Comments on: Alfa Romeo 147 2.0 Twinspark Selespeed Test Drive

By: raybrig85

raybrig85 — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:54:21 +0000

where is my comment.???

By: raybrig85

raybrig85 — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:46:09 +0000

nice work paul…ive owned the 147..but not the selespeed…the 1.6 manual t.spark…2001 model…by d time i bought the car is only rm114k…promo price…now the clock around 59000 km…almost 5 years…but still a great car to drive…still didnt gimme a prob…really like to drive dis car rather than my murano in d highway…i used to drive this car when i gt to go for a long journey…really a very good n fast car…ya…when my car was standard..i can clock almost 210 km/h in my car…now…jz modified it a bit…can clock around 220km/h…now…planning to replace my 3rd car…which is satria for 159….where is 159 auto italia….plz bring it asap…u can get any driving feeling in alfa on german marques…really good…

By: szw

szw — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 21:29:42 +0000

159 pls !

By: dawgHause

dawgHause — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 19:55:43 +0000

not a fan of the 147 designs, much prefered the 156. But by God is a lot more pretty than the 1-series.

Trust me once you've heard and rev-ved the engine…….you wouldn't want any other engine. The best four-pot in the world? I think so.

Is there any where I can get a manual transmission?

By: SamGan

SamGan — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 17:14:53 +0000

Is it better than sex?

By: cosmohybrid

cosmohybrid — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 02:52:40 +0000

karheng said,

September 7, 2006 @ 5:00 pm

'BMWâ€™s SMG is so smooth that a passenger who looks at the driver shift will find it hard to believe the gear has moved up a notch. Thatâ€™s how smooth it is.'

——————————————————————-

sorry, but i have to disagree with what you said, the shifthing on the smg be it version I or II is not like how you describe it… you can still feel the gear changes but if you control the trottle by lifting off like how you drive a manual car, the feel of the gear changes will be minimise… but this is how an automated manual clutch work as it is…

i have owned both the alfa 156 selespeed the alfa 147 selespeed before.. i tell you, the driving experience on these cars is exhilarating, you just dont wanna stop driving it, and you will always wanna take the longest route driving it home from work… and the blipping sound of the twinspark when you drop a gear is so sweet that it make you rev it all the way to redline and boy, it just love to be driven hard… it is not the fastest or torquest sedan out there but its the driving experience on these car that will leave a mark in your soul…

By: suanie

suanie — Fri, 08 Sep 2006 01:53:55 +0000

Mac: drove in?

By: Mac

Mac — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 22:16:04 +0000

looks sexy!!!! btw sentul park..how u get in??

By: gtaste

gtaste — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:37:35 +0000

I do have to add about the downside of DSG. Since the second clutch is always pre-engaged to wait for the next shift. You can trick the system to think that you are about to up shift but rather than actually up shift, you do a double downshifts. This will confuse the systems and have a long downshifting time. It may not sound much on normal driving environment but on the track it can mean 10th of seconds lost..

By: gtaste

gtaste — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:30:47 +0000

karheng,

Sorry to disagree with you on the SMG smoothness. I have a E46 M3 with SMGII. I love it but it's not really the cup of tea for everyone. Either you have experieced the regular SMG (rather than SMG II or III) or the shift programs (11 modes) are set to the least agressive mode which the gear shift is dragged and lagged to produce the sensation of old folk shifting that yields smoothness.

Paul was right regarding driving such hydraulic actuated clutch car, you have to feather the throttle when upshift to minimize jerky moment. DSG on the other hand is another breed of animal with exceptional smoothness and lightling fast speed.

Paul, by the way, does it throttle blip when downshift??

By: raz_R

raz_R — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:03:40 +0000

love this car, too bad the distro never import the manual 2.0 version, which is more reliable then the sillyspeed

the sillyspeed has bad reliablity record :/

and the 1.6TS is underpowered for a car with such potential

By: stanleyshyeoh

stanleyshyeoh — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 20:50:40 +0000

I don't find the design pleasing to the eye. The bonnet front of the car is too low , doesn't flow nicely to the back. I'm thinking Fiat Multipla, particularly the side profile shot.

