Fiat Coupe Turbo ....or Alfa GTV 3.0l ???

[LeTim]

Decisions decisions. Both are nice to look at, both are quick, both are Italian, heck they probably even come from the same factory.

Has anyone owned both? I'm trying to make my mind up. Are there any killer advantages that either car has over the other?

[_Batty_]

my opinion: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

although it has been done to death alittle

[LeTim]

_Batty_ said:

my opinion: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

although it has been done to death alittle

Cheers chap, I'll take a look

[wrinx]

LeTim said:

Are there any killer advantages that either car has over the other?

Yes, the Alfa 3.0!

I'm a bit torn having owned a V6 Alfa and now a Q4 with the same engine as the 16v Coupes but I think the Coupe styling is a bit dated and the GTV still looks stunning.

No brainer for me

wrinx

[LeTim]

wrinx said:

LeTim said:

Are there any killer advantages that either car has over the other?

Yes, the Alfa 3.0!

I'm a bit torn having owned a V6 Alfa and now a Q4 with the same engine as the 16v Coupes but I think the Coupe styling is a bit dated and the GTV still looks stunning.

No brainer for me

wrinx

Have you read Batty's post he put a link to. Absolute poetry!

Batty said:

So to summarise, if you fancy a weekend floosie, buy the alfa.
It will steal your money, make you cry and make your friends jealous.
The fiat will do 90% of the above, but will also make your tea and wash your socks.

Looks like the missus will be washing the socks then!

Edited by LeTim on Wednesday 21st November 15:00

[_Batty_]

LeTim said:

Have you read Batty's post he put a link to. Absolute poetry!

thankyou

[LeTim]

_Batty_ said:

LeTim said:

Have you read Batty's post he put a link to. Absolute poetry!

thankyou

You should sell Alfas! Made my mind up.

I took a GTV 3.0l for a test drive the other day, OMG the noise, the lovely, lovely noise.

I might see if I can see this one on the weekend....

http://www.track-days.co.uk/sales/295899.htm

Edited by LeTim on Wednesday 21st November 15:33

[wrinx]

LeTim said:

wrinx said:

LeTim said:

Are there any killer advantages that either car has over the other?

Yes, the Alfa 3.0!

I'm a bit torn having owned a V6 Alfa and now a Q4 with the same engine as the 16v Coupes but I think the Coupe styling is a bit dated and the GTV still looks stunning.

No brainer for me

wrinx

Have you read Batty's post he put a link to. Absolute poetry!

No...nice pics though :lol: I just offered my opinion

wrinx

[jezb]

I have never owned a Coupe, but loved my GTV.

Heres a quick poor quality vid of mine with an Autodelta exhaust on it

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v707/jezb/?actio...

Doesn't mention any service history on that Pistonheads ad. They can cost quite alot to keep going as they should. My main mistake was missing that the rear spring pans needed doing Expensive but well worth it!

Edited by jezb on Wednesday 21st November 16:18

[LeTim]

jezb said:

I have never owned a Coupe, but loved my GTV.

Heres a quick poor quality vid of mine with an Autodelta exhaust on it

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v707/jezb/?actio...

Doesn't mention any service history on that Pistonheads ad. They can cost quite alot to keep going as they should. My main mistake was missing that the rear spring pans needed doing Expensive but well worth it!

Edited by jezb on Wednesday 21st November 16:18

Ah yes. Good point.

Well what's rather nice is there seem to be plenty of 3.0l cars on the market right now so I can see a few and make my mind up.

The suspension setup is meant to be better than the Spider 2.0l isn't it?

[_Batty_]

LeTim said:

jezb said:

I have never owned a Coupe, but loved my GTV.

Heres a quick poor quality vid of mine with an Autodelta exhaust on it

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v707/jezb/?actio...

Doesn't mention any service history on that Pistonheads ad. They can cost quite alot to keep going as they should. My main mistake was missing that the rear spring pans needed doing Expensive but well worth it!

Edited by jezb on Wednesday 21st November 16:18

Ah yes. Good point.

Well what's rather nice is there seem to be plenty of 3.0l cars on the market right now so I can see a few and make my mind up.

The suspension setup is meant to be better than the Spider 2.0l isn't it?

see www.sportsalfa.com
the TS has a lighter front end so is rather more 'pointy'
but only has 155bhp.
go for the V6, thats what most TS owners end up wishing they had done.

[Pooh]

LeTim said:

jezb said:

I have never owned a Coupe, but loved my GTV.

Heres a quick poor quality vid of mine with an Autodelta exhaust on it

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v707/jezb/?actio...

Doesn't mention any service history on that Pistonheads ad. They can cost quite alot to keep going as they should. My main mistake was missing that the rear spring pans needed doing Expensive but well worth it!

Edited by jezb on Wednesday 21st November 16:18

Ah yes. Good point.

Well what's rather nice is there seem to be plenty of 3.0l cars on the market right now so I can see a few and make my mind up.

The suspension setup is meant to be better than the Spider 2.0l isn't it?

Yes but the bushes do still fail, mine started to squeak like mad, it was the spring pan bushes but I just poly bushed the lot. No more squeaks, better handling but a little more noise/harshness.

[LeTim]

_Batty_ said:

see www.sportsalfa.com
the TS has a lighter front end so is rather more 'pointy'
but only has 155bhp.
go for the V6, thats what most TS owners end up wishing they had done.

That's what I had.....a 2.0l Spider.....from the day I bought it I wished I'd gone for the V6.

