Am I Mad or Brave?!

Message

jayboy · #1 Post by **jayboy** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:16 am

I haven't used the bike for a while as the weather is crap, the bathroom has been gutted and replaced, (meaning I had to take the Falco to a friends for a holiday in their garage so it didn't get knocked over or scraped past or have stuff chucked onto it out of the bathroom window as it parks outside the back door.) and also, to fund this we have gone from 2 cars to one and shared the lift into work.
So, what Origin of car did I buy to be nice trouble-free, reliable transport over winter, Japanese? German? - no Italian!! I bought a 10 yr old Alfa Romeo 156 for £800 after deciding the cheap but dented Primera was "too boring"
Wondering if ebay is such a good idea now! HA HA

Touch wood (the steering wheel for starters - yuk!) she's pretty good.

HowardQ · #2 Post by **HowardQ** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 12:46 pm

Good choice!
I have a 2005 Alfa 156 JTD 2.4 20valve, had it for 4 years now, (bought at 8 months old).
Averages high 40s mpg going to work and has more torque than a standard 911 (284 Ft lbs plus 175 bhp). Can easlily get MPG into 50s and 60s on a steady run, even got 64.8 mpg going to work one day last week in heavy traffic
Goes like stink and I absolutely love it!
It's the best car I've ever had, hope yours is as good.

jayboy · #3 Post by **jayboy** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 4:01 pm

Only went for a 1.8 twinspark as I only wanted something cheap while I ploughed a few £k into the house, but apart from a few niggles I do quite like it. Not great on fuel though, but after having had a Passat TDi 130 for almost 2 years anything seems juicy
Has had new suspension arms before I bought it for the MOT, but is already creaking away 1000 miles later..
Very willing to rev the little thing is, and much more exciting than the 2.0 Primera we had for a bit, even though I know that would have been very reliable and was pretty good, average 36 mpg from a 2.0!
Interested in a JTD when I have a bit more dosh now.
Missing the bike though! Need a ride this weekend for sure.

BikerGran · #4 Post by **BikerGran** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 8:08 pm

Have to agree about the Primera, I have a 10 year old 2 litre model and it's boring. But I like boring when coming home from work in the wilds at 0100hrs, after my Maestro became unreliable! Every time my other half rides in it he says 'but it's quite quick" - he's right, it accelerates quite well but there's no sense of accelleration, it does it without any fuss and I'm often surprised by the speedo - but dodgy around speed cameras! Definitely boring, but I like it - but I'm old and I've done the fast and noisy bit, the best one was our rally prepared 116E.

HowardQ · #5 Post by **HowardQ** » Wed Dec 02, 2009 11:17 pm

If you do decide on a JTD later, the standard JTD is a good plodder with plenty of torque and good economy, but not too exciting, the 1.9 16V is nice and fun to drive, early ones have 130/140bhp, later ones 150, both are good.
There was an early 10 valve 2.4 JTD with 150 bhp, but if you can find a 20valve grab it, probably the most economical of the lot as it will pull 3rd gear at tickover and with 284ft lbs at 2000 revs you never need to rev it like you do the 16v. If you do put your foot down at anything from about 1500 revs, it goes like the proverbial off the shovel.
The 2.4 20v can be chipped to 220 bhp, by fitting the Brera 20v chip, as everything else is the same. Never got round to doing this as quick enough for an old fart like me as it is. Much quicker than my two previous V6 Vectras, which did half the MPG.
Sorry to go on

jayboy · #6 Post by **jayboy** » Thu Dec 03, 2009 8:45 am

No, no, don't worry, I like the info!

Must try one, that's plenty of torque, my Passat was pretty torquey but was also a bit on the boring side for handling, but was a beautiful mile-muncher.

JTD is very appealing if that quick and also economical..