Alfa 159 Ti Sportwagon - 1750Tbi

[Nigelo]

That has actually worked much better than I thought it would!

 

[dub]

Liking that

 

[Gambit]

hmmm silver for me sorry, it all just tied in perfectly with the silver wheels, mirror caps, handles, roof rails etc made for a very smart looking car

 

[andy9eleven]

I'm still undecided on the wheels!! Definitely agree the whole car needs thoroughly cleaned and tyres slicked, but you can see how much darker the colour of the rims are when they are out of the artificial fluorescent light. I'll take the bike rack off tonight and see how it looks too before I make my mind up on the wheels.

But irrespective, it's great to have the car back again and more importantly it feels awesome now!! The handling and cornering ability has moved up a level from before - I was carrying way more speed through corners last night than previously.

To summarise, she's at 83k miles now so that's roughly 13k done since I bought it. Over Xmas it's been away having a few things done (and this being the only things I have done in 13k miles):

- 4x new 19" tyres - took a punt on a set of Federal ST-1 which seemed to get good reviews by Ford guys stateside. Will be interesting to see how these work out - they look good, and first impressions are good on cold damp roundabouts and back roads last night. Close to half the price of the normal name tyres is good too as I will be commuting cross border for a while
- new exhaust O2 sensor
- 4x Eibach lowering springs (1 original rear broke)
- new front droplinks
- 2x new front lower arm bushes - went for specialist machined alloy mounting blocks with new rubber bushes rather than throwing away the whole arm
- oil & filter
- K&N drop in air filter
- new front foglight to replace stone cracked lens

Still needs a new rocker cover gasket, and then new plugs will go in. Will get alignment done tomorrow and that should be her for a bit. Just some cosmetics to tidy up.

Overall I am very happy with the cheap Italian wagon again.

 

[gpaevo]

I like it, looks well compared to the silver.

 

[warren]

I like it! Do think the tyre shine could be all the difference there!

 

[pablo]

something a bit different without looking like a t**t

 

[andy9eleven]

Thanks for all the comments chaps.

Was going to clean her this afternoon but raining now. Oh well.

Still enjoying the improved drive. MPG up, feels smoother and more freely revving. Be good to get the tyres scrubbed in.

Booked in for alignment with @RubberLover tomorrow morning.

Think I’ll keep this one for a while yet.

 

[redanni]

Think that looks fantastic, bit different.

Would look sweet with black wheels but I know that's been done to death

 

[pablo]

black on black just rarely works these days,

 

[andy9eleven]

Still dirty, but getting used to the wheel colour.

Alignment time this morning - good to meet you @RubberLover !

 

[gpaevo]

Still dirty, but getting used to the wheel colour.

Alignment time this morning - good to meet you @RubberLover !

View attachment 223266

Great bunch of lads in there, I've had them tortured this past few weeks chopping and changing multiple tyres and wheels lol

 

[Brennan]

Really is a lovely looking wagon, the Italians really know how to design cars. How is it in terms of reliability, are they as bad as Clarkson say? Lol

 

[andy9eleven]

@Brennan See post further up towards top of this page - that's all I have done to it in 13k miles.

I wouldn't say any different to any other German car for example. And it still feels super solid going over rough roads and speedramps. I think reliability thing is way over exaggerated for the modern stuff. Facebook groups would tend to demonstrate the same.

In fairness, this car did have a rebuilt turbo prior to my ownership, but then Alfa didn't make the turbo, so that particular unit could have failed whether it was in an Alfa or an Audi.

 

[Brennan]

@Brennan See post further up towards top of this page - that's all I have done to it in 13k miles.

I wouldn't say any different to any other German car for example. And it still feels super solid going over rough roads and speedramps. I think reliability thing is way over exaggerated for the modern stuff. Facebook groups would tend to demonstrate the same.

In fairness, this car did have a rebuilt turbo prior to my ownership, but then Alfa didn't make the turbo, so that particular unit could have failed whether it was in an Alfa or an Audi.

Definitely not as bad then, In the diesel version, the engine and components are made by Fiat, same engine as Vauxhall/Saab, not sure about your petrol version though.

As a German car owner in a sea of German cars, it’s very refreshing to see something like this on the roads.

 

[andy9eleven]

@Brennan I've a Vauxhall gearbox, which doesn't have the most robust bearings apparently, but not prohibitively expensive to fix. The 1750 Tbi engine is an Alfa engine, largely the same as what is in the 4C and the Guilietta, albeit with a slightly smaller turbo for the 159.

 

[collyirwin11]

Saw you today on the A2 Belfast-Bangor carriageway, l think the wheels look good. Granted it was a brief look and moving, but still, works well.

 

[andy9eleven]

Thanks @collyirwin11 - hope I was behaving!

Hoping to get time on Friday to clean it up properly.

 

[Apis]

I like the gold wheels on black car.
A little nod to Smokey and the Bandit.

 

[andy9eleven]

So have had some time to grow used to the bronze wheels and finally got a dirty sponge and some fairy liquid on it yesterday. Bit of no brand back to black on the tyres, and here we are...

Still hard to photo as the colour really does change significantly in different lighting.

Suffice to say I am happy with them. I should have had faith in Michael’s suggestion all along! Big shout out to @polishingalloys for doing a great job and going the extra mile to sort me out.

I have a plan for the silver bits... should have photos in a couple of years lol

 

[FM155]

Looks well. I think the 1750tbi is the best engine in these and with it being a ti sportswagon, it's a great combo. HTD

 

[warren]

Yeah that looks fantastic. Stunning machine.

 

[G N K]

Yeah that's looking brilliant in that photo Andy.

 

[andy9eleven]

Yep happy now. Still plenty of bits to tidy up once the weather improves.

 

[SPIKE_]

With the car cleaned up, the wheels do work really well with black. I was unsure at first, but it does look well when clean