30 years of Alfas, well almost!

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Johnboy
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Johnboy »

Agree nice colour choice 8-)
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Kegsti66
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Kegsti66 »

Very smart !!
Looks nice with the headlight surrounds that colour and not chrome. 8-)

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Bluesuit
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Agree with you guys, the colour is great; a nice deep metallic blue and then from some angles with sunlight there is a hint of purple. The gun metal wheels, door handles and headlight surrounds also sold it for me and are reminiscent of the old GT's dark wheels.

I have only managed 200 miles in it so far, but on today's first run to work (45 miles each way, mainly dual carriage way) it says it was averaging 52-54 MPG - based on previous new car experiences I would expect this to improve by 3-5 MPG over the next 5000 miles as the engine runs in. I tried granddad mode on the DNA setting on the way in, and speedy Gonzales mode on the way back - seemingly no effect on economy so I think it will be set to speedy all the time as it gives much better response.

Enjoying the 'infotainment' centre especially the voice commands which sometimes work, or like the Mrs, it only obeys when it feels like it: if I ask for Radio 4 it gives me Radio 1 - I think it feels its too young for sensible radio :D. I do like the hands free capability, especially as the car quite quiet - much quieter than the GT which suffered from high levels of road/tyre noise.

I wouldn't say its a problem, but I have yet to see/experience the stop/start feature, so not sure if its not working or that some other issue (e.g. insufficient battery charge) is holding it off for the time being.

But all in all, so far it's fun, reasonably quick, hopefully increasingly economical to run and a pleasant drive.

The thing I've got get used to, is that I can now wave at other Alfas on the daily commute :)

Cheers

Ian
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Bluesuit
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Brief update on the Mito, done about 450 miles in it now, and the stop/start feature has made its presence known, seems to need a few miles to initialise it, so all is good with it.

Over my daily commute 45 miles each way I am getting over 55 mpg with speeds varying from 40 in roadworks to 75. I hope that will improve a little as the engine runs in.

Annoyingly, not seen many Alfas to wave at!
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Bluesuit
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

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racked up 2250 miles now, all is good except that the windscreen has cracked :evil: - evidence of a tiny stone chip is the culprit though I don't recall a stone hitting the screen, so need to get that sorted - why couldn't it happen to the car with 150,000 miles on it and which would be benefit from a new screen!

still happily returning 56 mpg regardless of speeds, so well happy with that, though disappointed not to get any responses when waving to other Alfas!
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Bluesuit
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

After 6 months ownership, and much waving, I received my first Alfa wave in return in the Mito today - fittingly it was from another Mito :-)
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KevJTD
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by KevJTD »

at last!! :D
Giulietta JTD 170
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Johnboy
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Johnboy »

Success :lol: must admit.id owned my GT about ten minutes and got a wave .then it was about year till I got another from a local blackline owner.
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Sud 145
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Sud 145 »

Just got a thumbs up from a 147 owner, always better when in the Sud means they know what they're looking at.

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Johnboy »

Clearly have good tast in cars 8-)
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Got many more waves when I was in the GT, now that the Mrs is driving the Mito more, waving from the Skoda only confuses people :-)
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Johnboy »

:lol: love it
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

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Its been a while since I added to this post, so thought it would be worth an update. Had the Mito for 2 years now, done about 22,000 trouble free and economical miles mainly by the Mrs these days: averaging 50mpg, better on a run. Its had one real service, the first at 12,000 miles was more an opportunity for the local dealer to extract £75 from your wallet to admire your car as not even the oil was changed! Only snags have been 2 windscreen changes, but thats more bad luck with stones than the car's fault. So in summary it has to be the most reliable and economical Alfa I've owned, which leaves me thinking that what we like most about our Alfas is that they normally always seek attention, and the joy we get is from tackling the latest drama - though if it's your daily driver that is a pain which was why we fell out with the GT.

We have attended a number of AROC events, and it also got to be the 'June Car' in the 2018 Mito Register Calendar which was a pleasant surprise. No plans to change it so hopefully it will continue to be out faithful servant, meanwhile that need a project itch has come back so I'm contemplating a 916 spider before prices get silly.

