General Comments:
Looks stunning with the shape and concealed rear handles making it a sexy family saloon car with the look of a 2 door coupe.
Handling is very good, with better road holding than my previous car which was a Nissan Almera GTi. The down side being a rough ride over anything, but perfect roads. Also find quite a lot of road noise makes it into the cabin, but if I was worried about that I would have bought an Audi.
Interior still looks like new, with the only squeak coming from the seat belt holder touching the leather seat.
Performance from the 2 litre twinspark is fairly good. K&N air filter has added a real growl to the engine, and once she hits 5700 rpm takes on a completely different note, almost VTEC like. fuel economy is worse than expected with 25-27 mpg being the norm. Maybe somthing to do with the sound of the engine when you have got the pedal buried in the carpet.
The selespeed gearbox is good fun to play with. The fast changes above 5000 rpm are a bit harsh, but only those that do not appreciate sports car performance will complain. First couple of changes from cold can be a bit jerky, but once warm they can be as smooth as an auto box. Just a bit of a shame that it forces a change at around 6800 rpm. Would be nice to squeeze that last 200 rpm (or maybe a bit more) out of her.
Reliability issues do worry me, especially having read the reviews on this site. The previous owner handed me bills for over £4000. This included new gearbox at 18000 miles, new top end on the engine at 28,000 miles as a result of broken cambelt, and a variety of other odd bits at the 30,000 mile service. I just hope the 1st owner troubles have been sorted now.
23rd Aug 2007, 10:28
As much as I love the Alfa 156, I don't think my previous V6 would have kept up with my current Nissan 200sx at the traffic light grand prix..
The noise the Alfa makes is far better though..