Anyone ever driven an Alfa 156 Selespeed?

Wondered how good the Selespeed transmission is? Reviews seem to incdicate not worth the extra, but it's only a few £100's extra from www.trade-sales.co.uk ?

Any experiences anyone?

PS Obviously I'm asking on behalf of a friend.

no.not worth the extra imo.The 156 will struggle to get near 10 secs to 60,the Selespeed just won't allow it!! Also,will infuriate on a "fiesty" drive.Stick with the manual,its far quicker and fun.(I have the 147 manual.I tried the Selespeed and fell asleep at the wheel).
Spend the money on the Momo leather seats,17" supersports and the Bose.He/she won't regret it!!

Got to agree with dba. I test drove one last year. Great idea, not so good in practice. It does have a tendency to be a bit 'jerky' and I suspect that the novelty would wear off quite quickly. Def go for the manual.

As a side issue, we have a number of 156s at work on the company car fleet. They have had a lot of reliability problems, to the extent that they have now been withdrawn from our company car list.

Personally speaking I think a lot of the problems are down to oil. The Alfa's can be heavy on oil consumption, which has led to quite a few engine seizures. As a general rule, most modern cars don't use much oil and I don't think that people are so used to checking things like oil levels as they used to be (even more so with company cars where nothing is normally done until the car goes in for a service).

I wouldn't advise against owning one (I still think it is one of the best looking cars on the road), but I would advise your friend to be careful with routine maintenance.

Chris

Had a 156 sillyspeed briefly when I started my current job.

Sillyspeed tries to override you when you're changing down or up through the lower gears, restricting ability to drive on the rev counter. :(

Eventually had to say enough was enough when a fuel valve burnt out & the car wouldn't run on more than 3 cylinders. :rolleyes:

Just had to rewrite the company car policy to allow me to opt out with large cash alternative :D:D:D:D

Hugh

just to add to Chrises pots,my 147 has used 1.5 ltrs of oil after only 4k,and driven hard these things can use a ltr per 1000 miles.Most co/car drivers wont check,hence the probs.Better to drive,sit in and look at than anything Germany has to offer though,imhhho....... :D

So - forget the Sillyspeed (LOL) and check the oil....

Thanks guys!