Hi HJ - great site: my favourite web car resource.
However, I disagree with you on one point. I was looking at your comments on the Alfa 147 Selespeed in Car-by-Car Breakdown (love the title!) and you list it as \"not a great drive\" presented as a fact rather than an opinion.
Out of interest is this from personal experience or has a reader sent in that conclusion? The reason I ask is that I recently back to back test drove the 2 litre Selespeed against the Ford Focus 2l Zetec, VW Beetle and a hot Fiat Punto. All were given a rigorous and demanding test drive over the same varied conditions.
The Ford Focus is generally touted as THE class leader, but I have to say, the 147 outperformed it. The engine is tuneful, with a more rewarding if louder note than the Focus. Power delivery is adequate in both cars though I would personally enjoy a bit more in both, which I understand is on the way.
Steering in the 147 is more direct with appreciably better on limit feel. Both cars have tremendous grip but the Alfa wins by a whisker. Like the Focus, suspension on the 147 is comfortable but firm as you would expect for a sporting drive but the Alfa gives more back in feel, and the seats are of higher quality so it\'s more comfortable. I would argue that general cabin ambiance is easily won by the Alfa too, another contributory factor toward a \"good drive\"
Under heavy braking over uneven or potholed roads AND whilst simultaneously cornering the 147 is simply incredible. If you need to stop in a hurry on a country lane there are very few cars I\'d rather be in.
The Selespeed paddles in my view are not bad, they just take a little effort to master, which is why I believe many people dismiss them too quickly as being difficult. After a little practice they are sublime on open roads. In town stick to the fully auto \"city mode\" Practice brings rewards with this car, unlike most boring fodder on the road today.
So on drive quality alone the Alfa wins over the Focus, a view also shared by Channel 4\'s Driven show.
Whilst the focus is very, very good the Alfa improves on it.
In what way do you think this car a bad drive HJ ?
How can a car that drives better than a Focus not be a great drive?
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May I stick in a word for the Proton GTi. It doesn't half go round corners and when in domestic use my wife finds it very comfortable.
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Personally, as a car of choice, I would rather an Alfa to a Ford on my drive any day of the week. The words character, cachet, beauty and many others (including build quality - well something in the Ford must be better) spring to mind. Fords are too good these days, quality has become mediocre and routine and there are sooooo many of them about.
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I drove the 147 Selespeed against around 25 other cars from the Daihatsu YRV to the Ferrari 550 Maranello at the SMMT Test day at Millbrook in May. The Mountain Route (or whatever they call it) is designed to reveal vehicle shortcomings, such as roll understeer, roll oversteer etc. And my overall impression of the 147 was it was crap. I'd previously enjoyed a 156 Selaspeed on the same track. But the 147 didn't do it for me. The car that did do it was the Toyota MR2 pushbutton auto which worked brilliantly. So well I could stay right on the tail of a Mitsubishi Evo VI (though it was obviously not being driven by Timo Makkinen). The same course showed a BMW X5 3.0 petrol to be markedly inferior to a Lexus RX300, revealed a serious understeer problem on the Toyota Previa, and showed up a traction control problem on the Jag 3.0 litre X Type that was so bad I ended up taking a Jag engineer round the track to show him (the answer was to switch off the traction control, of course, but if it causes a brake snatch problem then why have it at all?) The other Alfa I drove that day was the 3.0 Spider which also had handling shortcomings but was capable of 150mph on the clock, top down, with no buffeting. Everything else needs a cockpit wind dam, but not the Alfa Spider.
HJ
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>>Everything else needs a cockpit wind dam
'scuse me, but what's one of those ?
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Bit of glass behind the drivers head, like wot the Audi TTR has.
C
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