Due to a new job i have to but a car rather than my trusty old van as i will be covering big miles, im looking to buy an alfa romeo GT (i know about alfas reputation but every petrolhead must own a v6 alfa at some point) my question is will two bike go easily in the back?

i used to fit two bike in my classic corrado but it was tight

any advice appreciated

cheers

rob

Just like my brother who had to buy a 156 GTA. It looks very nice, is very quick and has all the gizmo’s of a much more expensive car. Shame it seems to have constant issues and is currently off the road. On the plus side, he is saving lots of money by not having to buy petrol to support the 20mpg he averages.

Very comfortable for longer distances, but I hope you aren’t paying the petrol!?

Oh, and he will never transport bikes in the back (even though there is a huge boot), and I think he will commit suicide before putting a bike rack / roof rack on it!

Indeed i will be sporting a company fuel card to feed it and im also exeptionaly anal about the condition of my cars, perhaps the old astravan might have to stay in order to preserve my perfect red leather interior 😮 oh yes and i have been reading bad things about the v6 today, might buy the JTD and get it remaped……will be quicker at real world speeds than the V6 anyhow 😈

I like the idea of an alfa gt, have only glanced at them but plenty of space for bikes in there.. They share a lot of parts with the 147 so plenty of forum support.

The thing to remember is that every alfa ever built has some fairly serious flaws but if you appreciate the charisma you will for give it. That petrolhead quote is a load of rubbish, it just shows you can suffer for your passion.

IIRC it’s technically a 3 door hatch, I’m sure with the back seats down it’ll swallow a couple of bikes quite easily.

I’m tempted to get a 159 SW for my next car but the frequent cambelt changes are a bit off-putting. 36k interval when I had my 156 a few years back. But I don’t remember ever having one done on my boxer engined 146, and I put 120k miles on that over 5 years (other than under warranty when the water pump failed)

There’s nothing wrong with his engine, it’s other things. The electrics don’t like getting wet, it goes through front tyres every few miles as there is probably too much power for a front wheel drive car. When things go wrong, the Alfa Romeo garages are hopeless. In fact, the first time it went to a garage, they “put” it on the back of a lorry. The result was an extra 30 miles on the odometre and no fuel left in the tank, he was not pleased- the garage could not account for the extra mileage and I think eventually were forced to pay up. When stuff goes wrong, it costs too much to repair. The standard exhaust on it was something like £700 without fitting, replacement standard brakes were about the same- so for both he went aftermarket.

But he will never sell it- like you he wanted to own an Alfa. I reckon it has spent more time off the road than on the road in the last 2 years. Despite that, he wants to get a smaller petrol 156 to get him to work and back. Then again, he has always had a skewed opinion on cars- a Fiesta XR2, a Ford Capri and now a 156 GTA…all memorable cars in their own right but not exactly the most reliable choice!

well there we have it, im sold on the GT, have wanted one for a while anyway and the insurance is reasonable for me and my youthfull age (especialy combined with 6 points)but the more i think about it i have to go JTD if im stomping up and down to aberdeen from newcastle etc……cant see my new boss being overly amused about fueling a v6 lol
now to decide if i keep the little 1.7dti van, i would most likley cry if i sell it!! and i didnt even cry when i sold my mk1 gold GTi!

Buy one, there a great car, drive really well, i have been an alfa tech since i left school, they don’t go wrong if you look after them.

With seats down you should get 2 bikes in easily enough. I used to own a 159 SW and looked at the GT when I was choosing and a ‘must have’ was space for bikes which it seemed to satisfy.

I had a GT for about 3 years, I fitted a detachable towbar and used a rack which worked great, one bike easily fits in the boot with the rear seats down but it was a bit of a squeeze to get two in and kit. Excellent car would still have it if some numpty hadn’t pulled out on me and it got written off…

Contrary to popular opinion, the V6 Milano engine is pretty much unburstable. I had a 2.5 in my old 156 and it was an incredible machine, all the better for sounding like a 1970s Formula One car. Also contrary to popular opinion, post 1999 Alfa Romeos have Bosch electrics and not Magnetti Marelli and thus are probably just as reliable as a similar aged VW or Audi.

You’ll need to keep on top of the suspension maintenance, as instead of replacing bushings, you have to replace the wishbones as they’re all one unit but if you shop around online you can get them ridiculously cheaply. An Alfa GT is simply a slightly longer 147, which is itself a stubby 156.

Now for the bad news. The V6 has a drink problem. If you cane it, you’ll be lucky to see 20mpg. The other weak point is the Bosch air mass meters, which are very sensitive and die quickly if you install an aftermarket air filter. So don’t. Alfa dealers are really, really bad places to go, so find an independent specialist and you should be fine.

The V6 Alfas don’t handle that well though. They’re 9/10ths of being great driver’s car but they simply didn’t spend enough time at chassis finishing school. If you take it by the scruff of the neck down bumpy country roads then any hot hatch from the 1980s onwards will have you for breakfast. The damping is ripe for upgrading if you want to drive it like a 3 series.

To put matters into some perspective, I’ve owned a 1999 Alfa 156 and a 1991 VW Golf. One went expensively wrong every six months and cost a fortune to keep on the road, the other was Italian.

The V6 is a great engine but the diesel makes sense.

I’m sure your company accountant will raise a look at your fuel bill.

My wife and I have had 5 Alfa’s between us ranging from a 1.6 147 and a 155 V6, 2 x 156’s and now a 147q2.

Only the q2 had ever had a problem and that was a broken mount for one of the injectors and a failed egr valve.

The 147 q2 has been remapped and now out outs more torque than a petrol v6 so is great fun. By diesel standards though it is still not very economical and returns 38mpg average.

To conclude they are no less reliable than other cars but do lose a fair amount of money quickly!

I’m sure your company accountant will raise a look at your fuel bill.

More fuel equals more tax…

tbh From what I understand (a riding buddy is an Alfa man), the GT is based on old technology (156) and consequentially not as reliable as newer Alfa’s – he had a V6, and the crankshaft ‘floated’, after 90k, writing it off.

He’s got a Brera now, and that’s not been problem-free either…

Just like my brother who had to buy a 156 GTA… Oh, and he will never transport bikes in the back (even though there is a huge boot),

A 156 doesn’t have a huge boot – you would have to take the bike apart to get it in there.

I lay my bike in the boot of my GT with the front wheel off – I use a tarp to cover the floorpan/seats/side trim. You could lay another on top, but it is getting tight.

You could also mount a towrack carrier, but you can’t use a roofrack on the GT.

The GT is based on more 147 technology I think – and the V reg and onward 156s were more reliable – my T reg 156 had problems, my V reg 156 was great.

I bought this GT as older and the first bill was large as I had everything they could find fixed.

I got a 2.0 JTS as I liked the feel of the engine over a diesel. The JTS has a lot better performance than the old twin spark in the 156 below 2.75 K revs.

Drives great at road legal speeds 🙂

This is making me think a GT JTD is tempting… Dammit.

Just make sure you get a 3 year warranty 🙂