Because some of the smaller engined cars are better to drive. The 3.2 V6
147s and 156s were a stupid waste of time, simply there for people who wanted to boast about having an unfeasibly large engine in their car, but far too nose heavy to be a decent drive.I think you're wrong. If you're interested in drag racing you might just have a point, but no one in their right mind chooses a FWD car for drag racing.
No-one is claiming they're best with the smallest engine, as the 2lt TSpark is pretty much in the middle of the range.
It is often claimed that the biggest engine in a range isn't the best - there's more often than not a 'sweet spot' balancing power, weight and driver appeal in every range.
The sweet spot for small and mid-range Alfas was always the 2lt 4-pot. Not so sure these days, as the 2.2JTS doesn't have the same appeal as the TSparks and older JTS engines.
With the BMW E30 and E36, the 318iS variant was always a better car to drive than the 320i variants, and possibly even better than non-sport
2.5 6-pots.
For some drivers, some of the time. For those people who wanted a smoother engine, the I6 makes more sense.
For those people wanting a quicker 3-Series, neither make as much sense as the larger engined models...
But there's more to it than just that, the bigger engined variants often have bigger brakes, more grip from wider tyres, more sophisticated steering and transmission etc. Day to day they'll be no different to live with other than the higher bills, but when the mood takes you are you really saying you'd prefer a 2.0TS over a 3.2GTA? or a V6 over a V8 mustang?
I think the GTA shouldn't really be considered to be an alternative to any other 156 or 147. They were almost Alfa's take on the M-series BMWs.
However, I'd take a 2.0TS over a 2.5 156 every time I wanted to take a blat along B-roads. The only place a 2.5 may be 'nicer' is cruising on the motorway - but then you'd be at least 10mpg down on the TS.
2.5s and 2.4 JTDs have a reputation for clouting their sumps on UK roads, too.
Umm they're both RWD, the Alfa is FWD.
Yes, having driven both the 2.0TS is the better car.
RWD, again. So bigger engine is better provided it's not so far forward as to make the car ludicrously nose heavy.
For another comparison, I love Jaguars and I particularly love the 6.0 V12 engine. But if I were brutally honest, the 4.0 straight six engined models were better than the V12, especially in the XJS.
It's not, and never can be, as simple as "big engine is better".
Ahhh that's due to the quality bespoke design, not due to shoehorning a really nice engine into the front of a tipo? You'd think while they were designing that non-fiat related suspension they'd have allowed for that with some, erm, bump stops?
Like Merc/BMWs the best GTA wasn't the one built by Alfa, it was the
3.7V6 built by Autodelta. However it was the LSD that made that car, and that compensated for the hideous understeer of the GTA.
It's because UK roads are s**te.
Or just buy an increasingly affordable 156 GTA and retro-fit a Q2 diff. for 500 quid.
Autodelta cars are awesome, though, as they re-tune the suspension for UK roads, whereas the standard GTAs are tuned for relatively well surfaced mainland European roads.
They became s**te after those models were designed for the UK market, presumably with a fairly good general knowledge of the condition/quality of the UK's roads?
Not in Italy. It's the only country I visit regularly that has worse roads than the UK. The viaducts on the autostrade are evil. I was convinced at one point that the Ford was going to flip because the undulating surface started to cause the suspension to resonate. In an Alfa 166 it's even worse.
Very few manufacturers fit UK specific suspension to their cars, which is why many cars are given superb reviews when tested on lovely Spanish tarmac, in the sun, but given less decent reviews when tested on a cold, wet November day in the UK.
Our roads are horrific compared with most of the rest of Europe, which is why cars with a makeover from UK based tuning firms work better than the standard cars - eg. Alfa GTA / Brera / some Subarus with ProDrive tweaks.
Never driven in Italy, but France, Germany, Spain and even Portugal have roads to put UK roads to shame.
Yes, I agree there. The drive to the Italian border is a pleasure whatever route I choose, but especially so in France. Then as soon as I emerge from the pass/tunnel into Italy it's back to UK style potholes and subsided trenches.
I initially read that as "subsidised trenches", probably not far from the truth in some local authority areas.
That's kinda amusing.
So what you're saying is that many cars are not adequately designed for UK specification roads?
So too are Italian roads. From this, I must conclude that Alfa Romeo simply bodged the design.
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