ALFAGTV6.COM

[Mats]

Body roll has always been one of Alfas strongest characteristics...

[SimonB]

I reckon the 370Z is inspired by Nissan's technicians reading about the big bore engines on this forum! They are trying to make sure that not too many Z drivers get burned off by 25 year old Alfas in SA. I wonder if the Alfa will stretch any more...

[Zamani]

Alfa build a new engine???

So it will skip belts, and snap belts, leak oil and have premature valve guide wear?

If I were Alfa I would source out a reliable engine and put some time into the heads. Face it, Alfa is in no position to be designing new engines.

I guess they could use FIAT engines, and run through main bearings every 5 miles like the TS16Vs.

[MD]

For a thread offically declared closed, this one doesn't seem to wanna die..

What we need is to ressurrect the brilliant Hungarian born engineer, Vittorio Jano who designed the P3 and kicked butt in his time. The new boys on the block need to learn from the masters and then think for themselves and get creative...

-and Alfa Romeo, you want more sales ? More turnover? More support ? Listen to your customers...

[GarthW]

The 8C..?

Well i've watched the Top Gear episode where Jeremy drives it, we said the handling was like a mustang lol, the engine is from a maserati, but in the end he said he would still have one, for they simply look gorgeous. And sounds very nice indeed, but in the end he was very disapointed with the balance and handling...

They then had the Stig drive it in the wet, and damn me it was wet, so second slowest lap time it achieved on that track.

What did jeremy say about it at the end of segment, "Hang it on a wall, thats all its good for."

Sorry but for me personally i'd never buy a new Alfa, not till the rear wheel drives come out after 2010!!!

[hardalfa]

Jeremy Clarkson is full of shit. I saw that same test he did on the 8c and he seemed for and against at the same time. Personally i'm still stuck in the 80 's as far as alfas go until alfa reverts back to something rear wheel or four wheel drive.

[Zamani]

Jeremy Clarkson is sometimes full of sh*te. He drives an NSX on Laguna Seca a few seconds slower than me in my 183 bhp 75 3.0 . Sometimes he is ok, but this time he is definitely wrong. He is sort of an entertainer/car enthusiast. I like watching him on Top Gear though, very entertaining. Just that you have to take what he says with 2-3 buckets of salt sometimes.

Besides, lots of testers liked the 8C.

[Duk]

Alfa build a new engine???

So it will skip belts, and snap belts, leak oil and have premature valve guide wear?

Alfa could just go and get their hands on just about any Japanese engine built in the last 20 years and see how they did some of the basic stuff, what materials they used and then build themselves an engine plant that is as automated as possible so they can have something vaguely resembling quality control.
Same said for the whole car really

[Fernando]

Too true Mike,Alfa need a Jano or Paul Rosche.

My nephew is getting to the age where he is trying to make up his mind as to what his first Alfa is going to be.My brainwashing works wonders I know...

Currently it's the Alfa GT that is tugging his 13 year old heart strings.Just hope that by the time he is eligible to drive Alfa is back to building true drivers cars like our GTV6's.

[Mats]

Jeremy Clarkson is full of shit. I saw that same test he did on the 8c and he seemed for and against at the same time. Personally i'm still stuck in the 80 's as far as alfas go until alfa reverts back to something rear wheel or four wheel drive.

Ever herad of the Q4 version of Alfas? 155, 156, 159. All 4WD.

[Giuliettaevo2]

155 Q4 1460 kg and 190 bhp didn't do it for me... Bought one a few years ago but got rid of it when i found out it wasn't as much fun as i expected it to be. It also didn't help the Q4 that my daily car was a '74 Alfetta sedan with a 3.0 in it.

Most new Alfa's are too heavy. Beemer platform would definetly be better as some American platform, mostly because we actually have corners here in Europe. If we would only drive in a straight line the american option could become an option.

[mjr]

personally I wouldnt waste my cash on new alfas. eg, here in the uk, you will pay 14-15k for 2-3 year old Gt v6, yet you can buy an M3 or Audi s3 for 11-12k. No brainer for me, who the heck in their right mind would choose the alfa over either of them?!

[ferrari_f50_2]

ey garth thanks for the spin u have a sweet car . You got that small problem with your turbo fixed?

[PietereQ]

The best thing we can hope for the future is getting RWD Alfas using GMs Cadillac or new Camaro platforms.

Actually alfa is rumored to use BMW RWD platform, in exchange bmw getting the fiat "small diesel technology".

I need to correct myself. That's what i found on wiki about new platforms

Sergio Marchionne, a fan of component sharing, entered talks with Daimler in October 2007. Daimler wanted a partner who specialised in small cars to develop a new platform that would be used as a base for the next generation of Mercedes-Benz and Smart small cars. In return, Fiat would gain access to Mercedes' rear wheel drive platforms. For a while it looked almost certain that a deal was going to go through, with the 169 to be based on the next gen Mercedes E-class. However in December 2007, after almost two months of negotiations, the talks broke down. Daimler stated 'differences of opinion' as the main reason for the failure to come to an agreement.

Almost as soon as those talks ended yet another platform sharing rumour was started. Tata, India's largest manufacturer, had emerged as the lead bidder for the purchase of Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford. Tata and Fiat have had an agreement in place to produce cars together in India since 2006, while Ratan Tata is a member of the Fiat Group board. The rumour was that in return for advising Tata on how to run a premium car company (something that Tata has never done before), Alfa Romeo would gain access to the excellent Jaguar XF platform. In March 2008 Tata officially gained ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover with Sergio Marchionne starting talks with Tata about the possible usage of the platform. Little news concerning the usage of the XF platform has come to light since then, but it seems as if this is still an option under consideration. Most recently there has been a hint that Alfa Romeo will indeed develop its own rear wheel drive platform. The replacement for the 159, rumoured to be launched at the end of 2011, will be rear wheel drive, while recent news concerning the new Alfa Romeo 149 indicates a move away from platform sharing by Alfa Romeo. Comments made by Luca De Meo in June 2008 confirmed that Alfa Romeo had ruled out using the Maserati Quattroporte's chassis. He said that Alfa 'were still looking at sharing with other manufacturers' however the announcement of development being put back a yeat does suggest that a new platorm will be developed.

Aww it would be wonderful if alfa could do finally something on it's own, even if it's platform for starters

[lucass81]

Other problem today is that Alfa aint the Alfa it used to be. Back in the days they had racing technology aplied on street cars. Alfa were special cars built using the experience gained on the track. But we cant ask to much.