156 SW v Saloon
Discussion
The Sportwagon is measured with the load cover pulled shut and in this guise it is fractionally smaller than the saloon. Obviously however the load cover can be opened to allow loading up to the roof and the seats can be folded to give an almost flat floor. The saloon rear seats are fixed.
"A 156 is a fair bit smaller than a Passat!"
Yep, I'd echo that, with experience of both.
2 adults + 2 kids: the Alfa's fine around town, & for trips to friends & relatives for the day.
For the following I need to add:
a tow hitch rack for trips into the woods with the bikes;
a roofbox for longer trips (& its a biggie!)
Both for longer holiday trips.
A trailer for taking sh!t to the tip;
The Passat can swallow most of that without blinking. And it feels like it has better leg room in the back, the Alfa can feel quite cozy. The Alfas rear hatch is usually the limiting factor, & the rake angle of the rear screen limits as well. As said before, it's a five door coupe (long before Mercedes "invented" that weird CLS thing
)
Yep, I'd echo that, with experience of both.
2 adults + 2 kids: the Alfa's fine around town, & for trips to friends & relatives for the day.
For the following I need to add:
a tow hitch rack for trips into the woods with the bikes;
a roofbox for longer trips (& its a biggie!)
Both for longer holiday trips.
A trailer for taking sh!t to the tip;
The Passat can swallow most of that without blinking. And it feels like it has better leg room in the back, the Alfa can feel quite cozy. The Alfas rear hatch is usually the limiting factor, & the rake angle of the rear screen limits as well. As said before, it's a five door coupe (long before Mercedes "invented" that weird CLS thing
)indigorallye said:
With a second child imminent I need something a little bit bigger than the current taxi (Passat saloon) and a GTa SW ticks all the boxes that I want/ need from a car.
Yes it ticked my boxes well too, until the fuel prices started to get a bit high for my 18K a year.Brilliant car, not as spacious as a Passat, but bags more character and in another league as far as performance goes.
The 156SW is in some ways a sort of 5-door coupe, but it has a hell of a lot more space in the boot than the saloon, even with the seats in place (I had a saloon for 3 years, and have now had the GTA SW for 4 years). That luggage capacity stat is just one of the many things dredged up by lazy journos and used to s
g off Alfas.
Unlike in the 159, the 156 SW's back seats fold flat, too, meaning it is more useful than it might first appear. The whole car is very compact, but that is a huge part of it's appeal - very few hatches out there have the same quality, class, looks, and big NA engine, and too many estates are hearse-shaped and too big for my needs.
g off Alfas. Unlike in the 159, the 156 SW's back seats fold flat, too, meaning it is more useful than it might first appear. The whole car is very compact, but that is a huge part of it's appeal - very few hatches out there have the same quality, class, looks, and big NA engine, and too many estates are hearse-shaped and too big for my needs.
We've had a saloon and a SW.
I wouldn't swap my SW for a saloon.
Had a B6 Passat before I bought the SW, which was nowhere near as useful, despite the bloody massive boot and folding rear seats.
Currently driving a MkII Focus Estate (still have the SW, though!) - which towers over the 156!
I wouldn't swap my SW for a saloon.
Had a B6 Passat before I bought the SW, which was nowhere near as useful, despite the bloody massive boot and folding rear seats.
Currently driving a MkII Focus Estate (still have the SW, though!) - which towers over the 156!
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