Alfa SZ on Top Gear

[jamieboy]

There's meant to be a piece on the Alfa SZ on this Sunday's show. It'll be interesting to see what they make of it, given that it's 17 years old or thereabouts.

[bobfrance]

Got a friend with one of those (Convertible, is that the RZ or SZ?).
very much a marmite car.

Me - I like 'em.

[JonRB]

I like them too, but their performance simply doesn't match their looks. They're no more accelerative than the Corrado VR6, which is a shame.

[pdV6]

bobfrance said:

Got a friend with one of those (Convertible, is that the RZ or SZ?). very much a marmite car. Me - I like 'em.

Drop top is the RZ.



Marmite

[Marki]

Love them such a cool car , i belive its real strength is in its handling ........ who cares just look at her

[jamieboy]

The SZ is the coupe, the RZ (like mine) is the convertible. Hard to get exact figures, but about 1200 SZs and about 280 RZs were made.

It's true that they're not all that accelerative, but they've got huge lateral grip and IMHO fast round a corner is more fun than fast in a straight line.

It's also legal to run RZs without cats (but not the SZs, I think) and if you combine that with a little bit of induction work then they can nip along pretty well.

[havoc]

Beautiful cars...love 'em, they're just rather expensive.

[pwig]

jamieboy said:

The SZ is the coupe, the RZ (like mine) is the convertible. Hard to get exact figures, but about 1200 SZs and about 280 RZs were made. It's true that they're not all that accelerative, but they've got huge lateral grip and IMHO fast round a corner is more fun than fast in a straight line. It's also legal to run RZs without cats (but not the SZs, I think) and if you combine that with a little bit of induction work then they can nip along pretty well.

You can run any car without cats as long as it passes the emmissions test.

[jamieboy]

pwig said:

You can run any car without cats as long as it passes the emmissions test.

Probably true, but if that model (not necessarily that exact car) was originally sold in the UK with a cat, then the CO emissions have to be below (I think) 0.3%. If the model was never sold in the UK, then the CO emissions only need to be below 3.5%.

This is reasonably fresh in my mind, because mine failed its MOT for the first time in May on emissions. I spoke to VOSA for clarification, and had it retested at the same place the following week, and this time they failed it because having the cat removed meant that 'the exhaust system was incomplete or holed'.

I appealed to VOSA, and after their inspectors spent almost three hours retesting it, they were happy to pass the car and give the testing station a smack on their wrists.

[Twin Turbo]

Didn't the SZ looks and sound fabulous on the show?

[JonRB]

Twin Turbo said:

Didn't the SZ looks and sound fabulous on the show?

Mmmmm.