The Alfa Went To Ireland

Just back from a 10 day overseas trip to Donegal in the Alfa - which
is a rare breed there!

Out on the western coast there were a few roads that were no-go for
the Alfa due (in the main) to adverse camber though settlement was
also an issue on the peat bogs. The Garmin satnav was absolutely
amazing - it appears to have *every* road and track in Donegal mapped.
It sometimes took us on *shortcuts* that a normal car would not have
blinked at but, in the Alfa, things were often a lot more exciting
and, frankly, tiring!

Some observations:

1/ UKP to Euro exchange rate of 1.22 was quite painful.
2/ Diesel in the ROI can be bought at 1.30 Euro but 1.30UKP here.
3/ 450 miles at an *average* rural speed of 31mph. Donegal average was
about 20mph!!! That was while trying to drive as hard as possible
without scraping the underside of the car!
4/ 46mpg
5/ P&O slightly scuffed my car by leaving a cone leaning on the
paintwork for the duration of a rough crossing. :-(
6/ Drove for 9/10 days and suffered between 10-20 underbody scrapes
and bangs each day. Most of the scrapes were at the
worst-of-the-UK-scrapes level of severity.
7/ Wife and bairn had to stay in the back seats for the duration west
of Letterkenny to try and keep weight away from the scraping front
end. Wife wasn't best pleased and felt frequently nauseous!
8/ Obligatory stone got trapped between the brake shield and disk.
That makes a superb bearing-about-to-fail-in-next-30-seconds metallic
screech. Reversing a couple of yards cured.

Most amazed by:

1/ Magnificent houses (put shame on the UK)
2/ Resiliency of Alfa polypropylene under tray - took everything
Donegal could throw at it and didn't budge or bits break off - it just
scuffed. Without it I would have burst the sump on several occasions
(for sure).
3/ Engine tractability - I'm not used to driving slow.
4/ Apart from one suicidal sheep that (when it saw the van - a Citroen
Berlingo - just ran straight towards it from 200m away in a bizarre
take on the game of chicken) they have a better road sense than many
human pedestrians!!!
5/ Citroen Berlingo - go anywhere (at any speed!) in Donegal without
scraping - I had a couple of amazing roller-coaster rides in one.

Most disappointed by:

1/ Alfa's idea of suspension and, in particular, body control. As a
direct comparison, a BMW was vastly, hugely, embarrassingly better.
:-(( Little wonder Alfas are rare in Donegal - if I stayed there I
wouldn't have one either. :-((
2/ Weather - wind, cold and rain *every* day FFS! :-(((

Back in the UK, I can breath a sigh of relief having got all the Dog
**** and **** and Sheep **** off the flanks of the car and now look
forward to a more serene and less sick inducing life with the Alfa
again! Shiny.

Phew..survived!

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

Zathras wrote:
> Just back from a 10 day overseas trip to Donegal in the Alfa - which
> is a rare breed there!
>
> Out on the western coast there were a few roads that were no-go for
> the Alfa due (in the main) to adverse camber though settlement was
> also an issue on the peat bogs. The Garmin satnav was absolutely
> amazing - it appears to have *every* road and track in Donegal mapped.
> It sometimes took us on *shortcuts* that a normal car would not have
> blinked at but, in the Alfa, things were often a lot more exciting
> and, frankly, tiring!

Went there in a hire car, hilarious innit>
>
> Some observations:
>
> 1/ UKP to Euro exchange rate of 1.22 was quite painful.
> 2/ Diesel in the ROI can be bought at 1.30 Euro but 1.30UKP here.
> 3/ 450 miles at an *average* rural speed of 31mph. Donegal average was
> about 20mph!!! That was while trying to drive as hard as possible
> without scraping the underside of the car!
> 4/ 46mpg

You *serious*? What do you normally get? And what year is it?
> 5/ P&O slightly scuffed my car by leaving a cone leaning on the
> paintwork for the duration of a rough crossing. :-(

*******s.
> 6/ Drove for 9/10 days and suffered between 10-20 underbody scrapes
> and bangs each day. Most of the scrapes were at the
> worst-of-the-UK-scrapes level of severity.
> 7/ Wife and bairn had to stay in the back seats for the duration west
> of Letterkenny to try and keep weight away from the scraping front
> end. Wife wasn't best pleased and felt frequently nauseous!

Ooh, did you go to the Hotel there?

