RE: Alfa Romeo 159 | Shed of the Week
Discussion
Dog Star said:
DDW said:
Had a 159 2.4 Lusso after 3 156,s it was fantastic except it wouldn’t do more than 36mpg even if you drove it like the pope. As a long distance car it was brilliant with fantastic seats and a brilliant sound system
Our other two cars are 3.5 litre V6 petrol Mercs - the 159 2.0 diesel isn’t so much more economical that you’d use it for a long trip. It tends to get chosen based on luggage/parking/is it raining. It’s strangely crap on fuel - low 40s at best.
It’s very pretty though.
andyA700 said:
If you are getting low 40's out of a 2.0 Alfa diesel, then there is something wrong with it. I have a 2008 Alfa GT with the 1.9 diesel and it never drops below 49mpg. it managed 51mpg on a trip to Vienna.
To be fair it doesn’t get that many long runs! I went out looking for a cheap small petrol - a Yaris or something. It’s only for shops, bags of cement, leaving outside the pub, snowing etc. I came back with a 6 speed manual diesel Alfa estate that I’m now too precious about to leave at the supermarket. I need a little car for this I guess. …
dinkel said:
Looks great but really: the 166, 156, 147 and GT are considered to be the last of the Italian Alfa Romeos.
This doesn't make any sense to me. On what basis?This generation of cars were often themselves labelled not proper Alfas, on either a Fiat ownership basis or because they're FWD. The 159 isn't really any different, just less dynamic. Then you'd have to ignore the Giulia which by most measures is more of an Italian Alfa than anything for a long time.
Still a great looking car but not as good to drive as a sorted 156. Admittedly the 156 did need a fair bit of sorting, but well worth the effort. To be fair the 159 was better developed, more solid feeling and better out of the box but really feels the extra size and weight.
Having said that, great shed!
Having said that, great shed!
Norton850 said:
My 156 Veloce came well sorted and i can honestly say it is one of the best handling cars i have driven...certainly for a saloon.
The standard (non Veloce) suspension was a bit under developed especially the damping, and the brakes weren’t brilliant either. Aftermarket mods quickly became available though and it was the kind of car that was fun to tweak. I don’t mean full-on tuning, but tweaked to get it just right. Don’t get me wrong I love the 156, always have and always will. A really special car.
the-norseman said:
DrBrule said:
Happy to be proved wrong but I’m not sure they were sold in the UK. A trader oop north has one or two Jap import V6 Sportwagons but in Lusso spec.
Alfa UK told me there was 2x red ones in the UK hence why I gave up looking. There is nothing wrong with a 159 especially the 2nd series, under its skin it has all the usual tier 1 components from Bosch, Recaro, Getrag, Marelli, KKK etc. Mine is a chip tuned TBi with 244 hp and 408 Nm and it really flies, not in the least because it is 200 kg lighter than an AWD V6. Road holding is fantastic. Noise cancellation is very good but perception is a bit disappointing as a result. I used to remove the rear silencer from my Bertones, Alfettas, Giuliettas and other cheap Alfa stuff I had when I was young.
Oh, and the last real Alfas were from the rear wheel drive Alfa Nord engined Alfetta – Giulietta – GTV generation.
The logo in the steering wheel makes me smile every time I get in the car so I guess I might be biased.
Oh, and the last real Alfas were from the rear wheel drive Alfa Nord engined Alfetta – Giulietta – GTV generation.
The logo in the steering wheel makes me smile every time I get in the car so I guess I might be biased.
It always gives me a smile to hear about all the Alfa horror stories, nearly always from people who have never owned one. My current car is a Skoda Octavia 2 litre TDI 4x4 estate. Its a good car, but has cost significantly more to run than my 2.4 JTD 156 Sportwagon did over double the mileage, or indeed any of my five Alfas except the one I rescued from a field ( 164 Super 24valve V6) which did have a few ££ thrown at it. I haven't bought Alfas recently as I tow a small yacht. That is the ONLY reason.
Norton850 said:
My 156v6 has had less spent on servicing and repairs than my Volvos and Saabs over a similar time period.
Perhaps i have been lucky but it has been extremely reliable and doing my own servicing and cambelt changes etc helps with costs.
I’ve owned an Alfa 155, 159 and Mito (wife’s) back in the day. Total Reliability. Excellent cars and I just wish they had replaced the 166. Perhaps i have been lucky but it has been extremely reliable and doing my own servicing and cambelt changes etc helps with costs.
lrdisco said:
I really like these but my better half doesn’t so they were never on the radar unfortunately.
If my wife had her way, I’d be driving a BMW X5, Range Rover Sport or something similar, and for someone who knows how great Sports Saloons are, that isn’t going to happen. If you like the Alfa 159, then get yourself one.
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