You know that Alfa V6 I'm borrowing?

So why the hell have Alfa been pushing the 156 to fleet managers?

Or did I just dream up the three presentations that the Alfa dealerships have put on for fleets, eh?

You don't get that I have far more to consider than enjoying my daily driver. Come back when you can understand this: I have to make far more compromises than you do.

Bwaha! So you're not wound up.

Anybody with a rudimentry grasp of mathematics would know that this wouldn't be sensible nor accurate.

Ahhh - he was wearing Armani?

Alfas only understeer because they're exceptionally cack?

Stop arguing and buy a Saab or a Volvo, understeer by design!

The purist is right but wouldn't have bought it in the first place, the company car driver being allowed to choose an Alfa will be a user-chooser middle management type person who couldn't care less about how it drives or how much it costs to fix, and will like the variety he gets from getting plenty of time in rental and courtesy vehicles. The man on the street will be right, but will still want one!

Or he looked in the mirror and died laughing?

Because most companies are not stupid enough to plow money into one.

In fairness, it's good fun to drive, in a sort of squirmy understeery guzzling petrol sort of way. But it's not quick enough to justify this sort of thirst - 17 mpg is dismal - but it's too powerful for the chassis. It's kinda half way between the two.

I wish I could borrow it overnight, then we could meet up Tim, see which one is quicker. :)

The understeery nature off power was due to the rear tyres at just 22 PSI. Bryan increased their pressure (not sure what to) which made it rather more neutral when you came off the power.

Under normal driving, it feels grippy, just a little unresponsive to what I'm used to.

Another plausible explanation :)

LOL!!!!!!!!!

You've a point there. We let our drivers run whatever they wanted if they leased, but if we were buying, we excluded certain vehicles (French, Italian, British for the most part).

I'd still want this 156 V6 (and a fuel card). Partially because it does sound exceptional, partly because it looks _superb_ in this metallic blue, even though the driving experience is a bit of a let down, really. I told the boss today that if I took it to and from London it would be cheaper than if I charged them 40p in my own car, but then we were exasperated by how inadequate the air conditioning felt!

'Course, it may need regassing. It was certainly working, but made next to no difference in engine performance... Mind you the 1.8 I had also had weak air conditioning, too.

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

at 1380 kg? I doubt it very much.

I suspect it's more to do with you not being used to the Alfas' steering response.

You drive, as your everyday motor, a small, lightweight, low powered car with a wheel at each corner (albeit with teflon tyres). Kas are well known for being one of the best handling small, low powered, economy cars that money can buy. Kas handle well, they steer well, but they *do not* have a 2 turn lock to lock steering rack or 190 bhp.

The Alfa needs a different style of driving. One that won't be learnt whilst driving a Mondeo Diseasel or Mk3 Fiesta. My old V6 164s could, and did, wipe the floor with a lot of supposedly quicker / "better handling" cars on B roads, with no real effort from myself, in relative peace and quiet. Yet the drivers of the allegedly better handling cars - Peugeot 306 GTi6 being one of them - thought the Alfa was an evil handling piece of shit.

Always amused me that did. My "evil handling, understeering, torque steering, six foot wide, piece of shit, eyetie barge" had just annihilated a "best handling hot hatch in the world" down Mr Hothatch's favourite road and I didn't even have to turn the radio up or even try particularly hard.

:) Incidentally, is my site working for you? I keep on checking it out and it appears dead...

Maybe. I think he was just caught on the hop. We had the drop on him at the roundabout, we overtook, we were then shaken by the bow wave as he blasted past on the A1. But by then it didn't matter.

The 1.8 was howling like a good 'un when I scooted past, too.

with

That's still heavy. It's heavier than my Mondeo TD, for example.

Yes, good points - nice to see some proper arguing for the 156. Although the Ka's steering is 2.3 turns lock to lock...

I'm sure you're right that there is a certain technique to it. Unfortunately, I won't have the opportunity to find it. I would _dearly_ like to borrow it for a week to refine the technique; it's an addictive machine to drive. I'm well aware that what it's lacking in immediate puntability (such that the old Accord Type R had, and the Civic Type R) it'll probably make up once you get used to it. But I've tried kerking the

156 into a corner with a sharp slap of steering lock, I've tried the smoothly does it technique, and neither seem to work. Going in slightly too quick gives a neutral stance now that the rear tyre pressure was increased, but give it load - even slight load - and it understeers.

It could be the front tyres, it could be something knackered with it, but there is lots of understeer even at modest speeds.

:) But this is the 306?

Whatever the secret is, I would like the opportunity of discovering it. Sadly it's going on Thursday, although I'm sure I'll be the last in the office to drive it before it goes.

And I'm glad I'm not paying the 8p per mile "over mileage" charge. >:-/

well said that man. I never thought I'd agree with Steve about driving technique, but he's right with this bit!

but if you drive it right, it needn't under *or* oversteer...

but it sounds like a Magimix on speed.

weirdly, I managed to get more than 18 mpg out of every V6 Alfa I've ever owned. Even thrashing - and I *mean* thrashing - my 164 Q4 in the Dolomites I'm pretty damn sure I got more than 18 mpg out of it. Only time it did less than 18 mpg was on a *very* high speed blast up to Milan. We're talking rev limiter in 5th...

Heh, not in my job it ain't.. I'm considering ordering one as a company car :-d V6 of course...

All good news. Wankers who think like that don't deserve to be educated.

I quite like Kas as well though.

He obviously slowed down to see it he really had seen a man driving a Ka.

Even in the RWD models :D.

Where's the fun in that.

I like being able to get my FWD car crossed-up with a bit of lift-off oversteer.

Or it has duff tyres?

Correct, but many modern chassis' have the ability to flatter the careless driver.

The more I read from you Alfa pros, the more I'm convinced that there's something not right with it. Duff tyres?

It's an acquired taste. There's no other V6 I know of that sounds as sublime as this 156.

Hmmm. A more modern engine with tighter exhaust emission limits? :-/ It's also a heavy piece of kit, too.