Stichting Club Alfa Romeo Bezitters

Idd, als alleen die bult plastic nu eens verdween zou het 100 x beter zijn! We willen techniek zien

Misschien zitten er wel chromen aanzuigbuizen onder...

Ik heb nog Alfa emblemen zat..

daewoo-alfa....


So Alfa Romeo`s new premuim engine is a buy-in GM product. What a sad reflection on the state of individualism in this global corporate world. I am glad that the Jano`s and Merosi`s have passed before it came to this.
It may be high- tech, state of the art, accounts departement approved, but an ITALIAN ENGINE WITH SOUL it will never be!
My sources from the GM engine plant tell me that the `Alfa` version is just one more variation , and that the visual presentation (badge engineering) plus a few different mounting holes is about as different to the basic recipe as it gets.
I certainly hope that the engineering attitude has changed at GM- Holden since I was last involved with them. As a member of a company employed to problem solve for GM engineers, I once showed them a 105 Guilia crownwheel and carrier, pointing out the balance holes. They laughed, called it overdesigned, uneconomical , waste of resources. We then fixed their particular problem, a 500 gram out- of- balance diff carrier, by milling a huge hole opposite the one they had designed in for assembly purposes! A few weeks later their re-designed version came to us for checking; only 100 grams! Good enough for production.
In the local cars the 190kw version is red-lined at 5500rpm and several reports have suggested `soft` performance below 4000. This is a dual variable cam and intake length model.
I am also told that the blocks employ a cast-in thin wall liner that cannot be oversized or replaced, pistons are non removable from the conrods, and the rods themselves employ a broken split line and cannot be re- machined.
All this is common with their alloy V-8 engines which have had terrible on-going problems with oil consumption and bearings.
Ah- well , I guess we wont be restoring these in 30 years anyway!
So this is the way of the future? - An Italian car with its heart made by an American company in a far away Australian city by an anonomous, largely Asian refugee workforce, baptised with a Cross and Serpent and packed into a crate.
Even the Koreans can make their own V6s - Hyundai do... but wait , Daewoo dont.... they share the same engine as.... Alfa Romeo.
VS

This engine will NOT be designed by Alfa Romeo at all. GM the Australian branch will be making an engine 100% FOR Alfa Romeo, just like they make one for Holden, Saab, etc.

Thus Alfa Romeo will take what they get. The press release NEVER said it will be made to an Alfa Romeo design. Alfa Romeo will simply choose one of the many cr@ppy options.

Now I fully understand many of you can find ways to accept this and many of you might love the GM engines ... but as one expert posted earlier (Vsharp's post) the GM engines that are sold in Australia are absolute rubbish and the warranty claims are enormous.

EVEN the so called wonderful new alloy 5.7 v8. No end of issues ... how they survive in the USA I do not know but there is absolutely no way in my life that I would by a GM product!@!

My uncle owns a Holden Commodore Ute with the 5.7 v8 and 6 speed (sourced from the Corvette, I believe) gearbox and the gearbox was fncked before he had put 30,000 km's on it ... thus had it replaced and then he was not happy with the new one and had them rebuild it, etc.

Thus do NOT mention quality and GM in the same sentence. Yep the engines might be cheap ... but there is a reason they are cheap ... and also there is a reason why a Holden Commodore has NO resale value when it is only about 5 years old. Think about that when you fork out for your new Alfa 159 and then have to scrap it, or sell it for less than a Hyundai in 5 years time.

Oh and by the way regarding the FIAT engine and no drama back then (turbolarespider's post)... well I was upset, but there is a difference. FIAT make 100% Italian engines, which means that fun and drive-ability are part of the design goals. (Oh and the most modern Alfa badged car I would own is a v6 156/147 as atleast the heart is still Alfa.)

Americans and Australians make engines to move an object called a car ... not to give it life!

Pete

Ik heb nog Alfa emblemen zat..

Ik heb nog Alfa emblemen zat..

Dat wat je eerst op je accu had zitten?