And if so, which model and what impressions??

No but driven the Mito, well screwed together and much nicer than the new Mini.

Alfa = proper cars!

No but driven the Mito

Ahh, but the Mito doesn't come with a free Uma Thurman, now, does it?

No, but Autocar gave it a good write up a few weeks back – it treads a good compromise between tha Focus and Golf. Seems like Alfa's back in the game with this car, after underdelivering on so many of its predecessors.

The advert for it is so vacuous, stupid and BS-filled that I thought it was a spoof at first!

Pity emissions regs mean it will never see a twin spark motor…

ETA
Car advert vacuous BS content – not breaking new ground there then…!

Haven't seen any ads run on TV

Alfa = used to be proper cars until the mid 90s!

EFA

If this car is any good, I'll be both amazed and relieved. Alfa has been peddling average GM cars in drag then selling them as "sporty" for too long.

FWIW the 159 is a superb car (once you get it remapped). Build quality is right up there with the Germans these days I reckon.

Car advert vacuous BS content – not breaking new ground there then…!

Granted, car ads are pretty stupid most of the time but the Giulietta one is SO stupid that I honestly thought it was a joke – only when I'd seen it three times, could I believe that it was real…

If you haven't seen it yet:

Thanks for that clubber!

I'm sure multimillionaire superstar Uma is always seen in a mid range hatch 😉

Indeed… And for an actress that typically I quite like I just find it unwatchable knowing that it's serious. Guess it says a lot for the intelligence or lack thereof that Alfa think their target market has… 🙂

No but driven the Mito, well screwed together and much nicer than the new Mini.

Totally. The New Mini (it's a bit like saying 'New Labour') is 'orrible by comparison:

Elfinsafety approves.

Pity emissions regs mean it will never see a twin spark motor…

"Proper" Twin Spark hasn't been seen in an Alfa for years: "Twin Spark" as many know it is/was just a rebadged, bored-out Fiat 1.8 with an Alfa head and 8 horribly expensive spark plugs.

The Giuletta is nice, but jolly expensive. Get a bit indulgent with the options list and a Cloverleaf model, and you're edging towards £30K for a 4-pot hatchback.

Alfa has been peddling average GM cars in drag then selling them as "sporty" for too long.

Really? If you'd said FIAT then I'd find it hard to contest the point.

How long is too long? Certainly the 159 / Brera models were based on a joint platform developed with GM, and there was a lot of fuss when the Alfa V6 was dropped for the Brera and replaced with a GM block V6 and Alfa head…

Cross company platform development is pretty common in the motor industry.

I miss my Alfa 🙁

1990 33 boxer 16v cloverleaf

what a wonderful noise it made!

Dave

Certainly the 159 / Brera models were based on a joint platform developed with GM…"

Saab, to be precise. Who them abandoned it due to costs, leaving Alfa to go it alone.

Certainly the 159 / Brera models were based on a joint platform developed with GM…"

Saab, to be precise. Who them abandoned it due to costs, leaving Alfa to go it alone

… and I don't think anyone other than Alfa have released any products of that platform development – so no GM versions of it are around.

That's why I couldn't work out what smurf mat was on about… Alfa palming off GM cars as sporty…??

The previous collaboration between Fiat group and Saab gave rise to the Saab 9000 / Alfa 164 – but that was before GM bought Saab.

And the 155 / 156 / GT / 147 line were based on derivations of the Tipo platform.

It's true that the last few generations of Alfa's have had their weaknesses, but the same could be said for many of their peers.

I don't think the question should be has anyone test driven an Alfa but has anyone driven 50k miles in one….

I find them beautifully styled & great when new but longevity concerns particularly squeek & rattle resistance. Loved my 147 to look at but damn pleased it was a company car.

It's one of the few cars I've seen and seriously thought I want one of those.

I wouldn't get rid of my GTV though, love it and approaching 100,000 miles

I don't think the question should be has anyone test driven an Alfa but has anyone driven 50k miles in one….

I find them beautifully styled & great when new but longevity concerns particularly squeek & rattle resistance. Loved my 147 to look at but damn pleased it was a company car.

But is that really much different from any other manufacturer?? I don't see a preponderance of Fiats / Alfas sat on the hard shoulder…

Alfa's reputation may have been deserved at one stage (fixing that date would be a debate in itself…) but how many of the recent Alfa's peers have been significantly better?? – don't forget 147 is a 10 year old model…

We've currently got a Ford S Max – great car & concept, but build quality is poor.

Previously had Renault Scenic – truly awful in every respect, Merc C Class – well built, but certainly not perfect, BMW 3 Series – nicely balanced drive but very ordinary in every other respect.

Three cars that stand out in my "car history" are

Golf Gti Mk 5 – excellent in most respects, but so competent it wasn't fun at normal road speeds,

Alfa 156 Sportwagon – beautiful, reliable and sounded gorgeous, would just look out of the office window to look at the damn thing,

and my best ever car…

a bright red 309 GTi

I've only had a 156 and a 147 Selespeed both go great with great handling.

I've had loads of other non Alfa cars and I can gurantee they feel different so I disagree they are normal GM type cars

but has anyone driven 50k miles in one….

Yes I have and both of mine were a couple of years old when I bought them. Other than preventative maintenance they are just as reliable as anything else and they drive great.
However the same old drivel spouted about reliability, build quality etc keeps the second hand prices down!!!