> 8/ Obligatory stone got trapped between the brake shield and disk.
> That makes a superb bearing-about-to-fail-in-next-30-seconds metallic
> screech. Reversing a couple of yards cured.
>
> Most amazed by:
>
> 1/ Magnificent houses (put shame on the UK)
> 2/ Resiliency of Alfa polypropylene under tray - took everything
> Donegal could throw at it and didn't budge or bits break off - it just
> scuffed. Without it I would have burst the sump on several occasions
> (for sure).
> 3/ Engine tractability - I'm not used to driving slow.
> 4/ Apart from one suicidal sheep that (when it saw the van - a Citroen
> Berlingo - just ran straight towards it from 200m away in a bizarre
> take on the game of chicken) they have a better road sense than many
> human pedestrians!!!
> 5/ Citroen Berlingo - go anywhere (at any speed!) in Donegal without
> scraping - I had a couple of amazing roller-coaster rides in one.
>
> Most disappointed by:
>
> 1/ Alfa's idea of suspension and, in particular, body control. As a
> direct comparison, a BMW was vastly, hugely, embarrassingly better.
> :-(( Little wonder Alfas are rare in Donegal - if I stayed there I
> wouldn't have one either. :-((
> 2/ Weather - wind, cold and rain *every* day FFS! :-(((

Oh yes. You should try December. Then you should try Kerry airport for 6
hours with the Christmas tape...




--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:23:17 GMT, Catman
> wrote:

>Went there in a hire car, hilarious innit

In a hire car with damage waiver..yes. In my pride and joy..no! With
someone else driving a van, it's just as good as a roller coaster with
the added fun of no safety net!!

>> 4/ 46mpg

>You *serious*? What do you normally get? And what year is it?

Yes! 41mpg (7 year average of mostly urban and urban motorway with
weekend trips across country) and I *only* drive slowly if I think
there'll be no diesel at the stations en route due to strikes etc. I
still have the 2001 car. Its vitals are (approx) 32, 42, 52mpg and,
unlike more modern diesels, doesn't change too much regardless of use,
or abuse, of the loud pedal.

I've bleated on about just how good these 2001 2.4s are for years,
I've done 85miles from west of Glasgow (start at 18:30) up to Perth
and guess what the sat nav had as my door to door *average* (the one
including stops) speed when I didn't even think I was pushing
particularly hard?

>> 7/ Wife and bairn had to stay in the back seats for the duration west
>> of Letterkenny to try and keep weight away from the scraping front
>> end. Wife wasn't best pleased and felt frequently nauseous!
>
>Ooh, did you go to the Hotel there?

Nah, we were based at the Brother-In-Law's (hence the requirement to
visit!) house near Dungloe .

>> 2/ Weather - wind, cold and rain *every* day FFS! :-(((
>
>Oh yes. You should try December. Then you should try Kerry airport for 6
>hours with the Christmas tape...

LOL..December, July..what's the difference?? I'm told March to May are
the best months.

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

Zathras wrote:
> On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:23:17 GMT, Catman
> > wrote:
>
>> Went there in a hire car, hilarious innit
>
> In a hire car with damage waiver..yes. In my pride and joy..no! With
> someone else driving a van, it's just as good as a roller coaster with
> the added fun of no safety net!!



>
>>> 4/ 46mpg
>
>> You *serious*? What do you normally get? And what year is it?
>
> Yes! 41mpg (7 year average of mostly urban and urban motorway with
> weekend trips across country) and I *only* drive slowly if I think
> there'll be no diesel at the stations en route due to strikes etc. I
> still have the 2001 car. Its vitals are (approx) 32, 42, 52mpg and,
> unlike more modern diesels, doesn't change too much regardless of use,
> or abuse, of the loud pedal.

Hmmmm.
>
> I've bleated on about just how good these 2001 2.4s are for years,
> I've done 85miles from west of Glasgow (start at 18:30) up to Perth
> and guess what the sat nav had as my door to door *average* (the one
> including stops) speed when I didn't even think I was pushing
> particularly hard?

I'm in a tough spot ATM trying to decide to get my V6 LPGed or buy a diesel.
>
>>> 7/ Wife and bairn had to stay in the back seats for the duration west
>>> of Letterkenny to try and keep weight away from the scraping front
>>> end. Wife wasn't best pleased and felt frequently nauseous!
>> Ooh, did you go to the Hotel there?
>
> Nah, we were based at the Brother-In-Law's (hence the requirement to
> visit!) house near Dungloe .
>
>>> 2/ Weather - wind, cold and rain *every* day FFS! :-(((
>> Oh yes. You should try December. Then you should try Kerry airport for 6
>> hours with the Christmas tape...
>
> LOL..December, July..what's the difference?? I'm told March to May are
> the best months.