Keep sharing your histories

Ian
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by KevJTD »

Interesting to hear the MiTo has been going well Ian, I've been thinking of late I'm due to update the GT....been considering one, or maybe a Giulietta.
Is yours the 1.3 diesel?
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Bluesuit
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Hi Kev,

It's a 1.6 JTDM, I tested a 1.3JTDM before which whilst economical was a bit gutless, the 1.6 is more torquey and has a fair turn of speed, whilst still delivering 50+ mpg and for £30 tax. And although Diesel, it's quite refined, certainly quieter than the GT which suffered a lot of tyre noise.

I'm not a fan of the Giulietta, I have a couple friends who've had them, one sold it for a 156 and then came back to a Mito, the other swapped his GT Q2 for one and while it's a solid driver he's not over the moon with it, so I'd try a Mito! I think the 1.6 is the more reliable one, as I've read quite a few people having snags with the multiairs.

Cheers Ian
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Not one of my Alfas, but this weekend we said good bye to a long term member of the family, namely our trusty 2000 Land Rover Discovery TD5, owned for 16 years, almost to the day. Proceeds, will go towards sorting the Freelander which is the only landrover left in the fleet, though some may go towards repairing a bit of kerbing damage to the Mito wheels :oops:. Now what to do with extra space on the drive........
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by KevJTD »

Dangerous situation that mate, having space on the drive :D
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

Too true, I'm contemplating something quite different, especially as classic land rovers are silly money these days, so am considering an old Brit, like a standard 8/10, Austin A40, Wolseley or some such......
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by KevJTD »

Richard has just bought an old BL Marina coupe that looks in amazing condition, ridiculously low mileage too.....
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by rsfruitbat »

Nothing wrong with Marinas :D and

My wife's is a 1.3 saloon. Been in the family from 6 months old. Think it's done about 94000

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by KevJTD »

The one Richard got looks in amazing condition, sure he won't mind me posting a pic...17,000 miles too!
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Giulietta JTD 170
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by rsfruitbat »

That looks really nice and typically you can pick them up for peanuts.
I have always found it fun to drive aswell.

rsfruitbat

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

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It's interesting that with all the exotica you see at classic car gatherings it's the rare remaining everyday car that used to be such a common sight that catches the attention, especially it in its day it was problematic, and taken for granted. How often do you see an Allegro, chevette, MkI Cavalier, or marina these days. You are more likely to see 105 series Alfas, E Types or Aston Martins! My sister used to own a Marina TC coupe, she had all manner of problems with it though.
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by junior »

Bluesuit wrote:It's interesting that with all the exotica you see at classic car gatherings it's the rare remaining everyday car that used to be such a common sight that catches the attention, especially it in its day it was problematic, and taken for granted. How often do you see an Allegro, chevette, MkI Cavalier, or marina these days. You are more likely to see 105 series Alfas, E Types or Aston Martins! My sister used to own a Marina TC coupe, she had all manner of problems with it though.

One of my chums complains that his classic car is so common its a bit boring and not worth taking to shows.......E type Jag |

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Johnboy »

Got to agree with e-types becoming not as rare as they used to be. Crazy. There's a massive classic and retro seen down my way .so I'm getting to work on some cool cars because of it. A guy setup a company called oh so retro about five years ago. Went to his annual car meet .over 1500 cars from minis to Mustangs and everything in between. There was some real rare classes there.
Here's my neighbours Buick lesabre I painted with some other yank tanks
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Bluesuit »

I've noticed a lot more Americana at classic shows round our way - 'Rat Look' pick-ups are a particular favourite of mine no need to worry about parking dinks!
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Kegsti66
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Kegsti66 »

They make good money as well.
I know a guy who bought a pile of parts, built a rat rod and when finished, another guy pestered him to sell it to him, so he did and it enabled him to buy a '69 Dodge Charger !!

What about a posh rat??
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Sud 145
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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Sud 145 »

No sorry Keith that just looks like an unfinished project.

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by Kegsti66 »

I'll get my coat. :oops:

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Re: 30 years of Alfas, well almost!

Post by junior »

It only needs two headlights, a seat and a steering wheel. If you wanted to go mad you could rattle can paint the bonnet.

Week ends work ? :lol:

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