28.1mpg.....

Obviously not 'drivers', then.

The only ones who say 'never again' want a kitchen appliance, not a car.

That's *fun*.

hmmm

First two letters were right, the rest should have been *cking dangerous and typical of alfa ownership

Most interiors are ripped out of the Audi A3, ISTR. Even though they tweak suspension, most people couldn't tell a Seat from a VW or Skoda on the road, and they don't even touch the engine.

Obviously they'll improve now they've poached the head designer from Alfa.

See above.

It's a tough choice. Competent, reliable and dull against tempremental and fun. You take your chances.

Now you're talking. Very good car - I'll have one, but only when they reach less than £2k.

At this point I can tell you know absolutely bog-all about the subject.

Heh.

No rubber in my interiors, lots of shiny brittle plastic, but no rubber

- that's a VAG speciality.

JTS was Fiat designed.

Unfortunately, yes, the new V6 may well be GM derived, but I reckon a good working over by the Alfa engineers will see a vastly improved head on it. That's if it happens at all, GM look like they're going to bail out. Yay!

Alfa do a little more than tweak it - and they have a pretty good platform to start with.

GM and build quality in the same sentence. Don't make me laugh.

You obviously know little beyond miniscule running costs of a s**te old Kent engine in a teapot shell.

I think I'll just ignore anything you have to say on the subject now.

Ah yes, fiat group designers... Chris Bangle anyone????

You've not driven a Leon Cupra R then? Totally different throttle response and handling, and interior and shell than anything VW.

Mine specced in at 26k odd, 2.5l manual, bought the Rover instead thinking it would be more reliable...

That "stuff" they made the Mk4 golf dashboard from is just odd. Always stinks, never cleans, feels like dead skin.

Hmmm, are you south african? or did you actually MEAN Kent?

The interior is lifted straight from an A3, isn't it? - at least the last Leon I looked at seemed to be that way.

Kent, as in the wheezy old pushrod engine Ford have been producing for years.

agreed

but it's a Mk4 Escort, even I who likes Fords, wouldn't buy one of those..

I've had 110 on the clock in a Ka., but could I f*ck as like get it over 103 with the AC on :o)

Because Diesel is very important in Europe. Alfa have had diesels for the last 15 years or so. Even Jaguar have diseasels now :-(

BMW sell more 3 series now than Ford sell Mondeos.. We've got 3 series BM's on the hire car fleet.

Oi, some Fords were great 20 years ago.. 2.8i Capri, 2.8i Granada... most 20 year old Alfas were s**te.

Alfa 6, anyone? or maybe a god awful 33?, How about an Arna? GTV6's were nice though.

Something I disagree with wholeheartedly. I love Alfa 75s - well, the 3.0 anyway, but I'd much rather drive a 147 than a 33, or a 156 than a 155. I'd rather have a GT than a GTV an all. The Lampredi lump was a good one, but the later 16v Fiat based one has as much character as any engine is allowed to nowadays, is nice and powerful, good on fuel, and fitted to nice cars on the whole. Thinking about it, I can't think of a current Alfa I'd not own happily (apart from a 156 Selespeed)

In news: snipped-for-privacy@uni-berlin.de, DervMan decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

early 155s do. The widebody ones are *ACE*.. 145s were a bit rubbery too.

I quite like my narrowbody 155. It's very 'loose' - back end will slide around nicely. Admittedly it rolls far too much for it's own good, but it doesn't stop me piloting it at quite silly speeds on the commute, and the slidey rear end makes it a huge giggle.

The "Kent" engine never had siamesed inlet / exhaust ports, and you could set the tappets using the "rule of 9", it was mainly UK produced, and went out of production in the mid 80's in the OHV Escorts and Orions. The BDA was based on the Kent, as was the Twin Cam used in stuff like the Lotus Cortina. It was available from 1100cc to 1600cc. A highly tuned 1800cc version was used in Roger Clarks London - Mexico Mk1 Escort because it was more reliable than the TC or BDA engines and would run on s**te fuel. Kents were fitted in Escorts, Fiestas, Capris, Transits, and, amusingly, the Anglia. It wasn't even originally a crossflow engine..

The Valencia engine was the european equivalent, totally gutless, totally lacking in torque had siamesed exhaust ports and was usually found in s**te like Fiestas and Mk3 Escorts. The Mk2 Fiesta you had will have been a Valencia lump. I suspect the Ka engine was based more on the Valencia than the Kent.

The Kent was used in the Mk1 1300 and 1600 Fiestas, I'm pretty sure it died with them.

I could, however, be wrong..