Yep, they have 10 minutes of sunshine


--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:59:30 GMT, Catman
> wrote:

>I'm in a tough spot ATM trying to decide to get my V6 LPGed or buy a diesel.

<evil mode> If you need *serious* performance without too much wallet
damage in regular use, how about the 2.4JTD with Nitrous Oxide
injection? :-) I understand that normal practice is to only inject
the nitro when you are flat and it's engaged. Otherwise, just behaves
like a normal car. Probably very silly and, being an Alfa, something
would break but..you only live once? </evil mode>

Back on planet earth, won't the LPG tank wipe out your boot space?

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

Zathras wrote:
> On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:59:30 GMT, Catman
> > wrote:
>
>> I'm in a tough spot ATM trying to decide to get my V6 LPGed or buy a diesel.
>
> <evil mode> If you need *serious* performance without too much wallet
> damage in regular use, how about the 2.4JTD with Nitrous Oxide
> injection? :-) I understand that normal practice is to only inject
> the nitro when you are flat and it's engaged. Otherwise, just behaves
> like a normal car. Probably very silly and, being an Alfa, something
> would break but..you only live once? </evil mode>
>

Very evil, and expensive

> Back on planet earth, won't the LPG tank wipe out your boot space?

Torroidal tank in the spare wheel well. I hardly ever carry much in the
boot of any use, anyway.



--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:52:52 GMT, Catman
> wrote:

>Torroidal tank in the spare wheel well. I hardly ever carry much in the
>boot of any use, anyway.

+ run-flats and pressure mon..job done!

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

Zathras wrote:
> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:52:52 GMT, Catman
> > wrote:
>
>> Torroidal tank in the spare wheel well. I hardly ever carry much in the
>> boot of any use, anyway.
>
> + run-flats and pressure mon..job done!
>
<g>

Gloop is what you need.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:43:24 GMT, Catman
> wrote:

>Zathras wrote:
>> On Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:52:52 GMT, Catman
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> Torroidal tank in the spare wheel well. I hardly ever carry much in the
>>> boot of any use, anyway.
>>
>> + run-flats and pressure mon..job done!
>>
><g>
>
>Gloop is what you need.

LOL..don't some tyre companies refuse to repair punctures if you've
glooped em (due to the mess IIRC)?

--
Z
Scotland
Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
'Oil' be seeing you..
(Email without 'Alfa' in subject will be auto-deleted..sorry!)

In article >,
says...
> On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:23:17 GMT, Catman
> > wrote:
>
> >Went there in a hire car, hilarious innit
>
> In a hire car with damage waiver..yes. In my pride and joy..no! With
> someone else driving a van, it's just as good as a roller coaster with
> the added fun of no safety net!!
>
> >> 4/ 46mpg
>
> >You *serious*? What do you normally get? And what year is it?
>
> Yes! 41mpg (7 year average of mostly urban and urban motorway with
> weekend trips across country) and I *only* drive slowly if I think
> there'll be no diesel at the stations en route due to strikes etc. I
> still have the 2001 car. Its vitals are (approx) 32, 42, 52mpg and,
> unlike more modern diesels, doesn't change too much regardless of use,
> or abuse, of the loud pedal.
>
> I've bleated on about just how good these 2001 2.4s are for years,
> I've done 85miles from west of Glasgow (start at 18:30) up to Perth
> and guess what the sat nav had as my door to door *average* (the one
> including stops) speed when I didn't even think I was pushing
> particularly hard?
>
> >> 7/ Wife and bairn had to stay in the back seats for the duration west
> >> of Letterkenny to try and keep weight away from the scraping front
> >> end. Wife wasn't best pleased and felt frequently nauseous!
> >
> >Ooh, did you go to the Hotel there?
>
> Nah, we were based at the Brother-In-Law's (hence the requirement to
> visit!) house near Dungloe .
>
> >> 2/ Weather - wind, cold and rain *every* day FFS! :-(((
> >
> >Oh yes. You should try December. Then you should try Kerry airport for 6
> >hours with the Christmas tape...
>
> LOL..December, July..what's the difference?? I'm told March to May are
> the best months.
>
>

My wife and I went to Ireland twice. We were in her MX5, which was ideal for
the roads - it's actually got better ground clearance than my 156! First time
was in July, started off wet in Dublin but by the time we got to Kerry the
tar was melting on the roads. Second time was at Easter - cold but sunny. I
think we'll quit while we're ahead!

--
Halmyre

That's you that is.