Ownership Verified: My 2007 Alfa Romeo 159 3.2 JTS Q4

I filled the car up on the way home. The consumption was 14.0 l/100k. This was been primarily motorway cruising, so it's the best case scenario.

I hope that I'll see some improvement now that the service is fresh.
 
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Bretton Woods said:
When I went to collect the car at the end of the day, the mechanic picked me up from the station in his 147 GTA. I may have chosen to buy the wrong Alfa Romeo...
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The real Alfa V6 is quite something... :)


Or..you could always pick up a 156 V6...put this on it... :D

[video=youtube;ETSpaLqk-0U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETSpaLqk-0U[/video]

Bretton Woods said:
Lastly, I was shown an impeccable engine bay - and it was in my car, unbelievably. Apparently the mechanic who was working on my car has recently moved from Italy and just started at this workshop. He used to be an Alfa Romeo mechanic in his home country. He didn't speak much English, but the gist of what he told me was that he simply couldn't bear the soiled engine bay in my car and spent half an hour detailing it - for free!
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The italians. If only they would actually wash their cars like this guy did your engine. :D
 
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I somehow failed to see this before.
I am jealous. Great looking car. :thumbsup:

/me only owned Italian cars.
 
I really like your mechanic. Attention like that engine detailing is something you just don't get here.
 
Thanks guys. The office shuts down in two weeks and I intend on completely detailing the car and well as completely James Maying the interior.

In the mean time, bonus picture of Ellie before she started wearing plates.

2013-12-02 19.01.24.jpg
 
That front :)

I once again started to wonder why they didn't use that as a corporate face, but went for aping the 8C. Yes, 8C is one of the modern classics, but the shape doesn't scale down to MiTos and Giuliettas at all.
 
Lastsoul said:
I really like your mechanic. Attention like that engine detailing is something you just don't get here.
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QFT.

Sounds like you got a terrific bit of customer service there, and you have a great garage to do business with, congratulations.

BTW if your tranny was catastrophically gunky and you now have fresh fluids and filter there, you might wanna change or at least inspect them once more, maybe next year. Unless that's prohibitively expensive that is. This is because the filter is now in the process of catching all the old gunk that the fresh fluid is circulating inside the tranny.
 
Bretton Woods said:
I filled the car up on the way home. The consumption was 14.0 l/100k. This was been primarily motorway cruising, so it's the best case scenario.

I hope that I'll see some improvement now that the service is fresh.
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It sounds better but still way to high. Fingers crossed it improves! My old E39 530i Sport got around 13L/100km when I was caining it around town!

...even my WRX manages around 12L/100km with aggressive driving around town.

...even my father's old 5.7L V2 Monaro automatic got 14.6L/100km.

I'm sure it'll improve! :p

EDIT: Could even be down to the type of fuel that you're using. Maybe the engine likes 98? (if you're not already using that)
 
It may be the type of fuel that's contributing to the poor economy. I've been using 95. next fill up I'll try 98.
I hope I'll see an improvement on the current tank seeing as it's had a full service.

Beyond commuting I really haven't had a chance to wind it out and give it a good drive yet. Full time work has sort of taken over and I just don't have the spare time I used to have.
 
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Really nice car you have there! 159 has to be the best looking car on its segment, that thing is damn gorgeous. V6, 4x4 and autobox :drool:

14 liters for 100km sounds about right for a heavy car 159 3.2 is.
 
This rant by a former-CTS-V-owner-to-be reminded me of your car...

Let?s start with cost. Although the selling prices of these cars are pretty public, you might be curious what I spent to run a CTS-V Wagon for the past six months. The answer to this can be defined technically as ?very little,? unless of course you add in fuel costs, in which case the technical definition changes to ?HOLY CRAP WHY THE HELL DID I BUY THIS THING? IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH IT? LIKE MAYBE THE FUEL TANK IS LEAKING??
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http://plays-with-cars.kinja.com/i-sold-my-cts-v-wagon-wrapping-up-six-months-video-1480551310
 
That's what you get with all wheel drive, which many people commenting on the consumption seem to forget. I can get a rear wheel drive e30 325i to 7l/100km. My awd model with the same engine might just go under 12l/100km if I'm really careful. And that's with 700cc less than your car. :)
 
On the other hand, cars have advanced quite a lot since the E30. Legacy 3.0R Spec B (5-speed automatic) I've occasionally been driving around manages ~7,5l/100km in 100km/h highway cruising, and normal driving around town consumes maybe 10l/100km. Even in more spirited drives it doesn't get above 12l/100km (ice track hooning excluded)

So 14l/100km is still quite a lot. But apparently not impossible: Spritmonitor.de


Edit: the reason for E30 iXs immense thirst if of course the additional kilos, it's not the most weight effective AWD system. Was the 325iX like 50kg lighter than the slush box Legacy? :lol:
 
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DaBoom said:
That's what you get with all wheel drive, which many people commenting on the consumption seem to forget. I can get a rear wheel drive e30 325i to 7l/100km. My awd model with the same engine might just go under 12l/100km if I'm really careful. And that's with 700cc less than your car. :)
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Depends on the AWD system as well, like Lastsoul said.

I've noticed AWD badges appearing on quite a lot of V70 taxis nowadays. Haldex 5 is simplified and cheaper to make compared to previous generations and the drop in fuel economy is apparently not a big deal anymore either. It's not as effective as before, but still better than partial wheel drive on a car that does hill starts and traffic lights 24/7 all year round.

Not that Haldex ever was a fuel hog.
 
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Bretton Woods said:
I've been using 95. next fill up I'll try 98.
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I think this is key. My wife's Picasso (hardly a comparison, I know, but bear with me) got apalling mileage (10-12l/100 kms from a 1.6 petrol!) when we used 95.
Turns out the engine is ancient and needs 98 to run smoothly. Now we're mostly below 10l/100 kms, which is still astronomical (official figures claim 7,5l/100 kms is possible, which it isn't), but pretty much as good as it gets with the type of trips she does : usually under 10kms long, never longer than 30 minutes, and all city traffic and stop/start stuff.

Point is : type of fuel can make a huge difference on how smooth the car runs, and will improve MPG
 
I think it might be a closer comparison than you think. All of my previous cars have been Japanese through and through. Perhaps the Japanese approach to engine tuning is less dependent on fuel grade. I know than 95 or 98 made very little difference in the Accord Euro when it came to fuel economy, then again that thing would either refill itself or learnt to run on vapour.

Range is effectively cut in half from what I could expect from that Honda. I could push 800k from that car and I'm pretty certain I could top 1000 if it was straight out motorway cruising the entire time.

The gear changes have improved noticeably and I think I may have escaped having spend money replacing parts in the transmission.

So far I really haven't experienced any Alfa-ish qualities beyond our initial meeting. It's been pretty pain free (if you discard fuel costs) motoring. That said I've travelled maybe 100k this week.

I've a longish drive tomorrow and will be going around 70k over Mount Dandenong. That's right, twisty hilly roads.

One thing I have been really impressed by is the grip this car has. There is one rather tight hairpin at the train station turn off. I've been steadily increasing the speed at which I attack it over this week.
 
Bretton Woods said:
One thing I have been really impressed by is the grip this car has. There is one rather tight hairpin at the train station turn off. I've been steadily increasing the speed at which I attack it over this week.
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I'll look for news of dead Alfa drivers on hilly roads then...:p
 
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