2000 Alfa Romeo 156 from Egypt - Comments

Stuck button on the driver's door handle.

ABS warning light came on at 1500 km leading to the replacement of the ABS electronic head under the warranty after the dealer had failed to fix the problem in any other way.

Some strange air whistling sounds coming from the climate control gate, described by the dealer to be non significant.

A major accident lead to the replacement of the left front suspension system and alloy wheel, but this didn't affect the car in the slightest.

Car stayed at the dealer for about 50 days to be repaired.

Magnificent handling.

Quickest steering I've ever seen (2.1 turns lock to lock). Very important for real drivers.

In Egypt driving is very different from all world countries. We do not have lanes (that is not a joke). We only have dotted lines drawn on the ground which we will pass as much as four of them each time we decide to maneuver (that is five lanes at one time). Each day I race at least two times (on my way to college), once in the morning and once in the evening. I have raced my car against a BMW 523, Mercedes E240, BMW 320, Mitsubishi Gallant 2.0, Chrysler Neon 2.0, and Opel Vectra 2.0, just to name some. Every time I am easily the winner, although all the cars mentioned above have a better 0-100 km/h acceleration. The whole idea lies behind the great feeling of control and capability that this car gives you. Racing on Egyptian roads is very, very tight, actually sometimes you can lose some of your paint. The 156 gives you the ultimate control which will make you forget about your brain and start thinking with your heart. You do things you don't want to do and sometimes you thank Allah (God) that you're still alive. That's why I am able to overtake much bigger motors with my humble 1.6. Even at high speeds up to 180 kilometers, the car still handles so much better than many sports cars that I've driven.

The motor is very smooth up to 7000 RPM. It makes you want to just rev it and rev it.

The only problem is the low torque, but once you pass 3000 RPM, this problem is history (you can shift to the first gear at 3000 RPM and you won't notice that problem).

Huge turning circle (11.1 m) that can be tiring to get used to, but still, the steering is marvelous.

Don't buy this car if you are not interested in driving, if you don't understand how cars work, or if you just want 'nice' transport.

If you are looking for comfort and are very worried about depreciation and running costs, better buy a BMW or an Audi.

But if you want a car with an excellent engine, brakes, and handling, then buy a 156 at once.

Rest assured that every penny you pay will provide you with a great driving experience, and not some stupid 6 airbags, electrically adjustable seats, and right and left splitting climate control, or a $1500 Becker sound system.

By the way, my accident was due to trying to slow down from 120 km/h to enter a 90 degree bend. The car understeered and I hit the pavement. Oh, forget to tell you, the road was covered with sand (falling from a careless driver's truck), something not unusual in Egypt. So neither me nor the car are responsible.

Well, just so 120 into a 90 degree turn isn't your fault.

Accident not your car's or your fault? Racing with several other cars and won.. That is good to keep far away from Egypt where the drivers are so brainless as you and irresponsible for harming other people life in traffic. I would recommend for you Fiat 127 in a name of saving innocent human life's! Drive to your college and try to learn something about life's values..

Andy

As I have traveled through Egypt on several occasions and each time seen fatal road accidents, indeed with the passers buy just stood there looking at the corpses am I to assume that "drivers" like you have caused this? Bring your car to the UK mate and I'll race you around a proper racing circuit friend we'll soon see who wins. Also perhaps you better learn physics at college to understand weight displacement under braking and perhaps you may stay on the road a bit longer when taking corners

C'mon lads, give this guy a break, he knows he's cool.

Well it's me the write of this review. I think that many of you has misunderstood the concept of racing here. We race on empty highways and not in the middle of traffic, so it is not actually exposing other people life's to danger.

For the guy who says that he would beat me on a race track, I just say that it would be an honor to lose from such a capable guy like you, I can't believe just how over-confident you are, which means I'll be able to beat you all day. By the way I am a regular participant of the Egyptian Carting Championship, so don't depend much on the race track thing.

And by the way, I said that I was slowing down from 120 km/h to enter the bend, I never said that I intended to take the bend at that speed. Just the very fine sand made it impossible to reduce the speed enough, so the car under-steered massively.

Anyways I wrote this review when I was 18, Now I am 22 and I can see that I was a little bit reckless then.

The car is still a beauty to drive over all these years.

Thanks for the amusing review.. the 156 is a special car no doubt.. i actually searched for a good one before I bought my Megane, but couldn't find any.. so how is the dealer in Egypt? do they have all spare parts etc?

For the person asking about the Alfa dealer in Egypt, well rest assured it is done in the classic Alfa way, which means complete crap... A friend of mine also has a 156 and you wouldn't believe the trouble he had with every trip to the dealer -and being an Alfa you know the car loves her dealer-.

Very recently Alfa changed their dealer In Egypt, but we're still waiting for the feedback on that since the new one stopped importing Alfas altogether!!!

Driving in Egypt is almost as thrilling as F1 racing, I think.

According to your comment, you have extinguished driving technic!

I feel sympathy about your thrilling experience of overtaking more than 2000cc-class cars with your 1600cc Alfa Romeo. I drive a 2004 Toyota Yaris (called Vitz in Japan) 1300cc now, and sometimes drive my Yaris on motorway as fast as 119mph, overpassing from the Nissan Skyline and BMW320i to the Mercedes-Benz S500L and even Porsche 911 Carrera! And in city traffic, I push her accelerator more than half on starting from signal, so my Yaris runs ahead of the likes of small BMWs, Volvos, Audis, Lexuses, and Mercedes C&E classes. Such experience gives me some catharsis.

by "a Japanese guy driving a Toyota Yaris 1300 and a Lexus IS350"

I am from Egypt. I was about to buy Mercedes SLK350 model 2005, but didn't because of the Egyptian customs. Also I wanted to buy Mini Cooper S Cabriolet, but I didn't buy it because of the Egyptian customs, as it had got many optional features.

I am confused whether I should buy a Mercedes C180, BMW 316i model 2002, 325 model 2000, Alfa Romeo 156, Chrysler 300m, Chrysler Neon, Landrover Discovery model 1999, Jeep Liberty, Chrysler PT Cruiser or 2000 BMW M3.

First I am 18 years old. I've driven many cars. I wanna a car that can accelerate from 0-100 km/h in less than 8 seconds, and it should be automatic and should have nice sound system, and I prefer that it should have a sunroof.

My email is ramy_gaballa@hotmail.com. Send me your opinions.