challenging handling.
The standard fix for these now is Eibach springs (-30mm, same as Veloce spec), decent dampers (Bilstein B4/6, FSDs etc) and Eibach ARBs. Stick that lot on with a Q2 diff and they are an absolute blast. 16" teledial wheels are good. 17" GTA wheels better.
The standard fix for these now is Eibach springs (-30mm, same as Veloce spec), decent dampers (Bilstein B4/6, FSDs etc) and Eibach ARBs. Stick that lot on with a Q2 diff and they are an absolute blast. 16" teledial wheels are good. 17" GTA wheels better.
choice of shocks is pretty much down to Koni STR's now. cant get Bilsteins or FSDs anymore...atleast for the V6 and TS I think
My old 1998 phase 1 V6 GTV had it for 9 years sold it on to a friend who lives locally it is still going well 132,000 miles on clock now. You have to look under bonnet weekly, cambelt change at 60,000 on V6, Q2 diff is a must, 17" wheels Goodyear eagles and Koni shocks and get rear suspension set up properly so rear wheel steer works then a very good car to drive. Now have 3.2 V6 GT only 300 left in UK so get one now while they are affordable same applies need that Q2 diff.
I had a GTV 2.0TS, loved it. But didn't really read up on them before I bought it. Within the 1st month it needed a new radiator (warranty paid for that), cambelt, sensor, plugs (all 8 of them being a twin spark) and new exhaust. I put a sports exhaust on it which was a fat oval shape from CSC. Wow what a sound, the engine used to have a little vtec moment at higher revs. Always found it funny sitting in traffic when the aircon turned on the engine lost a bit of power, revs dropped. Took it for some great rides, even managed to make my parents sheepdog sick due to me twistes in West Wales.
Changed the stereo and found the old Alfa headunit in the attic many years ago. Sold that for quite some money even though it was a cassette unit as apparently it powered the cd player in the boot.
Also found it funny with the pointless boot and deciding weather or not to take the spare wheel or leave it and have a bit more space for the weekend away.
Changed the stereo and found the old Alfa headunit in the attic many years ago. Sold that for quite some money even though it was a cassette unit as apparently it powered the cd player in the boot.
Also found it funny with the pointless boot and deciding weather or not to take the spare wheel or leave it and have a bit more space for the weekend away.
Watched the sellers vid. I think he'd do ok on fifth gear etc as a sub presenter.
I've always wanted a Alfa but never have or will. For me a car needs to start and work in the button everytime and I like using my holiday allowance for ..Holidays not calling garages, pick up/drop off.
I've always wanted a Alfa but never have or will. For me a car needs to start and work in the button everytime and I like using my holiday allowance for ..Holidays not calling garages, pick up/drop off.
Nigel_O said:
I work part-time at an Alfa / Fiat indy - we have quite a few GTVs and Spiders in - mostly owned by enthusiasts (or 'addicts'?....). We have a lot of modern Alfas in as well and I'd say the newer stuff is more prone to issues than the classic / near-classic stuff. However, this is down to the owner, not the car - owners of Giuliettas and Mitos are more inclined to treat the car as a device for moving them around than as a machine that needs to be worked with.
Alfa is no different to just about any other brand - skimp on the maintenance and it will eventually bite back
The long 2 year/18,000 mile service intervals probably don't help either! Alfa is no different to just about any other brand - skimp on the maintenance and it will eventually bite back
Trophy-GTA said:
I think there's a certain charm in tired old alfas. Especially red ones.
You'll be lucky to find a tired old Red Alfa. Most have turned Pink by now due to Alfa's fabulous paint quality
I own a GTV V6 3.2, luckily in blue. Great car and definitely a keeper.
Edited by woody166 on Friday 13th October 18:34
This is an absolute steal! My first "proper" car was a 98R GTV Twin Spark in about 2004. Every drive felt like an occasion. 155hp (150?) was quite a lot back then, I test drove this and a Zoe Yellow 145 Cloverleaf back-to-back and plumped for the coop. Great, minimalist cabin felt like a cockpit, didn't the Alfa Owner's club URL used to be something like "Lifestartsat3000.com" referencing that not a lot happened below that?
It was a super car. Managed 4hr45 Leeds to Falmouth one very quiet night, about 400 miles on a full tank IIRC. Had only done 63k miles with FSH when the engine went pop-I was fastidious about oil levels so it remained a bit of a mystery.
Had to scratch the itch of not choosing the 145 back then so picked one up last year (same engine). It's a hoot to drive, quick-rack steering, makes a world of noise but you look down and only doing about 55mph...once they get under your skin though...
It was a super car. Managed 4hr45 Leeds to Falmouth one very quiet night, about 400 miles on a full tank IIRC. Had only done 63k miles with FSH when the engine went pop-I was fastidious about oil levels so it remained a bit of a mystery.
Had to scratch the itch of not choosing the 145 back then so picked one up last year (same engine). It's a hoot to drive, quick-rack steering, makes a world of noise but you look down and only doing about 55mph...once they get under your skin though...
I had ( and my daughter still has it) a 155. 2.0 TS wide body. needed an engine rebuild after 130K miles. new suspension, new cooling system, new full exhaust. mostly new electrics, but never actually broke down to leave me stranded. Best car I have ever owned. They need taking care of, but there is nothing quite like an older Alfa at full chat.
My dad, back in the late '70s (in western Canada, no less) yielded to the Alfa bug and bought himself a low-mileage 1976 Alfetta GT (the 2.0L 4-cyl predecessor of the GTV6). In 3 years of ownership he went through 3 clutches. Now, truth to tell, some of this no doubt was due to his aversion to using 1st gear off an uphill stop sign (and we lived on the side of a mountain)...2nd was ok, 3rd was favoured...but it was still a fairly rapid rate of clutch decay.
Nevertheless, I loved that car. It was my first experience of being in a proper European sport car, and it exuded style and dolce vita in a way that our '73 Cutlass (with a 350 Rocket) just could not match. Being ferried to my childhood sporting endeavours in it made me feel cool and exciting in a way that no other car has ever really done. The other kids in their parents' station wagons were jealous. Except when it was having another new clutch fitted :-(
In the end, after 3 years, he sold it and replaced it with a '79 Mustang 5.0L V8 with a terrible 4-speed manual. Not nearly as stylish or fun, but reliable as hell and parts were cheaper too.
I still love Alfas, but have never been tempted to buy one - forewarned is fore-armed and all that.
Nevertheless, I loved that car. It was my first experience of being in a proper European sport car, and it exuded style and dolce vita in a way that our '73 Cutlass (with a 350 Rocket) just could not match. Being ferried to my childhood sporting endeavours in it made me feel cool and exciting in a way that no other car has ever really done. The other kids in their parents' station wagons were jealous. Except when it was having another new clutch fitted :-(
In the end, after 3 years, he sold it and replaced it with a '79 Mustang 5.0L V8 with a terrible 4-speed manual. Not nearly as stylish or fun, but reliable as hell and parts were cheaper too.
I still love Alfas, but have never been tempted to buy one - forewarned is fore-armed and all that.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff