Hi all.

Found this place all by myself but it has since been recommended to me by one of the folks on Alfaowner.com, saying it had much the same friendly and helpful feel about the place. A bit about me and my journey here follows.

My kids are now grown up and after some 13 years of owning the same Mk1 Mondeo as a general-purpose workhorse, mid-life crisis kicked in and I bought a kit car (still have it). Then four years ago, I got rid of the Mondeo as daily transport and went for a Nissan 350Z to go "GTing" in with the Mrs. Well that never happened so a year later I switched to something "more practical", an Alfa Romeo 147 GTA! It's been absolutely faultless and the best car I'd ever had by far: so much nicer than the Nissan even if it was marginally slower on paper and did a good deal less miles to the gallon. I could go on forever about the Alfa - the way it looks, cradles you, sounds, goes like stink, pulls itself round corners with a LSD fitted, jumps about on uneven roads, tramlines and torque-steers like nothing on earth. Just brilliant.

I've loved every minute of driving the GTA but it became apparent that I couldn't use it as an everyday workhorse should the occasion demand - it's too small, pretty rare and would look stupid with a tow bar. It needs quite a lot of looking after too and though I don't begrudge the money spent on it, it just wasn't practical enough. So time for another car as a "keeper" that will see me to the end of my working life, goes a bit, could contain just about anything I could throw at it and tow a trailer. The trail has led to an Octavia.

The goal was a manual, red, facelift estate with as many goodies on it as I could find. Tried out a DSG-equipped vRS diesel model locally which went well enough but felt that the DSG was making too many decisions for me though I think it did make for quite a relaxing drive if left to itself. Found a manual red hatch in Dundee so last Monday, I flew to Edinburgh then took the train to Dundee where I bought the car and drove it home the 500 miles same day. Loved it right from the start so did about five miles test drive only.

It's a December '09 (59 plate) vRS f/l diesel hatch, red, manual, 6k miles, leather, xenons, parking sensors front and rear. The previous owner had put twin white vinyl stripes low down along the sides between the doors (just removed them a couple of hours ago). It also has some sort of dark film on the rear windows. Thought it was OE fitting but I think this is only available on the estate (not sure). Anyway, I'm going to live with it for a bit but suspect I'll want it off. Would have liked the automatic rear view mirror and MDI but you can't have it all. The Maxi-dot display might have been useful but as a new owner I'm not completely sure what it can do over the standard item and the brochure doesn't make it awfully clear either.

It's a great drive but so very different to the GTA engine. I've never owned a turbocharged car or a diesel before so am having to learn about the lack of torque at low reves and then the loads of torque over a very narrow band. One thing it doesn't do (or hasn't so far) is torque-steered all up the road - not something I'll miss much anyway. It is beautifully composed on poor surfaces ans sweeping bends in a way the Alfa wasn't and of course the suspension isn't crashy like the GTA. The feather-light clutch is a bit of a novelty too. It's supremely comfortable and the radio makes the trim rattle too.

There is a number of irritating things ("design features" I think they are called) have since surfaced that weren't obvious right away and I'll probably need to ask the usual newbie stupid questions if the search engine doesn't deliver!

That's quite enough for a first post - I can go on a bit: put it down to my age.

Welcome aboard!

Great motor that!

Hi and welcome aboard.

Hi all.

Found this place all by myself but it has since been recommended to me by one of the folks on Alfaowner.com, saying it had much the same friendly and helpful feel about the place. A bit about me and my journey here follows.

My kids are now grown up and after some 13 years of owning the same Mk1 Mondeo as a general-purpose workhorse, mid-life crisis kicked in and I bought a kit car (still have it). Then four years ago, I got rid of the Mondeo as daily transport and went for a Nissan 350Z to go "GTing" in with the Mrs. Well that never happened so a year later I switched to something "more practical", an Alfa Romeo 147 GTA! It's been absolutely faultless and the best car I'd ever had by far: so much nicer than the Nissan even if it was marginally slower on paper and did a good deal less miles to the gallon. I could go on forever about the Alfa - the way it looks, cradles you, sounds, goes like stink, pulls itself round corners with a LSD fitted, jumps about on uneven roads, tramlines and torque-steers like nothing on earth. Just brilliant.

I've loved every minute of driving the GTA but it became apparent that I couldn't use it as an everyday workhorse should the occasion demand - it's too small, pretty rare and would look stupid with a tow bar. It needs quite a lot of looking after too and though I don't begrudge the money spent on it, it just wasn't practical enough. So time for another car as a "keeper" that will see me to the end of my working life, goes a bit, could contain just about anything I could throw at it and tow a trailer. The trail has led to an Octavia.

The goal was a manual, red, facelift estate with as many goodies on it as I could find. Tried out a DSG-equipped vRS diesel model locally which went well enough but felt that the DSG was making too many decisions for me though I think it did make for quite a relaxing drive if left to itself. Found a manual red hatch in Dundee so last Monday, I flew to Edinburgh then took the train to Dundee where I bought the car and drove it home the 500 miles same day. Loved it right from the start so did about five miles test drive only.

It's a December '09 (59 plate) vRS f/l diesel hatch, red, manual, 6k miles, leather, xenons, parking sensors front and rear. The previous owner had put twin white vinyl stripes low down along the sides between the doors (just removed them a couple of hours ago). It also has some sort of dark film on the rear windows. Thought it was OE fitting but I think this is only available on the estate (not sure). Anyway, I'm going to live with it for a bit but suspect I'll want it off. Would have liked the automatic rear view mirror and MDI but you can't have it all. The Maxi-dot display might have been useful but as a new owner I'm not completely sure what it can do over the standard item and the brochure doesn't make it awfully clear either.

It's a great drive but so very different to the GTA engine. I've never owned a turbocharged car or a diesel before so am having to learn about the lack of torque at low reves and then the loads of torque over a very narrow band. One thing it doesn't do (or hasn't so far) is torque-steered all up the road - not something I'll miss much anyway. It is beautifully composed on poor surfaces ans sweeping bends in a way the Alfa wasn't and of course the suspension isn't crashy like the GTA. The feather-light clutch is a bit of a novelty too. It's supremely comfortable and the radio makes the trim rattle too.

There is a number of irritating things ("design features" I think they are called) have since surfaced that weren't obvious right away and I'll probably need to ask the usual newbie stupid questions if the search engine doesn't deliver!

That's quite enough for a first post - I can go on a bit: put it down to my age.

Hi and enjoy, roll on october when i get mine

Hello & welcome along....a red Octy with white stripes....mmm... :'(

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the forum

Thank you for the welcome folks.

@ curleybar: The red stripes didn't last long - I don't even have picture of the car with them on. Probably just as well!

Thinking about retrofitting some of the items on the wish list now. Probably going to be expensive.

welcome, and nice little write up not a fan of alfa's normally but must admit i really liked the look of the 147 gta [thats the 1 with flared arches & v6 lump isnt it?] saw a guy giving 1 some stick and it sure did fly

Edited 6 August, 201015 yr by MarkMac