My Alfa Romeo 147 GTA.

[HoneyBadger]

My mate used to have one of these; 2004 car with the bigger brakes, it had an Autodelta exhaust, the multispokes (which were a rarely ticked option iirc) and it was slightly lowered but not sure what on or how much. It looked the nuts though.

Advice from him: Check the radiator. That's what went bang on his. Also if you lower it the undertray WILL scrape on any bumpy B road.

He did it like a hero when it finally went though; we were all at a country pub garden that was rammed full of people and he rolled into the car park right next to it, literally smogging the whole place with steam. After it had cleared a bit he casually got out of the car, shut the door and locked it over his shoulder as he walked away with everyone staring. Got it picked up on a low loader a couple of hours later and we never saw it again! He's got a liquid yellow R26 now.

 

[Lal B3N]

good idea Ben, were they at?

Hes up at kilbirnie, about an hour and 20 mins from you.

I can give you his number if you like, his prices are excellent. Just ask him about the system he done for the e92 m3. Silent when pootling about and motorway etc but when on full throttle all hell breaks loose haha.

 

[Šįk]

Nice! Exactly what I want too, only want noise when foot is planted. Fire me his number over and il have a chat with him.

Like with all my new cars I'm getting it checked over with a list of suspect things to look at (radiator added lol).

 

[Lal B3N]

Have fired you his info over on fb

 

[cat171]

i believe that one is actually silver justo old white in pics.. The one at Ron hodgsons? It's been there for 3 years and have dropped the price but still overpriced

Yeah that's the one. Daft price!!!

 

[Šįk]

Almost a week in and car is still alive! I had some fresh tyres (PS3's) fitted on the front this week, defiantly didn't want to skimp on tyres for this! And I'm very impressed with the PS3's - never had these before. I chose these as from what iv read on the Alfa forum, these tyres suit the GTA the most.

First time iv had to clean it was tonight. In desperate need of a proper detail! So tonight was just a quick exterior wash with a quick picture too.

GTA by ŠįK, on Flickr

The misses averaged 24mpg this week too, so I'm happy with that. Although I was slightly heavy handed with it tonight once I'd *fuelled up & reset the trip and it's now at 18mpg!

Cheers.

 

[Hixle]

What a f**king fabulous looking car. Swap?

 

[Jack!]

Love it, love it, love it...

 

[Wick]

YES!!!

Nothing to add other than get some bloody exhaust vids up!!

 

[Šįk]

Ha, sorry Luke no can do!

Cheers guys, il get exhaust vids up once the new system is fitted - which shouldn't be too long away

 

[Djw John]

Very very nice, always really liked the look and sound of them.

 

[leeds_182]

Looks great.

 

[Munson]

No offence but these do nothing for me. Never really understood why so many people seem to cream over them. I don't dislike them at all, but they don't excite me. No desire to own one. I'm sure it's a good car though.

 

[Poopensharten]

There's one on AT for 12k? Surley not!?

 

[Rob]

Such a good looking car, seriously.

Wheels need replacing though, woeful things!

 

[Ali]

Considered one years ago but they wear so badly! Shame is they look and sound great!

 

[jamier27]

Beautiful and butch!
So much better than a mk4 r32!

 

[Šįk]

Well today I detailed the interior and replaced the rear wiper blade as it was shot. Interior leather was cleaned and treated, as were the plastics and carpets. Glass was also cleaned & a new smelly tree added too! A much nicer place to be in now.

Interior detail by ŠįK, on Flickr

Interior detail by ŠįK, on Flickr

Interior detail by ŠįK, on Flickr

MPG has creeped up to 20/21mpg this morning. Been and enquired about getting wheels and callipers refurbed.. Sticking with red for the calipers but have no idea what colour to do the wheels.. Bight silver? Black? Anthracite? Arrgghhh!!

Cheers.

 

[JaredHasNoBrain]

Such a good looking car, seriously.

Wheels need replacing though, woeful things!

+1 Not a fan of them either!

The interior looks lush too FP!

 

[Smiffyboy1990]

Lovely looking car, so much more character and that 'special' feeling than the equivalent Mk4 R32's at the time IMO.

