Areas for improvement: Turning circle / bad fuel economy
While the car is not a fantastic drive, it isn’t rubbish. There is certainly scope for improvement, but that is the case for most cars. What you have to realise with the 147 is that it is not a hot hatch in the same way as the Clio or Civic are. It is more of a muscle car.
Your conventional hot hatch is designed to provide a good balance of everyday usability and performance. The majority of this performance is extracted from decent suspension and brakes. These allow you to maximise the power on tap. These cars will usually have more power than there standard brothers and sisters, but most will still only do 0-60 in around 7 seconds.
What you have with the Alfa is a different sort of car. It has not been designed for performance. It has been designed to be a baby supercar. As a result it won’t be practical in everyway or the best drive. It has some compromises.
The main issue is of course the handling. The electrics do a very good job of countering this, especially in the dry. In the wet they do struggle - As noted by a controllable amount of understeer! Over the last few weeks I have gotten used to its behaviour and it does feel better. There is a surprising amount of grip there, but it takes a while to feel confident to use it. I think it is the quick steering which causes this. Because I’m not used to it, it does feel a little unnatural.
The other issue is the turning circle. It is not the end of the world, but it is a pain. I cannot get into my driveway without taking a couple of swings. I have never had to do this before. Even with big cars and vans. Tight car parks such as supermarkets car parks can also be difficult to navigate. Some times you need to back up a bit to get a wide enough swing on those 90 degree turns. You then get the feeling everyone thinks you can’t drive.
Lastly the fuel economy. Trust me it is bad. I average about 20mpg and honestly I don’t drive it hard that often. I can get 99mpg on the motorway (going down hill with the t
The running costs for Alfa Romeo 147 3.2 V6 Manual are high
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