The Semi-Unofficial Pistol-Forum Car geek, gearhead, hot rodder, and vehicle thread

[RJ]

Ha. My understanding of Alfas in general, mainly gained by watching Top Gear, is that they're generally wonderful to drive and horrible to own. Definitely understand the want, as the Q is a really cool car, but I can't think of a scenario where I'd actually consider buying one.

I had the serious wants for an Alpha when I worked in the UK...the standard Hertz Rental cars were usually Ford products (e.g. Mondeo) but occasionally I snagged a 146...I spent a lot of time driving. My trips were from Portsmouth to Yeovil (Helo plant), or from Portsmouth to Bristol, or all the way down the coast (4 hours) to RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall. I spent a lot of time driving English B roads, since traffic was pretty poor around major cities and I needed to zip around.

The 146s were awesome drivers, slick transmission and enough power to be fun.

At the end of my work period, they offered us a two year extension on our committments, that came with a bag of money and a company car they would pay for (typical part of an executive's compensation in the UK is a company car - and your status in the pub reflects what you drive.) So I was planning on a new 156...in Rosso...man that would have been fun.



Ultimately I opted not to extend beyond my five years and came back to the states. Still kinda miss having the 156 though.

[RJ]

That's roughly the same as the 993TT did with 440 HP through AWD, which would have higher drivetrain losses, so it seems about right. What about 0-60 in 3.7 seconds seems slow to you?

Nothing, really. I probably could have framed my observation better. It definitely was not an eye poke at the Cayman GTS.

I was just surprised, as compared to my poverty spec 370HP 991.2 (1/4 mile 11.9s and 0-60 time of 3.4s) that a "GT4" 718 with 414 HP would have a 1/4 miles time of 11.9s and 0-60 of 3.7s. I used to own a 981S (321HP / 4.7s 0-60) so I'm familiar with winding the nuts off a NA Porsche flat 6 to move things along. And then there is the standard T 718 S, with a 2017PDK model being reported at 1/4 mile time of 12.0s and 0-60 of 3.6s. Which is about the same as the GT4?

I think the attraction for the 718GTS is probably the suspension tweaks, brakes and the wail of the flat 6. On a track it'd be a missile. I could definitely tell between driving my 911 and 981 back to back that the 981 had a crisper turn in and would change direction noticeably quicker. But whether you'd want to deal with the fuss of a track oriented car every day, with the sports seats and teeth rattling setup everyday...I dunno. I had my PEC Atlanta experience in a 911T with the buckets, and they had to get the jaws of life to get me out of them after my track session.

Anyway, thanks for letting me clarify.

[Outlier]

Ha. My understanding of Alfas in general, mainly gained by watching Top Gear, is that they're generally wonderful to drive and horrible to own. Definitely understand the want, as the Q is a really cool car, but I can't think of a scenario where I'd actually consider buying one.

That is my understanding as well. I have a buddy who owned a 4C for about a year. He ended up selling it to buy another house so there wasn't much to go off of as far as the reliability of it.

[olstyn]

my poverty spec 370HP 991.2

Fair points on the times. I hadn't directly compared to the other models. I just had to call out that you said "poverty spec" when referring to a recent model Porsche 911, which cracked me up. That is flat (yes, pun intended) hilarious. I'm pretty sure the only car that *actually* counts as a "poverty spec" Porsche is a 924.

[Doc_Glock]

I was just surprised, as compared to my poverty spec 370HP 991.2 (1/4 mile 11.9s and 0-60 time of 3.4s) that a "GT4" 718 with 414 HP would have a 1/4 miles time of 11.9s and 0-60 of 3.7s. I used to own a 981S (321HP / 4.7s 0-60) so I'm familiar with winding the nuts off a NA Porsche flat 6 to move things along. And then there is the standard T 718 S, with a 2017PDK model being reported at 1/4 mile time of 12.0s and 0-60 of 3.6s. Which is about the same as the GT4?

It could be the PDK version is just that much faster than a good old (but now slow) stick shift?

[RJ]

It could be the PDK version is just that much faster than a good old (but now slow) stick shift?

For the 911 times? Yep that was for a PDK. MT is definitely slower, for any timed acceleration runs, there's no denying that. There's a good chance a PDK equipped Cayman GT4 would be quicker. But heck, an automatic transmission on a real sports car? That's like kissing your sister. *ducks and runs*

[Bucky]

For the 911 times? Yep that was for a PDK. MT is definitely slower, for any timed acceleration runs, there's no denying that. There's a good chance a PDK equipped Cayman GT4 would be quicker. But heck, an automatic transmission on a real sports car? That's like kissing your sister. *ducks and runs*

Porsche may be the last holdout for a MT option in a high end sports car.

Funny thing, I thought the ZR1 was only available in stick, which is why I never looked past the Z06.

[rob_s]

For fellow fans of the Miata

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...Jn83IiqLWgdssr

[theJanitor]

I figured the best place to put these vids is here:

[RevolverRob]

Awesome news!

A couple of days ago, I was walking the dog and noticed a sign out front of the building two doors down from mine saying, "Garage for Rent". I called the number and after a bit of phone tag got a hold of the real estate guy. Should be fairly straight forward here on out and the contract will be signed for my new month-to-month lease on a single car garage, just 90-seconds from my apartment, in the next couple of days. First time in 14 years I'll have a garage!

With my dad passing and my mom selling the house, I was looking at either renting a storage unit in Texas or maybe one here, neither of which I was happy about. Now I've solved the storage problem, the challenge is getting the Sunbeam, my tools, etc. up here. Not that big a challenge, really, just a few days and some driving. I might pay to ship the car, so I can tow a UHaul trailer with my parts and tools in it.