Motor Trend First Review 5/14/18
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I test drove a lot of Alfas during my search and none of them had weird trim rattles or squeaks. I’m seeing a trend with the press cars. It’s like Alfa is sending out unfinished production vehicles which wouldn’t pass their actual QA process.
It’s still a very positive review. But the press cars having squeaks and rattles is concerning.
It’s still a very positive review. But the press cars having squeaks and rattles is concerning.
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you beat me to it.
I'd like to say pre-production on the squeaks/rattles (article is out a few days after first dealer deliveries - but they have been in production in Europe, so it's not a valid excuse.
A bigger issue for me though is the understeer oversteer transition thing, and I'm sure hoping a heavy trailer hitch hanging off the back will revise it towards neutral with oversteer on demand.
and yes,I'm still really pissed that high volume dealers are getting inventory before customers who put down deposits.
I do think AR sales would benefit by having more cars being driven and less sitting at the dealers.
I'd like to say pre-production on the squeaks/rattles (article is out a few days after first dealer deliveries - but they have been in production in Europe, so it's not a valid excuse.
A bigger issue for me though is the understeer oversteer transition thing, and I'm sure hoping a heavy trailer hitch hanging off the back will revise it towards neutral with oversteer on demand.
and yes,I'm still really pissed that high volume dealers are getting inventory before customers who put down deposits.
I do think AR sales would benefit by having more cars being driven and less sitting at the dealers.
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and a new US blogger video
he doesn't notice understeer, must not have had the opportunity to go very fast?
he doesn't notice understeer, must not have had the opportunity to go very fast?
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534 Posts
1.2 seconds to 30 mph, 3.3 second 0-60 and a 11.8 quarter mile. Holy crap that's a fast SUV.
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542 Posts
I think one of the things that might influence this is the fact the press vehicles are probably beat to ****. The average person isn't driving the vehicle the way the testers are. I mean those press vehicles are probably pushed to their limits daily for many hours at a time on courses and special tracks that most likely the vehicle won't ever see.
Skepticism here too- Lost: maybe they were delivered through dealers. A lot of these guys act like they have stock to lure in buyers.
As to the review another Jeremy Clarkson wannabee- I take it and most of them with a grain of salt and more press piling on with the desired narrative - please forgive my skepticism and cynicism to them, MT or not.
More fake news?! I respect your opinion before theirs but they have thousands of readers- your audience is us!
As to the review another Jeremy Clarkson wannabee- I take it and most of them with a grain of salt and more press piling on with the desired narrative - please forgive my skepticism and cynicism to them, MT or not.
More fake news?! I respect your opinion before theirs but they have thousands of readers- your audience is us!
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1,805 Posts
Observations and things even I wouldn't want. While the Ceramic brakes on this size vehicle would be highly desirable (not mandatory) for track use, I would not have ordered mine with them as the quality of pads like Pagid Yellows and DTC70's is pretty **** extraordinary already at a fraction of the cost. My Ti Sport is VERY solid. This had to be a press car that had the snot beaten out of it already and I bet those Sparco seats on hard tracks was half the noise. Again totally unnecessary unless at track routinely. The Central controller 9 (aka Idrive) to me is far less distracting than touch screens. His ride comments mention little about changes in the suspension settings
"Now that we have the raving out of the way, we have to address the issue of the Alfa being an Alfa. To be clear: There was nary a mechanical hiccup or electrical gremlin during our loan period." No kidding. Please tell this to the world!! The bloated sticker is directly related to the seats and brakes to a tune of ??$8000+. Try comparing it to a turbo at that loaded price and it still kicks Macan Turbo ass all day long and you won't lose it in a parking lot!!
Finally although testers, some of these rag drivers really aren't that good and unecessarily beat up on the vehicles with harsh inputs that would get them kicked off most race teams. The oscillations sound to me like the result of entering too hot and exiting too hot... Yet steering is sublime through all this. Really??? Haven't heard this before.
"Now that we have the raving out of the way, we have to address the issue of the Alfa being an Alfa. To be clear: There was nary a mechanical hiccup or electrical gremlin during our loan period." No kidding. Please tell this to the world!! The bloated sticker is directly related to the seats and brakes to a tune of ??$8000+. Try comparing it to a turbo at that loaded price and it still kicks Macan Turbo ass all day long and you won't lose it in a parking lot!!
Finally although testers, some of these rag drivers really aren't that good and unecessarily beat up on the vehicles with harsh inputs that would get them kicked off most race teams. The oscillations sound to me like the result of entering too hot and exiting too hot... Yet steering is sublime through all this. Really??? Haven't heard this before.
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personally I don't get paying the extra money for seats with less adjustment, but I guess some people like the look of CF way more than I do.
the general consensus of those tracking giulia quads is that the CC brakes are too expensive for that purpose - if you were fast enough that someone else was paying the bills it would be different. IF there was reliable experience that they would last essentially forever in normal use, then they might make sense - if you didn't have a rotor chipped by road or removal hazards.
the ones shipped to the bigger dealers are loaded up with stuff, and then likely marked up a whole bunch in the hope that a gotta have it now guy with big bucks will walk in. same thing they did with the giulia quad - except it didn't happen that much/quickly and they chased potential customers to other dealers or other brands.
"the issue of Alfa being an Alfa" - that's what they fail to recognize when they do the markups; for most people that perception is their reality, and the closer the asking price gets to a "safe" german wondercar, the less likely new potential customers will be to put their dollars on an unknown that always gets negative comments tossed into a positive review.
the general consensus of those tracking giulia quads is that the CC brakes are too expensive for that purpose - if you were fast enough that someone else was paying the bills it would be different. IF there was reliable experience that they would last essentially forever in normal use, then they might make sense - if you didn't have a rotor chipped by road or removal hazards.
the ones shipped to the bigger dealers are loaded up with stuff, and then likely marked up a whole bunch in the hope that a gotta have it now guy with big bucks will walk in. same thing they did with the giulia quad - except it didn't happen that much/quickly and they chased potential customers to other dealers or other brands.
"the issue of Alfa being an Alfa" - that's what they fail to recognize when they do the markups; for most people that perception is their reality, and the closer the asking price gets to a "safe" german wondercar, the less likely new potential customers will be to put their dollars on an unknown that always gets negative comments tossed into a positive review.
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