Soldato
Thank goodness you saw sense and went for the 350Z!
Cheap V6 options?
- Thread starter Jimbo Mahoney
- Start date
Soldato
After seeing the list of cars the OP has had previously, I am not to sure it's that sensible.
Never driven anything near this power and speed, could be a recipe for disaster or a quick trip to licence loss.
OP, be careful and sensible, this is a very different beast than anything you've had before. As the car feels so well planted it's easy to hit 120mph and it not feel like it.
Soldato
Alfa 156 GTA 3.2V6.
Engine sounds stunning, loads of well maintained enthusiast examples out there. Good thing is if you get bored another enthusiast will always have it off you.
Sadly out of my budget so I settled for the 2.5. Still it sounds gorgeous and has ample performance.
The GTV/Spider have beautiful V6 3.0 in them as well.
Engine sounds stunning, loads of well maintained enthusiast examples out there. Good thing is if you get bored another enthusiast will always have it off you.
Sadly out of my budget so I settled for the 2.5. Still it sounds gorgeous and has ample performance.
The GTV/Spider have beautiful V6 3.0 in them as well.
Soldato
Great cars but not cheap to run or the first word in reliability. The OP has bought a 350Z I believe anyway.
Soldato
No you are very right. The reliability seems to be ok even by Alfa standards but if it goes wrong it will be expensive.
The bottom line is they are cheap-ish and fun. They are by no means M3/M5 performance but the engine is a true legend, a gem.
The OP wanted a V6, the Busso engine is a V6 and a half.
Soldato
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The 2.5 one I had was very reliable too 
Soldato
The 2.5 one I had was very reliable too
2 years in mine has been pretty reliable other than a split hose near the oil filter/heat exchanger.
She is old, very clean but not worth much more than scrap value. But I still have a big beaming smile when I drive her.
Soldato
To be fair they are no less or more reliable then a beemer of the same era, and you get bags of character that the beemer can only dream of, and as you say the alfa v6 is just lush, the sound it makes is majestic.
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Thanks - I agree. I remember when I traded the fiesta for the 306 - that felt like a rocket! Something tells me this will be in another league...
I will definitely go steady and get a feel for it.
May also see if there are advanced driving courses or skid pans round my way.
I've been driving for 16 years and had one accident in the 306 - clipped a verge on a back road but luckily car was (mostly) ok. Gave me quite a scare though (spun 360 degrees!) so that's burned in my memory...
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Soldato
You'll be fine, spend a few weeks or months taking it easy and learning the car, not like they are some untamed monster.
Soldato
It's never the car that is untamed, just the person behind the wheel
OP seems sensible enough, but we all have that moment of insanity so the more preparation when it comes the better
Man of Honour
The Zed isn't THAT fast. But yes compared to a punto it will feel like a rocket. Just take it nice and easy, and perhaps do a track day to learn how a RWD car performs.
Everyone has to learn somewhere on how to drive a RWD car, it's not voodoo, it just requires an adjustment of driving techniques.
Everyone has to learn somewhere on how to drive a RWD car, it's not voodoo, it just requires an adjustment of driving techniques.
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Punto? Pfft, we're comparing it to a Lupo 1.0E or a screw-modded 306 DTurbo - both extremely powerful cars and utterly different from a Punto!
Man of Honour
Oops. I meant Lupo! 
But as you say a screw modded 306 is pretty insane. I had one. Fastest car I ever owned. In black, the fastest colour too!
But as you say a screw modded 306 is pretty insane. I had one. Fastest car I ever owned. In black, the fastest colour too!
Associate
The new car must have about the same BHP as all your previous cars combinedI have 3 rado's, 2 x 1.8 16vs and a G60...none are reliableLovely cars though if you don't mind the fact they are over 20 years old now.
what went wrong with yours ? theyre a mk2/mk3 golf combo in a frock so cant see how they can be unreliable ! except the charger of course
a rado vr6 is a really good shout for this thread imo. cheap . no depreciation. approaching classic insurance age too for even more cheap
Permabanned
get 350z i know YOU WANT ONE
btw. Have a spin in RX7 those are fun cars to even tho its not V6 sound engine in my opinion is just fantastic. Almost sold my DC2 to get one due to engine sound
btw. Have a spin in RX7 those are fun cars to even tho its not V6 sound engine in my opinion is just fantastic. Almost sold my DC2 to get one due to engine sound
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Oops. I meant Lupo!
But as you say a screw modded 306 is pretty insane. I had one. Fastest car I ever owned. In black, the fastest colour too!
Haha! Me too!
Soldato
just lots of little things that come with age, not so much car specific, bar the charger.
Wipers and lights are issues from new, fuel lines perishing, electrics etc etc
The VR6 while a lovely car, has just 190bhp as new. Just doesn't compare to the handling and power of the 350z imho. Fuel consumption is also going to be worse, insides are very dated now and again, you'd have to upgrade the wipers to Lupo GTi ones and sort the wiring out to get the lights done.
I know you can turbo the VR6 and hit 300-400bhp, and I think the kits are less than a grand but it's added work that the OP probably doesn't want.