I'm getting a V6 this time though...with the insurance money

[pdV6]

Missed your other thread first time around, Batty. Nice!

FWIW, a few musings of mine:

Looks Each to their own. I love both but personally prefer the Alfa; it still looks classy 11/12 years on from when it was introduced. I do like the look of the Fiat but don't think it's aged quite as well. Definitely a marmite car for some.

Performance On paper pretty similar but the delivery is totally different. The Fiat certainly has more cheap & cheerful tuning options.

Handling Back in the day, the Alfa was rightly praised for its handling, mostly thanks to the complex multi-link rear setup. It wouldn't be fair to compare it to a much more modern sports coupé though. The Fiat is far more basic.

Practicality The Alfa's greatest weakness and the Fiat's greatest strength. You can fit 4 genuine adults in the Fiat in something approaching realistic levels of comfort. The rear seats of the Alfa are for double-amputee midgets. The Fiat has a really good size boot for a small coupé whereas the Alfa's is far less generous. As Batty pointed out, where the Fiat has luggage space, the Alfa has suspension members.

[Chris71]

LeTim said:

Have you read Batty's post he put a link to. Absolute poetry!

My thoughts exactly

link said:

Nothing, but nothing sounds like an Italian V6.
Except perhaps the orgasm calls of Jessica Alba.

That's really thrown me from the original topic...

I keep playing with the idea of getting one of the cars being discussed. I've had a serious look at a few 20VT coupes and for what it's worth, here are my observations:

• They do feel genuinely quick - the cars I drove were more or less standard and felt like they would have dispatched something like an Impreza WRX STi in a straight line.

• The handling wasn't anything to rave about, but it was pretty decent. The problems weren't necessarily those you'd expect on a 220+hp FWD car. It actually seemed to maintain traction very well and had a good resistance to the usual evils of torque-steer and understeer. It wasn't however the stiffest chassis around by any means and the steering was pretty vague and unresponsive. It certainly didn't feel connected to the road in the way a good hot hatch can.

• The cabin is gorgeous - it utterly lives up to the 'mini Ferrari' pretensions.

• Practicality is pretty amazing for a car of that size and type. The rear seats were better than the average supermini and the boot was pretty huge.

IMHO The price and practicality of the Fiat make it pretty difficult to produce a pragmatic case for the Alfa. However, if I could stretch to the GTV V6 I'd find it very difficult to turn down a blood red Alfa Romeo with half a V12 in it. The I5 turbo in the Fiat is a stunning engine with a character of it's own, but it doesn't quite live the Italian dream in the same way. I know that's shallow, but I think style and character would have to be a major consideration in choosing either of these cars.

[richardxjr]

Chris71 said:

• The handling wasn't anything to rave about, but it was pretty decent. The problems weren't necessarily those you'd expect on a 220+hp FWD car. It actually seemed to maintain traction very well and had a good resistance to the usual evils of torque-steer and understeer. It wasn't however the stiffest chassis around by any means and the steering was pretty vague and unresponsive. It certainly didn't feel connected to the road in the way a good hot hatch can.

• The cabin is gorgeous - it utterly lives up to the 'mini Ferrari' pretensions.

Vague steering/handling could be worn out front wishbones (shared with the 155) and/or crap tyres (F1s are the best) The rack is a quick 2.2 which I believe is shared with the Alfas. The handling will be transformed, and it will look a lot better too, with Bilstein shocks and Eibach springs.


If your torn in choosing which one, if you have any thoughts about tuning/improving a car into something which can still really hold it's own, get a Coupé. If you've no interest in this and want something pretty damn good standard then get the GTV.

[Pooh]

pdV6 said:

Practicality The Alfa's greatest weakness and the Fiat's greatest strength. You can fit 4 genuine adults in the Fiat in something approaching realistic levels of comfort. The rear seats of the Alfa are for double-amputee midgets. The Fiat has a really good size boot for a small coupé whereas the Alfa's is far less generous. As Batty pointed out, where the Fiat has luggage space, the Alfa has suspension members.

I have found that the GTV was a lot better than I expected, my kids fit in the back no problem and I have carried adults for short distances, I took the spare wheel out of the boot and while it can't cope with large non squishy objects it now copes fine with shopping or the two large squashy bags and laptop bag that I take when going offshore.

[fasterpussycat]

I've owned both. The Alfa is better, no question. Better looks, performance, handling, noise, reliability. Lacks practicality but I couldn't give a toss.

[LeTim]

Pooh said:

I have found that the GTV was a lot better than I expected, my kids fit in the back no problem and I have carried adults for short distances, I took the spare wheel out of the boot and while it can't cope with large non squishy objects it now copes fine with shopping or the two large squashy bags and laptop bag that I take when going offshore.

That's what I did with my Spider....although it does leave you reliant on tyre weld if you get a puncture. It's a shame there was no where else that spare could have gone. in the car. Behind the seats or something.

[pdV6]

LeTim said:

Pooh said:

I have found that the GTV was a lot better than I expected, my kids fit in the back no problem and I have carried adults for short distances, I took the spare wheel out of the boot and while it can't cope with large non squishy objects it now copes fine with shopping or the two large squashy bags and laptop bag that I take when going offshore.

That's what I did with my Spider....although it does leave you reliant on tyre weld if you get a puncture. It's a shame there was no where else that spare could have gone. in the car. Behind the seats or something.

To be fair, it does rather depend on the sizes of the people involved. If I'm driving, the front seat touches the back seat, so luggage or the aforementioned amputee behind me only.



And yes, you can get a lot more than you would think in the boot.