2001 Alfa Romeo 147 Review
August 25th 2007 04:33
Alfa Romeo 147
Every morning for the last couple of weeks, I have been cycling past a car dealership on Manchester St in Chch and my attention kept being drawn to this car, so today I took it for a 40min test drive.
The first thing that strikes you upon seeing the Alfa for the first time is its unique and aggressive styling. From the bold grille to the elongated headlamps that blend smoothly with the sporty lines of the bonnet. Follow these lines along the sides, past the beautifully designed door handles and to the rear of the car, with everything just as it should be on a car of this pedigree.
Alfa Romeo have come a long way since the one I had for a while in the UK, where it finally succumbed to a combination of rust and poor electrics and the current 147 is just stunning. As with anything Italian, you don’t buy it because you want something practical, sensible or boring. You buy a car like an Alfa Romeo because it has a unique artistic elegance that makes a statement with timeless style and grace. The Italian’ s continue to prove that less is more and with the uncluttered lines of the Alfa, the end result is very cool and chic.
First impression from the interior was very good, I’m over 6ft tall and I found there was plenty of head room, the leather seats were just stunning in quality and the way they seemed to mold to your body shape, making a very snug but comfortable fit. All of the controls were easy to read and use although if you are used to a Japanese car, the indicator stalk on the other side does take some getting used to. Everything just oozes quality, with the alloy strips along the interior sills to the almost soft sponge like dash surround. This is actually very nice and much better than the hard plastic you tend to see in most cars.
Rear leg room isn’t too bad although I wouldn’t want to be on a long journey in the back. As you would expect on a car like this the spec level is very high and the model I drove comes equipped with the usual extras such as four airbags, climate control, alarm, cruise control, traction control etc. But I have to say, best of all was the 5-speed manual transmission it came with. What a dream as any manual car here in NZ appears to be a rare beast indeed.
The drive: The model I drove was a 2001, 2 owner NZ new car with 61,900 kms on the clock, but it still had that nice tight feel to everything. The gearbox was slick, steering sharp and responsive and the brakes had real bite. The power delivery through the gears was smooth with no real flat spots that I could determine and as you rev the engine you could hear that distinctive Alfa thrum from the engine/exhaust. For a smaller car there was very little wind noise at 100kms. Luggage space was average for this size of car and with the split rear seats, your golf clubs and trolley would fit okay.
This is one of those cars that when you have one, you would just make any excuse to drive it, Akaroa would be just awesome with the mixture of fast straights and twisty roads, with the result that you could imagine to be driving in the winding roads of the Appennino mountains.
The only minus point would be poor rear view vision, the rear window is small and cluttered with the head rests although this is easily fixed as the head rests can be removed and the wing mirrors are quite small, so it would be tricky to reverse into a tight spot. But this would be the only observation I could point out and a small price to pay for a car like this.
What a car and everyone should own one of these sometime in their life time, sure it isn't practical, typical European running costs and depreciation but then can you really put a price on fun and that grin factor of having owned a real drivers car?. Hmmm now how can I own it?? This car is currently for sale for just $16.995 (hope my lotto comes up tonight)
Words and photography by Heath Ling
contact me - email heath@HeathLing.co.nz or mobile 027-391-0149
Car spec
ENGINE PETROL DIESEL
Cylinders 4 inline, front transverse 4 inline, front transverse
Capacity 1970 cc 1910 cc
Power 110 kW at 6300 rpm 110 kW @ 4000 rpm
Torque 181 Nm at 3800 rpm 305 Nm @ 2000 rpm
Fuel requirements Premium unleaded, Diesel (EN 590)
minimum 95 R.O.N.
Transmission 5 speed manual 6 speed manual
5 speed Selespeed
PERFORMANCE
Top speed 208 km/h 208 km/h
Acceleration: 0-100 km/h in 9.3 sec 0-100 km/h in 8.8 sec.
TRANSMISSION
Front wheel drive
Gearbox: 1st 3.545 : 1 1st 3.800 : 1
2nd 2.238 : 1 2nd 2.235 : 1
3rd 1.520 : 1 3rd 1.360 : 1
4th 1.156 : 1 4th 0.971 : 1
5th 0.919 : 1 5th 0.763 : 1
6th 6th 0.614 : 1
Reverse 3.909 : 1 Reverse 3.545 : 1
Final drive ratio 3.866 : 1 Final drive ratio 3.353 : 1
WHEELS
Wheels 17 inch Super Sport Alloys* 17 inch Multispoke Alloys
Tyres 215/45 215/45
WEIGHTS
Kerb weight (kg) 1250 – 3 door –
1270 – 5 door 1310 – 5 door
Max. towable weight (kg) Braked 1300 Braked 1300
Unbraked 400 Unbraked 400
FUEL / EMISSIONS
Fuel tank (litres) 60 60
Fuel consumption
(combined litres per 100km) 8.9 5.9
CO2 emissions (g/km) 210.9 157
OPTIONAL FEATURES – PETROL & DIESEL
Metallic paint
Electric sunroof
Momo leather seats
(net sourced)
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