GTV 3.0 or 3.2 (new shape)?

[xyyman]

richb said:

xyyman said:

lone granger said:

did the 3.2 gain weight aswell as power? anyone done a chip & de-cat sport system on 3.2?

The Alfa product guide states the 3.2 Spider as having a kerb weight of 1470kgs v the GTV at 1445kgs. Significantly lighter than the Brera and New Spider.Phil

I expect the question related to the Phase II GTV 3.0 and Phase III 3.2 GTV for comparative purposes. It's well known that the Brera and (Brera) Spider are heavy lumps...

Edited by richb on Saturday 28th October 16:08

Thanks for the clarification, I stupidly read the thread title and concluded, erroneously that 'New Shape' referred to, well er, New Shape.

Phil

[lone granger]

xyyman said:

richb said:

xyyman said:

lone granger said:

did the 3.2 gain weight aswell as power? anyone done a chip & de-cat sport system on 3.2?

The Alfa product guide states the 3.2 Spider as having a kerb weight of 1470kgs v the GTV at 1445kgs. Significantly lighter than the Brera and New Spider.Phil

I expect the question related to the Phase II GTV 3.0 and Phase III 3.2 GTV for comparative purposes. It's well known that the Brera and (Brera) Spider are heavy lumps...

Edited by richb on Saturday 28th October 16:08

Thanks for the clarification, I stupidly read the thread title and concluded, erroneously that 'New Shape' referred to, well er, New Shape.

Phil

I guess that is forgiveable then....!!

[pdV6]

xyyman said:

richb said:

xyyman said:

lone granger said:

did the 3.2 gain weight aswell as power? anyone done a chip & de-cat sport system on 3.2?

The Alfa product guide states the 3.2 Spider as having a kerb weight of 1470kgs v the GTV at 1445kgs. Significantly lighter than the Brera and New Spider.Phil

I expect the question related to the Phase II GTV 3.0 and Phase III 3.2 GTV for comparative purposes. It's well known that the Brera and (Brera) Spider are heavy lumps...

Edited by richb on Saturday 28th October 16:08

Thanks for the clarification, I stupidly read the thread title and concluded, erroneously that 'New Shape' referred to, well er, New Shape.

Phil

Missed the "GTV" bit, then?

[_Batty_]

just to add, after inspection on my car this weekend, mine has the Pipercross cone filter.
yet to have a MAF failure yet (touches wood)

[pdV6]

_Batty_ said:

(touches wood)

Step away from the Kleenex...

[_Batty_]

pdV6 said:

_Batty_ said:

(touches wood)

Step away from the Kleenex...

i love my Car, but not that much
also noticed my downpipes are rotten as bu99ery.
damn

[jwyatt]

I'll say one thing - the 3.2 engine (which I have in my car) is an absolute snorter, it's a major rework of the old 3.0/2.5 and in terms of driveability, performance, and even economy it's a decent step IMHO. My 3.2 156 uses less fuel than my 2.5 did...

[pdV6]

The 3.2 is a lightly reworked version of the preceeding 3.0.
Or a heavily reworked version of the 2.5 in the 156 iirc

Really not much difference at all between the 2 GTV units.

[jamieboy]

pdV6 said:

Really not much difference at all between the 2 GTV units.

That's how I understood it as well. Certainly not enough difference to make up for the phase III nose.

[SCOOTERMAN]

Eh? The Phase 3 nose is a huge improvement upon the Phase 2. The latter is a cheap and nasty piece of black plastic that looks like it was stuck-on as a Friday afternoon-job prior to the final car design being inspected.

"Shít, the boss is here to inspect the car and we've not finished the nose..."
"Umm, here, take this and slap it on"
"But it's been ripped off a 146"
"I know...it'll do"

It spoils what is an otherwise beautiful car.

[richb]

SCOOTERMAN said:

Eh? The Phase 3 nose is a huge improvement upon the Phase 2. <blah, blah, blah...> It spoils what is an otherwise beautiful car.

You confused or what?