As an aside I was late getting into work this morning held up by a 2010 Mercedes broken down in the Mersey tunnel!

I've had 3 Alfasuds, great to drive but all suffered from rot and poor reliabilty.

Brother has a 156 Tourer, had loads for problems with brakes, servo and calipers mainly. Nice to drive though and looks superb.

sorry to the op but ill continue the general off topicness of this tread!

Ive just been sad to see my 1.6 twinspark 147 go after 72,000 fault free miles (well nothing out of the ordinary)

Just replaced it with a mito multiair 135. Multiair has to be driven to be believed, its got a super human amount of torque for a 1.4 turbo. I do miss the higher redline on the Tspark though.

I'm from an 'alfa family', as sad as it is that the new spider is really a GM the 3.2 sounds bloody fantastic!!

The 1.9JTD unit used in the majority of Alfas – the very same Fiat sourced GM block used by Saab and Vauxhall. An engine is quite a major part of a car IMO.

I have known many people with Alfas. I have hired a 147 diesel and tested a 147 GTA – they just do nothing for me. All FWD apart from the horrendously heavy AWD Brera, all tinny, all overstyled, none properly quick yet they are meant to be a sporty brand. And all have been terrible for reliability – from a 155 2.5 to a 156 V6 to more recent 159s.

The last proper Alfa was the GTV IMO – since then they've just been completely outclassed by almost every other brand. The looks are Marmitey – I find them contrived and too "try hard."

This upsets me as I used to love Alfas. Similar with Audis. While Audis are well made and some are rapid, too many are just rebadged VWs and too many are FWD and the choice of the wannabee "executive." Style over substance – I'd rather have a Ford/Honda/Vauxhall than a base spec Audi – of course the higher end models are a lot better but IMO a marque is defined by it's mainstream brands.

You own a Jimny. 'nuff said.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that GM thing SM…

GM / Saab collaboration with Fiat group on engine / platform development is far from the same as stating that Alfa have been

peddling average GM cars in drag then selling them as "sporty" for too long

Which is, as I'm sure you realise, incorrect.

Fiat pioneered common rail diesels and the 1.9JTD and multijet are the product of that development process.

You own a Jimny. 'nuff said.

You know nothing about off roaders. And it's Mrs Matt's. Nuff said.

Actually rkk – the Alfa unit is almost identical to the Saab/Vx unit. The JTD is not a development – it has less torque for it's bhp than the Vx version for a start.

1.9JTD unit used in the majority of Alfas

Wasn't that once fitted to the slowest accelerating car then on sale in the UK (in its normaly aspirated guise)?

Not sure but in Alfa's favour, the multiair system seems a good one.

Wasn't that once fitted to the slowest accelerating car then on sale in the UK (in its normaly aspirated guise)?

In 8v, possibly N/A form fitted to the Fiat Doblo, yes.

My mates review of the Cloverleaf

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/firstdrives/256549/alfa_giulietta_cloverleaf.html

the Alfa unit is almost identical to the Saab/Vx unit

But – is that because the Alfa is a rebadged Vauxhall, or because Fiat group have sold GM their engine technology???*
.
.
.
.
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. * or more accurately, entered into a joint R&D process and share the products???

Houns – not that impressed then?!

My mates review of the Cloverleaf

The comments make more interesting reading than the review – and tell their own story 😉

The Autocar review against the Golf and Focus reads very objectively though.

I've got no point to make for or against – hence the original question as to whether anyone has driven one

Anyone here think Smurf-mat ought to offer his services to the Beeb as a replacement for the Stig? After all with all his in-depth experience driving cars he ought to be a shoe-in.

Alfa's Multiair is the same as Fiat's Stop/Start – it's the same system just rebadged.

Alfa had a poor rep once as there was some trade war between Italy and the UK…all Italy's trade was effectively impounded – the Alfa's sat in huge fields as the UK refused to ship them back – so they sat there and weathered the 'storm' – then once the trade embargo/feud ended they were sold…resulting in a large number suffering rusting issues and reliability problems as they had sat stationery and unserviced for the best part of 15 months.

From what I can tell, the power plant is solely developed by Fiat but sold to many manufacturers (Alfa/Saab/Vauxhall/GM guise) – it's a Fiat power unit but once handed over the manufacturer makes tweaks to change the performance.

I really like the look of Alfas…the Mito I can leave (it's an expensive Punto) but the larger models are very nice.

That is as unbiased as I can be as I currently own an 07 Fiat Bravo Sport and love it…

Last real Alfa was the 75, built on the Gtv/2000 platform. RWD, gearbox over back axle, inboard discs.

I had a 3l 200 bhp top of the range version in black. It was a true thunderwagon, and with its aftermarket ansa exhaust, it sounded fantastic.

Individual, unsusal drivers car. Broke my heart to see one like it trashed by Clarkson. Also had a Sud Sprint 1.5, a 33 Cloverleaf, and a Gtv2000, all of which were in their own way, ace.

Hopefully they've not engineered the soul out of the modern ones.

Alfa's Multiair is the same as Fiat's Stop/Start – it's the same system just rebadged.

Eh? Stop/Start is just that: you stop, engine stops. Clutch down, engine starts, you start.

Multiair is a system which continuously varies intake valve lift/duration/timing (or two from those three: not sure which) via electo/hydraulic means, doing away with the throttle body.

rkk01 how can you honestly say a 309 gti french tin can was the best car you ever had?

only kidding ;O)