Thing I like most is the dashboard dial face. Looks classic.

By: jeanloo

jeanloo — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:31:54 +0000

Power above 3000 rpm, tight rear passenger space, simillar cockpit. Seems like satria neo was inspired by this car. Cool, i will book my Satria Neo tomorrow. Sorry to all the Alfisti but the Alfa is for the loaded mah. Proton should put in the AMT into Neo and we will have our version of this car. lol

By: ilmondo

ilmondo — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:00:46 +0000

amore, passione… forza italia.. i'm so in love. though this is not really a new design, but look at it. stil as fresh as before n i think i'll stil look fresh in time to come. ciao.

By: armandd

armandd — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:49:57 +0000

without tax and duties this 147 would only cost u about RM66k. but then maybe there would be no roads because of lack of money..

By: Whopper

Whopper — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:50:22 +0000

I love it alot. Lover the interior as well as the exterior design of the 147. Too bad the price is way-way-way-way-way out of my budget. I guess have to hang on to my Savvy.

By: karheng

karheng — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 17:00:05 +0000

Definitely you can't compare the SMG to the Selespeed. They're altogether a different entity. BMW's SMG is so smooth that a passenger who looks at the driver shift will find it hard to believe the gear has moved up a notch. That's how smooth it is.

Blame taxation brackets for the high price. Don't blame Alfa. Or have you guys forgotten that the Alfa is a continental too? Don't forget BMW's 118i 2.0 costs a whopping 200k RM, while the 120i costs RM 220k.

By: kancildriver

kancildriver — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:58:53 +0000

buruk la…. somehow not well proportioned

By: fookeatmin1989

fookeatmin1989 — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 15:58:18 +0000

It's always very expensive to own an Italian car……..sigh

By: SamGan

SamGan — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 14:20:45 +0000

It's not a typing error, but I heard you can get about RM10K discount. Still ridiculous!!

By: e-nabilll

e-nabilll — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:55:33 +0000

r u sure its rm191,xxx??? i seriously hope its a typo otherwise its rediculously mind blowing pricing for wat u get….i cant bleive my eyes…paul plz do tel me its a typing error….!

By: KY

KY — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:48:13 +0000

wide body kit suddenly has a different meaning..

By: alexbaby88

alexbaby88 — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:14:40 +0000

Great write-up, great pics/vids, superb car, ridiculous pricing.

By: chun

chun — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 10:05:58 +0000

I am not sure about the exact shift speed for the 147, but the 156 Selespeed gear shift takes 700ms. The fastest of all automated manuals is VW/Audi's DSG/S-Tronic at 8ms.

By: tanasi

tanasi — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:28:14 +0000

hey Paul, how's the driving dynamics? It's a front wheeler right? Is the Selespeed smooth enough in the downshift as not to disrupt the balance while entering a corner?

By: Joe Ooi

Joe Ooi — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 08:18:34 +0000

Nice car but I don't like the front grill design that "drop below bumper". Today can buy 4D – 9147 on KTM – Kuda, Toto & Magnum ….!

By: gtaste

gtaste — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 06:34:48 +0000

Any numbers on the shifting time? I am wondering if the Selespeed is comparable to BMW SMG. THe M5 SMG III takes 70ms in the fastest shift mode, M3 SMGII takes 80ms and Ferrari Enzo get this, a long 150ms!!! I am hoping Alfa can come back to the States to stir the pot here a little.

By: Mayonaise

Mayonaise — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 06:33:01 +0000

Ah, now I know where the Satria Neo gets its Aircond vent design from… It's exactly the same! Proton designers didn't even bother to vary their design a bit… Shame on them.

Anyway, nice review on the 147.

By: V8

V8 — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 03:47:21 +0000

nice piece of work from alfa romeo. anyway, it's front profile and body design looks like a white baby elephant.nganga…