[SCOOTERMAN]

richb said:

SCOOTERMAN said:

Eh? The Phase 3 nose is a huge improvement upon the Phase 2. <blah, blah, blah...> It spoils what is an otherwise beautiful car.

You confused or what?

Ahh the joys of mis-quoting on the interweb; the backbone of witty replies since the days of 56K.

The "pre" facelift (end-of-line) GTV is the once with the fake, stick-on plastic grille is it not, aka the Phase 2. It's ruddy awful, harking back to the 145/6s, 164s etc etc of this world. Why take a car as nice as the GTV and slap a cheap, natsy nose/grille on it?

[jamieboy]

SCOOTERMAN said:

The "pre" facelift (end-of-line) GTV is the once with the fake, stick-on plastic grille is it not, aka the Phase 2. It's ruddy awful, harking back to the 145/6s, 164s etc etc of this world. Why take a car as nice as the GTV and slap a cheap, natsy nose/grille on it?

I'm not quite clear what you mean when you say "The "pre" facelift (end-of-line) GTV".

The Phase I and Phase II had more or less the same nose, the Phase II having a small chrome rim around the shield. The Phase III was a big change, which in my view ruined the balance of the car entirely.

This is a Phase I:


This is a Phase II:


This is a Phase III:


I think the nose on the P I and P II suit the dimensions of the rest of the car, and that the P III nose was a crude attempt to make the elderly GTV fit with the 147, 156, and GT family face. For me, it doesn't work at all, but styling is obviously subjective.

edited to change the Phase II picture, because the one I found last night isn't working today.

Edited by jamieboy on Tuesday 31st October 09:14

[richb]

SCOOTERMAN said:

richb said:

SCOOTERMAN said:

Eh? The Phase 3 nose is a huge improvement upon the Phase 2. <blah, blah, blah...> It spoils what is an otherwise beautiful car.

You confused or what?

Ahh the joys of mis-quoting on the interweb; the backbone of witty replies since the days of 56K.

I think you've confused us all Scooterman now.

[SCOOTERMAN]

I give up.
Right: the "big" nose (final facelift, 3.2 engine'd) GTV is the Phase 3
The "small" nose (pre-2004?) GTV is the Phase 2
Whatever came before that (1997-2000ish?) is the Phase 1.

The Phase 3 looks "finished", with the nose giving rhe car the "proper" Alfa front-end. The Phase 1 and 2 look, well...weak, like they're aslmost ashamed of displaying it's "Alfa-ness". And it also looks cheap and nasty.

[lone granger]

SCOOTERMAN said:

I give up.
Right: the "big" nose (final facelift, 3.2 engine'd) GTV is the Phase 3
The "small" nose (pre-2004?) GTV is the Phase 2
Whatever came before that (1997-2000ish?) is the Phase 1.

The Phase 3 looks "finished", with the nose giving rhe car the "proper" Alfa front-end. The Phase 1 and 2 look, well...weak, like they're aslmost ashamed of displaying it's "Alfa-ness". And it also looks cheap and nasty.

anyone want to get rid of their 'cheap and nasty phase 2' then? - £50 for a runner?!

[richb]

SCOOTERMAN said:

I give up.

Don't do that, you simply mean that you prefer the appearance of the Phase III with the current Alfa Romeo corporate style grill. It was comments like "The "pre" facelift (end-of-line) GTV is the once (sic) with the fake, stick-on plastic grille (sic)" that were confusing because none of the GTVs have ever had stick-on grills. I just went down to my garage to check and the grill on my Phase II Spider is designed as an integral part of the clam-shell bonnet and is reassuringly made of metal.

[pdV6]

richb said:

I just went down to my garage to check and the grill on my Phase II Spider is designed as an integral part of the clam-shell bonnet and is reassuringly made of metal.

As opposed to the clamshell itself which is, of course, plastic!

Beauty, as ever, is in the eye of the beholder. Most people prefer the p2 nose to the p3 but that's not to say there aren't folk (like Scooterman) that prefer the new nose.

FWIW the new nose really does finish off the 166 imo.
Just doesn't sit too happily on the GTV and looks even worse on the Spider (again, imo).