New Alfa 3.2 V6 GT Review

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 14:49:29 +0100, Tom Boltwood >
wrote:

<snip>
>I, in turn, have no experience of the 156, but the 164QV is lowered and has
>a fairly larger overhang on the front wing that is maybe 4 or 5 inches at
>most off the ground. However, the suspension is like rock even when it's not
>in sport mode, so if the 156 is at all soft in suspension I guess that would
>explain it.

The 156 suspension is quite clever but it does have it's strengths and
weaknesses. It actually feels quite hard and jiggly on a Motorway, but
push it on lumpy roads and it feels surprisingly soft in comparison!

Biggest weakness is that certain road surfaces (particularly roads
that have settled with undulations) cause too much suspension travel
and the 156 (particularly but not exclusively heavy engine ones) start
to wallow and float and end stop at speed. More suspension control is
needed for these situations. Stiffer springs I think, but I'm no
suspension expert!

BTW, in case you think I must be talking about unclassified roads or
farm tracks, I can get my 156 to ground out on some Motorways!!! This
has been since new and is not the result of any faults or wear. Don't
get me started on the 'condition of UK roads debate'..pleeeeaaase!
Oh..and don't get me started on how much road/car etc taxes I pay but
never get spent on roads either! Huh!!

I think I'm getting even grumpier as I get older..age has got a lot to
do with it, I'm sure!!

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

Zathras wrote:

> Oh..and don't get me started on how much road/car etc taxes I pay but
> never get spent on roads either! Huh!!

About car taxes, a 156 2.4JTD costs 436932 dkr. The leather
interior (læderindtræk in danish) adds an extra 25000 dkr, giving
a grand total of 461932 dkr. With the current exchange rates it
translates to €62000 or £42500. The Sportwagon is an extra €4000
or £2500. You car check the danish prices here
<http://www.alfa-romeo.dk/pdf/Prisliste_alfa.pdf>.

How much did you pay for yours? :-)

--
Hygge..
Thomas

<http://www.carftp.com> - a library of car videos.

On Fri, 10 Sep 2004 22:57:09 +0200, Thomas Strandtoft
> wrote:

>Zathras wrote:
>
>> Oh..and don't get me started on how much road/car etc taxes I pay but
>> never get spent on roads either! Huh!!
>
>About car taxes, a 156 2.4JTD costs 436932 dkr. The leather
>interior (læderindtræk in danish) adds an extra 25000 dkr, giving
>a grand total of 461932 dkr. With the current exchange rates it
>translates to €62000 or £42500. The Sportwagon is an extra €4000
>or £2500. You car check the danish prices here
><http://www.alfa-romeo.dk/pdf/Prisliste_alfa.pdf>.
>
>How much did you pay for yours? :-)

17500UKP import and 20500UKP retail in 2001. I was really talking
about the running taxes..fuel duties, road tax etc.

I take your point about purchase price but to make any sense of it, I
need to know what the average income is in Denmark! Up in Scotland,
the last figures I can find is 22200UKP gross per annum for year 2002.
I doubt we're much higher than that now. :-(

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

Zathras wrote:

> 17500UKP import and 20500UKP retail in 2001. I was really talking
> about the running taxes..fuel duties, road tax etc.

We have those too..

Still, it's not a competition to see who has it worst, car taxes
generally tends to suck.. :-)

> I take your point about purchase price but to make any sense of it, I
> need to know what the average income is in Denmark! Up in Scotland,
> the last figures I can find is 22200UKP gross per annum for year 2002.
> I doubt we're much higher than that now. :-(

According to the official danish statistics, the average for the
private sector is £34500 and for the public sector it's £28000.

--
Hygge..
Thomas

<http://www.carftp.com> - a library of car videos.

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 12:10:51 +0200, Thomas Strandtoft
> wrote:

>Zathras wrote:
>
>> 17500UKP import and 20500UKP retail in 2001. I was really talking
>> about the running taxes..fuel duties, road tax etc.
>
>We have those too..
>
>Still, it's not a competition to see who has it worst, car taxes
>generally tends to suck.. :-)

Yes but does your government spend these taxes on transport or blow it
as a supplement of general taxation while roads and transport crumble?

>> I take your point about purchase price but to make any sense of it, I
>> need to know what the average income is in Denmark! Up in Scotland,
>> the last figures I can find is 22200UKP gross per annum for year 2002.
>> I doubt we're much higher than that now. :-(
>
>According to the official danish statistics, the average for the
>private sector is £34500 and for the public sector it's £28000.

That sounds like the Danish get paid a LOT more than us. I forgot to
say that the figure I gave is the average HOUSEHOLD income so it's not
an average individual salary. It wouldn't surprise me if the Danish
average household income was heading for 40000UKP up and this would
make the Alfa purchase fairly comparable in either country.

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

Zathras wrote:

> Yes but does your government spend these taxes on transport or blow it
> as a supplement of general taxation while roads and transport crumble?

The latter..

> That sounds like the Danish get paid a LOT more than us. I forgot to
> say that the figure I gave is the average HOUSEHOLD income so it's not
> an average individual salary. It wouldn't surprise me if the Danish
> average household income was heading for 40000UKP up and this would
> make the Alfa purchase fairly comparable in either country.

You could very well be right about that.. I thought jobs in
Brittain payed well, a couple of friends moved over there, and
they have a way bigger paycheck than I have..

--
Hygge..
Thomas

<http://www.carftp.com> - a library of car videos.

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 18:44:04 +0200, Thomas Strandtoft
> wrote:

>Zathras wrote:
>
>> Yes but does your government spend these taxes on transport or blow it
>> as a supplement of general taxation while roads and transport crumble?
>
>The latter..

Politicians..spit!

<Snip>
>I thought jobs in
>Brittain payed well, a couple of friends moved over there, and
>they have a way bigger paycheck than I have..

Quite possibly..but Britain doesn't pay big averages. The sums get
lower the further from London you travel too!

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

Yes.. also currently depressed at how undrivable my GTA is on many roads.
Already smashed the undertray. Having noted the comments about it being a
156 problem, I also found it to be the case in my old GTV (only the 2 litre
one).. got through 3 undertrays on that.
Does it do anything anyway?

SJB; 3.2GTA
"Zathras" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 18:19:24 +0200, Thomas Strandtoft
> > wrote:
>
> >Zathras wrote:
> >
> >> It's a real shame that Alfa feel unable to fix this as it's the same
> >> on my old 156. It removes a HUGE amount of the pleasure of driving
> >> them when you smash your sump and drop the oil, smash off the entire
> >
> >Sounds pretty nasty.. Have you ever considered changing dampers
> >and springs? I know Alfa has nurtured the suspension setting in
> >order to make the car drive great, but if the car isn't designed
> >for the crappy roads in your neighborhood, it might make sense to
> >try other solutions.
>
> I did consider certain possibilities but, I don't have the skills
> necessary to genuinely improve the suspension of a veloce (lowered)
> Alfa 156. The options I did look at (suspension mods etc) all led to
> compromises in other areas (comfort mainly, but handling too) that I
> wasn't happy with either. I've left it as the Italians designed it.
>
> >My home town is the epicenter for bad asphalt, the streets are
> >littered with potholes, speed bumps, metal plates and that sort of
> >crap. I bought Bilstein shocks made for rallying, it actually came
> >with mounting instructions that said "If you reckon on jumping a
> >lot with the car, mount these nylon straps to catch the wheel in
> >order to save the shocks the strain". Coupled with a set of
> >swedish produced springs, the car was actually raised 8-10 mm. It
> >was a blast to drive, you could totally ignore anything smaller
> >than boulders, just keeping the loud pedal floored and flying over
> >obstacles..
>
> Even the *thought* of 'jumping' a 156 brings tears to my eyes - you'd
> just break it!
>
> >Then ofcourse, it wasn't an alfa, just a "swedish brick", so you
> >might treat your car more tenderly.. :-)
>
> Got it in one!
>
> --
> Z
> Scotland
> Alfa Romeo 156 2.4JTD Veloce Leather
> 'Oil' be seeing you..
> (Email without 'Alfa' in subject are auto-deleted..sorry!)

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 09:37:32 GMT, "Steve Byatt"
> wrote:

>Yes.. also currently depressed at how undrivable my GTA is on many roads.
>Already smashed the undertray. Having noted the comments about it being a
>156 problem, I also found it to be the case in my old GTV (only the 2 litre
>one).. got through 3 undertrays on that.
>Does it do anything anyway?

Don't know about the GTV but it's essential on a 156 that is likely to
bottom out. If you hit the sump area, having the tray appears to give
you a FAR better chance of not holing it.

As a matter of interest, did your GTA have the new style plastic
undertray or the older fibreboard one?

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