156 2.0 ts or 2.5 V6

[davey68]

Hi, i have a mate with around £5k to spend on a 156 veloce, probably a late 2000 or 2001 car. Question is which engine to go for? from what i read both a good performers, use a fair bit of oil and need regular maintenance. However, is the V6 ALOT quicker than the 2.0 ts? is fuel consumption in real world driving excessive over the ts? also does the heavy V6 make the handling inferior over a ts? the obvious differences like insurance/servicing dont bother him, its more petrol and how they drive. i told him the V6 wins on sound! :-)

[Mon Ami Mate]

The V6 is not a lot quicker than the 2.0l and the extra weight in the nose compromises the handling. It is also significantly more expensive to run. However, the V6 is an aural sensation. My advice - buy a 2.0l and send it to Autodelta for chipping - it can easily make as much power as the V6. That's what I did...

[slapmatt]

Yet him to test drive both - he'll soon discover, the TS is no comparison to the V6 roar!

[davey68]

i know the V6 sounds fantastic, but is it worth the extra running costs? as was mentioned does the big v6 affect handling much? really down to test driving them i suppose. What about differences between 6 speed and 5 speed gearbox? what sort of mpg does the V6 really deliver in a mix of traffic/a& b roads/motorways over a TS?

[saxmund]

The Twinspark doesn't sound bad either, and loves to be revved. From what I've heard the gearboxes are quite different - but there's no much point me repeating hearsay so I won't.

I get a shade over 30mpg out of a 2.0TS - but that is mostly A-road and motorway mileage. I measured it on a 1000 mile trip round Europe and got just under 32, which I was quite pleased with

>> Edited by saxmund on Tuesday 17th January 09:28

[slapmatt]

I only ever use 6th gear when on the motorway and that's not very often.

I get around 275 miles out of a £50 tank of super, but I do alot of small trips (less than 10 miles to work). You will get substaintially more if you do longer motorway miles.

I also test drove a Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6 and a Rover ZT+ 190, neither of them handled, sounded or looked anywhere near as good as the Alfa.

I've not driven a 2.0 TS, so I can't make a direct comparison.

[davey68]

Thanks for the replies guys. He really needs to drive em i guess, im pretty sure he will know once driving the v6 if its the one or not. Cheers.

[saxmund]

In comparison, I get around 380-400 miles on a tank of ordinary unleaded (the variation depends on how long I leave it before the orange warning light gets to me).

[sixpot]

I own a 2.0 TS Veloce and had exactly the same predicamanet when deciding what to buy.....I did the obvius thing and drove both. In my opinion, the 2.0 TS provides a far better more balanced all round drive. It handles better, it is not significantly slower than the V6 and the engine note is not as sweet as the V6 granted, but it still sounds good. The running costs however are no comparison......the 2.0 TS wins hands down as far as I am concerned.

[davey68]

saxmund, do you run a 2.0 TS? that is quite a difference in economy! did you try running on optimax/ultimate? not sure there would be any benefit on a TS? i really am torn now. The other issues are servicing (i guess a v6 is bit more at a specialist) and availability. When do you have to do the belt service on TS is it 36k miles? There are alot more 2.0 TS veloce around my price range than v6. arggh decisions..

Oh and what is the difference in gearboxes? is the 5 speeder sweeter than the 6? that was the case on my M3 to M3 evo

>> Edited by davey68 on Tuesday 17th January 12:06

[saxmund]

Some of the difference in economy is no doubt due to fact that almost all of my driving is long distance - I get the train to work, and both of my regular local trips (supermarket and gym) are less than a 2 mile round trip, so if I do 500 miles in a month then only 5-10% of that is likely to be local, maximum.

I am told that the gear ratios are comparatively short on a 2.5, so although it's in theory a significantly faster car than the 2.0. you have to work the gears to achieve that (although I have never driven a 2.5). The 2.0 has relatively little torque below 3000 so you still have to be in the right gear to make progress - but the ratios are quite long and you can overtake in 2nd on a single carriageway if you want

I usually use ordinary unleaded, and it's not clear whether the ECU is capable of learning to advance the ignition to use the extra octane. Since Christmas I have been using either Tesco 99 or Optimax, I haven't noticed any difference but so far it's only had one complete fill and a couple of top ups. If I don't notice any difference after three fills I'm going back to Morrison's cheapo unleaded.

The belt change on older models is 72,000 miles, but everyone recommends 36K as it can go at almost any time after this. I paid just under £500 for a belt change, oil change, brake system draindown and fill, and wheel swap (to get the Pilot Sports on the driving wheels), at an independant.

I have a Sportwagon and decided I would test drive a 2.5 if I found one while I was looking - but I didn't, and a Twinspark came up with the spec I wanted and a price I liked, so I just went for it.

One option is of course to get a 2.0TS and have it modified - plenty of tuners do a remap & induction upgrade for about £500 that will add at least 20hp snd increase the low down torque a bit.

>> Edited by saxmund on Tuesday 17th January 12:50

[OldEngineer]

Well mines only a 1.6 (Sportwagon). It's 120BHP and totally standard-and that is significant. Alfa build a very elaborate intake system to promote torque at low revs. You have to drive stupidly to feel out of power (like pulling round a corner in 3rd gear and 20MPH. Above 2000RPM is fine and above 3000RPM it starts singing. Taking it up to 7000RPM is music. I had a drive in a 2.0 that had had a modified intake system (said to give 10BHP extra). It destroyed it. No low end power at all. And don't follow those 'experts' that fit "the free flowing V6 intake". It is the length that Alfa fits because it needs it.