Which one....Alfa GTV V6, Corrado VR6 or Saab 9-3 Aero?
Discussion
I've posted in the Alfa section that I'm after a GTV V6 though having spoken with a good friend Dunny yesterday he has put the proverbial spanner in the works & suggested a Corrado VR6 is a better future classic than the Alfa - l then spot a newer 9-3 aero hatchback with 205 gee gees for less money & I'm at a loss now!
l know they are all quirky, front drivers & 2 have 6 cylinder engines which with suitable exhausts would sound good (& l am partial to a sports exhaust
). Do l take Italian looks, German reliability or Swedish tuning, comfort & the benefit of being a more of a 'sleeper' on the road?
Your considered help/guidance? My budget is likely to be £3k by the way & it would be a toy kept in the garage with weekend outings. I'm not into the whole cruising/show scene either in case anyone asks.
l know they are all quirky, front drivers & 2 have 6 cylinder engines which with suitable exhausts would sound good (& l am partial to a sports exhaust
). Do l take Italian looks, German reliability or Swedish tuning, comfort & the benefit of being a more of a 'sleeper' on the road?Your considered help/guidance? My budget is likely to be £3k by the way & it would be a toy kept in the garage with weekend outings. I'm not into the whole cruising/show scene either in case anyone asks.
I could be slightly biased but I have owned Saab 9-3s (granted not a Aero but a diesel turbo an petrol turbo) and currently own a Corrado G60 & a Corrado VR6.
Corrado VR6 EVERYTIME for me as a drivers car proposition that is also capable of sustaining daily driver duties. The Saab is a good family car, in Aero form it's quick to and with the additional chassis bracing and Bilsteins better to drive than the lesser models. Even so the Corrado (regardless of sharing some parts with a Golf & Passat) is very much a sports coupe and behaves a lot more like one than the Saab can.
V6 grunt, a entertaining chassis, definitely a classic, reasonable running costs and well it has to be said far better looking.
edit to add, £3k will get you a very good VR6, check the-corrado.net , Corrado club GB and VR6 owners club
Corrado VR6 EVERYTIME for me as a drivers car proposition that is also capable of sustaining daily driver duties. The Saab is a good family car, in Aero form it's quick to and with the additional chassis bracing and Bilsteins better to drive than the lesser models. Even so the Corrado (regardless of sharing some parts with a Golf & Passat) is very much a sports coupe and behaves a lot more like one than the Saab can.
V6 grunt, a entertaining chassis, definitely a classic, reasonable running costs and well it has to be said far better looking.
edit to add, £3k will get you a very good VR6, check the-corrado.net , Corrado club GB and VR6 owners club
Edited by aka_kerrly on Monday 16th December 20:50
Escy said:
Alfa GTV V6. Nice looking, nicer to drive, better interior, more power, better sounding engine.
I don't understand the love for Corrado VR6's, the engine sounds quirky and nice enough but other than that they are bland a boring.
Has Sir driven a Corrado VR6? The car that regularly gets mentioned along with the DC2 Integra, Racing Puma, Clio Williams as one of the best FWD chassis available....I don't understand the love for Corrado VR6's, the engine sounds quirky and nice enough but other than that they are bland a boring.
aka_kerrly said:
Has Sir driven a Corrado VR6? The car that regularly gets mentioned along with the DC2 Integra, Racing Puma, Clio Williams as one of the best FWD chassis available....
Sir has driven a VR6. I've driven a standard one and one with coilovers and uprated ARB's. The modified one did handle quite well but not in the same league as a Toyota Levin BZ-R, Honda Civic EK9 or Mini Cooper S JCW i've previously owned. The boat anchor in the engine bay see's to that.
Escy said:
Sir has driven a VR6. I've driven a standard one and one with coilovers and uprated ARB's. The modified one did handle quite well but not in the same league as a Toyota Levin BZ-R, Honda Civic EK9 or Mini Cooper S JCW i've previously owned. The boat anchor in the engine bay see's to that.
I see, I wouldn't expect a car with a 2.9L 6 cylinder to drive with the same nimbleness of a Ek9 or Cooper S. I've driven a Cooper S (EatonM45 version) and it compared far more with a mk2 Golf GTI. I've also sampled a few Civic Type Rs, they are hot hatches. Great fun when you're in the mood but not a patch on the effortless drive of a 6cylinder motor. The Corrado and Alfa GTV are coupes designed to be hammered down the autobalhm then around the mountain roads, not at all like a EK9/JCW which would do your head in on a motorway whilst marginally quicker through some twists.
The OP wanted a weekend car, not a track car.
Alfa every time out of those options. Beautiful looking, awesome engine, good handling, and you feel special every time you get in it. Can't say I felt that in a Corrado and can't imagine a Saab Aero making you smile as much as when you lower yourself into a GTV V6 and hear the V6 burst into life....
I had three Corrados and know someone with a GTV Cup quite well. The Corrado is an older design of car and that reflects in the residuals. On a lot of levels the GTV is the superior car simply because it's newer and has better technology.
On the practical side you can quite easily fit tall folks in the back of a Corrado whereas the rear seats in the GTV are for small kids only. Performance wise a GTV is a little quicker, but don't let that put you off the Corrado - the VR6 is still an indecently fast car.
Both have a rarity to them. There are few Corrados out there now (there were only 9,000 sold in the UK and the last one of those was in 1996). I would argue that for interest value and amongst petrolheads it will attract more attention (mine used to attract a lot of interest at PH meets when I had it).
Mechanically the Corrado is easy to find parts for but many interior parts (switches etc) are now way out of availability. The Club & forum above can help you with that.
As with any "classic" purchase it's down to the buyer's tastes ultimately. You need to drive both and decide. There is no doubt that the interior, that beautiful engine and the styling make the GTV a very attractive propostion, and yet given the choice myself I would have another (4th) Corrado all over again. But that's just me
On the practical side you can quite easily fit tall folks in the back of a Corrado whereas the rear seats in the GTV are for small kids only. Performance wise a GTV is a little quicker, but don't let that put you off the Corrado - the VR6 is still an indecently fast car.
Both have a rarity to them. There are few Corrados out there now (there were only 9,000 sold in the UK and the last one of those was in 1996). I would argue that for interest value and amongst petrolheads it will attract more attention (mine used to attract a lot of interest at PH meets when I had it).
Mechanically the Corrado is easy to find parts for but many interior parts (switches etc) are now way out of availability. The Club & forum above can help you with that.
As with any "classic" purchase it's down to the buyer's tastes ultimately. You need to drive both and decide. There is no doubt that the interior, that beautiful engine and the styling make the GTV a very attractive propostion, and yet given the choice myself I would have another (4th) Corrado all over again. But that's just me
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff