Drove an Alfa Romeo today...

[extralarge]

Shopping around for Astra Turbos' and SRIs' lately, and strode accross an Alfa 156 '00 at $20k drive away.

First impressions - timeless design in and out. Immediately forgot the astra's interior.. absorbed the alfa's.

Eventually, the salesman convinced me to test drive it - what a quality gearbox, smooth revving, and brisk.

Faster than an astra 1.8 in reality and on par with the 2.2 sri, this car felt surprisingly quick for a 2.0. torque kick in from 4.5 revs sang beautifully and gave the identical feeling of acceleration as the astra 2.0t. Much better sound.

Corning was spot on, comparable to the bmw 3 series despite the fwd (thanks to double wishbones?). Very stable body with minimal body roll.

in all... an amazing car to drive, every second throughly enjoyable, every moment unforgettable.

then i went to drive the 156 selespeed, alfa romeo gtv (2 dr gt coupe). Didn't get a chance to drive the 'legendary' v6 (0-100kmh 6.5s) as the last one was sold yesterday. driving the other alfas was another story, but all provided the same pleasurable experience.

Anybody had similar experiences with alfas or other cars?

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[sijay]

Yup... I drove the 156 selespeed when i was looking for a turbo also... honestly the interior didnt do a helluva lot for me - seemed a bit "old man-ish" maybe a bit simple, dunno, just not 100% me - but forgot all about that when I sailed around an S bend at about 95 and she just clung to the road. Beautiful handling... came down to three factors really... a) It was second hand against Brand New (never bought brand new before) b) I would grow tired of selespeed after awhile and miss 'the driving experience' of a manual. c) Ring your local alfa mechanic and get some basic prices on things that are likely to be worn on the old girl (be seated when doing so!) All up im happy as with my coice, but no doubt te alpha is a very fine machine... much more comparable to the Astra than the rex IMHO (as most ppl like to do)

[Anonymous]

Twin Spark 156 is a great car better handling than V6. but ive driven the V6....wow. a great drivers car with the usual Alfa querks that give it a lot of personality.
but then again ive grown up with them

[Jass]

never seen a pic of this ones. Only seen the 147's.

[Degen-Astra]

I was actually looking at an Alfa 147 GTA when i was looking around for my current car. But it was the one that would put me in the most debt. :shock:

But F**K!! Alfa's = Nice!!

[ultim8DTM5]

The new coupe really turns a few heads!

[01CDsedan]

I was really disappointed when I checked out the interiors of the 147 and 156 late last year....talk about cheap and nasty. Not for $50k, no thanks.

[Seus]

I was really disappointed when I checked out the interiors of the 147 and 156 late last year....talk about cheap and nasty. Not for $50k, no thanks.

Australia is the only place they are considered luxury/boarderline
in italy and europe is a different story