2004 Alfa Romeo GT from UK and Ireland - Comments

Creaking from rear suspension, not fixed.

Rear seats not fixing back properly.

Passenger window badly aligned causing wind noise.

I purchased my Alfa GT from new 6 months ago and have traveled approx 14,000 since, here is my impressions so far.

The Alfa GT is a truly beautiful car, it has a fantastic ability of making you feel very special.

My choice of new car boiled down to two, Alfa GT or Audi TT. After pulling up at a round-a-bout in London behind 2 TT's as they allowed another around I quickly decided on the GT. I just wanted something different, something good looking and also practical and the GT has both of these in spades.

Firstly, the looks. From the front the car is aggressive with the deep front grille, offset number plate and Long sculpted bonnet. In profile, I feel it has a hint of Alfa SZ (the monster!) with the high waste line and bulk. The rear is the only disappointment, it just is not as co-heasive as the rest of the car.

On the practical front, the hatch-back coupe style layout that has been adopted by Alfa allows for a generous if height restricted boot. But align this with full folding rear sets and you have a huge load area.

The other feature I like is that although it is a coupe, the GT belays it 156 roots by the fact that you do not sit too low down in the cabin. To some this may sound odd, but I do a lot of motorway miles and don't want HGV's wheels above my head.

The greatest nod to practicality is the inclusion of the diesel engine option. Not since the 406 coupe has this combination of style and practically been so successfully married. There are infact very few diesel coupes (Merc sport coupe, 3 Series coupe, C4 3 door, any others?)

The engine itself is good, not on a par with the Honda accord i-CDTi that I tested, but still a good all-rounder. It is smooth and refined, but you never really feel all that torque that is supposed to be on offer and it does suffer from very noticeable turbo lag, with 2000rpm being the magic number for the boost.

There really is no point hanging on over 4500rpm as the engine does become coarse, best to change up and sail along on the available torque. On the motorway 80 miles an hour equates to approx 2500rpm in 6th gear, so it makes for a relaxing cruise.

I am averaging approx 40 mpg over the 14,000 miles traveled so far.

The handling. This is a strange one. I feel that Alfa have set the car up trying to marry a sporty set up with the ability to cruise comfortably, but have produced neither one nor the other. Throw the car into a bend and there is noticeable body roll, far more than my old focus zetec. But attempt to waft along the motorway and any imperfections in the surface are transmitted into the cabin. Another problem is trying to get it off the lights. Under power, the GT will simply spin it wheels, ASR (anti-skid reduction) on or off. You have to granny shift through 1st and then floor 2nd and hope the engine is not too far off boost. Even with the 18inch optional wheel there is very little grip.

One disappointment of the car is the interior. On face value it looks very nicely designed, the optional leather seats I specified are comfortable and supportive. But the reality is that the cabin is lifted, almost wholesale, from the 147. Although not necessarily a bad thing, certain areas, especially the central console looks and are cheap. GT owners look at the 147 GTA interior and especially the leather seat in envy.

However, the raiding of the Alfa parts bin has lead to one of the surprises of the GT, its price. when you allow for the very generous trade in I received on my focus. My car cost approx. £22,000 with the 18 inch alloy, leather seats and 12 disc charger options ticked. This on the face of it is a lot of money I agree, but let's compare it with the competition. A fully speced Golf GT TDI would be around 19k. So for a little more outlay you are getting a truly distinctive car from a sporting marque with a long history of building sporting coupes. The golf is a good car, but how long until everybody gets one? The bug bear of the Alfa has always been depreciation, too new to fully assess this, but will be worth less than the golf... swings and round-abouts I think as I am prepared to take a bit of a hit after 3 years of being made to feel so special...

In Summary, the Alfa is a beautiful car that is also practical. It does have its faults, centered mainly around the suspension set-up and parts bin interior, but if you want to be different in a distinctive bertone styled coupe for golf money, it's a sound choice, if slightly based on the heart rather than the head.

I am interested in an Alfa GT coupe Diesel and this review seconds everything I presumed. I currently own a Golf GT TDi previous to that I had a Fiat 20v Turbo. I think the GT coupe diesel is a great mix of the two, great looks and economy to boot.

Mark Gowans (Bolton)

I wrote the original review and would like to add the following.

In response to the first comment, My mum owned a fiat coupe 20V for 3 years and my brother then bought the turbo for about 18 months, I have driven both extensively. As I am sure you know, the turbo is very very quick. I still remember the day when a brand new boxster pull out the over take my brother at full tilt on a dual carriageway coming out of roundabout. My brother simply blew him away, no contest at all. The boxster was at leaset 30K, my brother has just bough the fiat for 5K... You will find the alfa GT diesel fustrating in comparison, when you want to make rapid progress the initial boost is not followed to the red-line like in the Fiat, it is quick, but not in the same league. But, I am averaging 450 miles per tank, no matter how hard I drive it, and the alfa is far more spacious and remeber the boot and folding rear seats... i suppose you pay your money and takes your choice... In addition to my original review, the lack of grip has been greatly inproved by a tyre change from the standard Pzero asmetricos to neros on the front. The ASR hardly cuts in at all now, where before it was on all the time. Was suprised that they only lasted 15,000 miles though, hoping for much better from this set.

If you have a specific question about the Alfa, please ask via the comments and I will answer in time...

Hi.

Like you, I'm in between the Audi TT and the GT. At first I was in love with the TTs looks and still vastly prefer the interior. However, the exterior and the price tag are pushing me toward the GT. On the other hand, the handling of the TT is reputed to be excellent whereas the GT not so much. Are the negatives I've heard about the GTs handling and suspension serious or just niggling? Also, as its in its first year of release I'm expecting some bugs, have you noticed any?

Two months ago I sold my Alfa 156 after two years great traveling throughout Europe, but exceedingly poor secondhand value. What on earth is wrong with people. Poor history has had a bad effect on what is a great brand and car.

I have not wasted the time and have test driven numerous cars in search of my new mode of transport, Audi TT, BMW 3 coupe, Maxda RX8, Audi A4, Golf GT TDI.

This Saturday I returned once again to my local Alfa Dealer and took out the GT, what a breath of fresh air, it wrapped itself round me like a glove and once again I was in a drivers car, so once again I am an Alfa owner and proud of

it.

Ref: Alfa Gt performance - JTD.

Get the engine management system remapped.

Car now gets an extra 5mpg and 0-60 to 7.7-7.9 seconds.

180-185 bhp from 150 bhp.

Car now drives as it looks.

Still a diesel so the extra torque leaves so many cars behind on the motorway.

On the point of buying an Alfa GT diesel. Very interested in your comment regarding improving performance by remapping the engine management system. I'm not familiar with this process. Would appreciate more information

please. Who would carry out the work and is there a downside?

Thanks.

I purchased an Alfa Romeo 2.0 JTS GT Coupe on 1st March 2005.

Generally I am delighted with the vehicle, real fun to drive and in metallic black with 17" alloys, it looks fantastic. However, whilst I do not agree with a comment I have read that the steering lacks feel, I have noticed an alarming tendency for the car to be deflected by bumps, white lines, ruts in the road surface etc. The dealer from whom I bought the vehicle has checked it over and adjusted the tracking, but the problem persists. Have any other owners experienced the same problem? If so, any ideas as to what the problem may be, or how to cure it, would be appreciated.

Greg_gr_roberts@talk21.com.

I have also noticed the alarming tendency to jump around on the GT I purchased Nov 2005. However, more concerning is that when travelling (for the first time) with 4 people in the car the body arches were seemingly rubbing on the wheels. This is being investigated.. anyone else tried modest loading of their GT?

Richard Yorkshire.