 

[Matthew]

Fantastic car.

I'm not brave enough for one though.

 

[cordell174]

Almost a week in and car is still alive!

lol, I like your optimism. I was the same in my first few weeks of Alfa ownership. But seriously, forget about all the horror stories re reliability and just enjoy it and drive it how an Italian would! btw, I've never had any electrical problems with any of the Alfa's I've owned, all of the same era as yours.

 

[Šįk]

Unfortunately wheels will be staying as I forked out for good tyres.. I think they have potential to look pretty damn cool with the correct colour, stance etc which is all to come..

Cheers guys. Yup it full of character over the mk4 R32. Certainly feels a special car anyway - can't get enough of that v6 rumble.. Lovely power delivery too with an addictive soundtrack match it!

Cordell, thanks - yea I kinda got over the reliability gossip. Plus my balls are massive! I don't think there's a car out there for the money which gives the same special aura as these - but Maybe I'm being biased. At the moment though I'm loving every minute of it. My facial hair even seems to of gone "beppe" stylie lol.

 

[Šįk]

Just ordered a New Ragazzon Exhaust and some New 15mm Eibech spacers for the rear! Can't wait..

 

[.LiamC.]

Lovely car! I really like the wheels personally as they are so different to anything else you see. I think it would look lovely with the wheels in a Gun Metal colour.

 

[BREMBO]

Very cool, real petrolheads car.

I would do the wheel silvers.

 

[banther]

Dem seats.

 

[Waitey]

Just seen a red one of these with tan interior. Ultimate 147.

 

[gaz44]

Very nice car. I couldn't be bothered with the running costs but they are very cool. How much quicker are they?

 

[welshname]

Only just spotted that you've sold the 182. This looks stunning, Alfas are brilliant looking cars.

 

[Šįk]

Thanks for the comments guy. Performance wise it's on par with the likes of the R32/ST/R26 etc.

Well here is how the GTA stands to date..

Ragazzon back box fitted, sounds great but too restricted & muffled for my liking so at some point I'm ordering the Ragazzon centre pipe (with silencer) to open it up abit more.

GTA by ŠįK, on Flickr

15mm Eibech spacers arrived but was unable to fit as the longer bolts haven't been sent out! Grr.*

I also decided to paint the wheels Gloss black, but since as I wasn't 100% sure on what I wanted I didn't want to waste £200 on the wrong colour by getting them done properly, *so I did them myself for £45! I also re-painted the calipers but these arnt completely finished yet, as I'm waiting on the caliper decal arriving. Pretty pleased with the results though for a DIY job.

GTA by ŠįK, on Flickr

It's booked in for a small service this week as I want it all checked over and oil changed etc. Plus im ordering some more goodies for it to be fitted at the same time too! :evil:

Cheers, C&C welcome.

 

[Scoot]

Lovely car, black wheels don't suit it though.

 

[Stefan.]

Lovely car, bright silver on the wheels would look nice imo

 

[Xanda73]

I considered one of these when looking for a replacement for my old 172. IIRC these are the Busso V6 rather than the more modern but way less sonorous GM V6?

Tax and economy did it for me though. Lovely car, hero points from me.

 

[Waitey]

Black wheels have ruined it.

​They need to be hi silver.

 

[Rob]

Agree on the wheels unfortunately. Nice try, and good to not waste a s**t load of $$$, but silver is best.

 

[Tunst]

Shadow chrome like jams old vee would suit it imo

 

[Šįk]

​Lol gutted guys. Personally I don't think they look too bad, maybe I haven't captured them well with the camera. Il prob run with them for a couple weeks once I have the stance sorted out then probably change the colour.

here is another pic from a distance.

Random by ŠįK, on Flickr

 

[Ph1 Tom]

I'd have gone a gunmetal colour but they look ok. I love the GTA, lovely car and oh the noise from the 3.2!

I was at one point debating one of these, a Mk1 FRS or a R26. I never tried one with a Q2 but I can imagine it makes a great deal of difference as I could feel the difference with the other two. The 147 definitely has the better soundtrack and a bit more character.

 

[_Tom]

I quite like the black.. What process and did you use to paint them?