(Partly dedicated to Silverfish)
So yesterday night I borrowed a relative's Alfa 147 for a spin. Ive driven these before, but yesterday I drove it with the purpose of checking out everything and seeing if its a good car to own.
Sitting inside the interior, you do feel that a lot of thought and effort has been put into it to make the car a comfortable, classy and a very, very nice place to be in. There were minor touches of design everywhere, even the door handles the Italians couldnt leave alone and make it a door handle. It had to have some curves, and a place for you to rest your thumb on when you do grab it to pull/push the door. (Not the handle to open/close the door, the one on the door panel for you to hold on to). The trim was high end, and it had plenty of interior gizmos to push, pull and play with.
So I hit the highways and after paying the toll, clicked out of city driving mode and and opened the taps on the 2L engine, shifting through the powerband with the Selespeed system. It was all jolly exciting watching the red rev dial climb as the engine gave out its Alfa rumble, and when it shifted it felt very mechanical. During a downshift, the engine blip and rev matching is sensational. It is, dare I say, like a mild and user friendly small Ferrari-ish hatchback, with its red leather seats, paddle shifting, red center console display and a figure in the middle showing what gear youre in and all. Note that this 147 however did have some performance tweaks.
So, good fun then. But then it proceeded to break down at the traffic lights. Selespeed system decided that it should have a coffee break and didnt want to shift gears anymore.
Apparantly the electrical system got confused, and the car did work again but not after a few restarts, phone calls and sometime sitting at the side of the road like a homeless berk. True to the traditional Alfa spirit then, I didnt drive from one destination to another without breaking down.
So yesterday night I borrowed a relative's Alfa 147 for a spin. Ive driven these before, but yesterday I drove it with the purpose of checking out everything and seeing if its a good car to own.
Sitting inside the interior, you do feel that a lot of thought and effort has been put into it to make the car a comfortable, classy and a very, very nice place to be in. There were minor touches of design everywhere, even the door handles the Italians couldnt leave alone and make it a door handle. It had to have some curves, and a place for you to rest your thumb on when you do grab it to pull/push the door. (Not the handle to open/close the door, the one on the door panel for you to hold on to). The trim was high end, and it had plenty of interior gizmos to push, pull and play with.
So I hit the highways and after paying the toll, clicked out of city driving mode and and opened the taps on the 2L engine, shifting through the powerband with the Selespeed system. It was all jolly exciting watching the red rev dial climb as the engine gave out its Alfa rumble, and when it shifted it felt very mechanical. During a downshift, the engine blip and rev matching is sensational. It is, dare I say, like a mild and user friendly small Ferrari-ish hatchback, with its red leather seats, paddle shifting, red center console display and a figure in the middle showing what gear youre in and all. Note that this 147 however did have some performance tweaks.
So, good fun then. But then it proceeded to break down at the traffic lights. Selespeed system decided that it should have a coffee break and didnt want to shift gears anymore.
Apparantly the electrical system got confused, and the car did work again but not after a few restarts, phone calls and sometime sitting at the side of the road like a homeless berk. True to the traditional Alfa spirit then, I didnt drive from one destination to another without breaking down.
