East Midlands Section - Alfa Romeo Owners Club

Alfa Romeo Owners Club UK
East Midlands
Section
Formerly Central & East Midlands
Wednesday 10 Sept, 7pm
A chance to enjoy another convoy drive around
the local lanes, courtesy of Brian Smith who
knows them so well. Our meet up starts from
7, with the 30 minute-or-so drive departing not
long after 7.30; then its back to the pub for a
drink and a good natter.
13 & 14 September
Brand Manager Paul Jones has arranged for us
to drive the exciting new 170bhp TCT MiTo
Quadrifoglio Verde and the mighty 240bhp TCT
Giulietta QV - 30 minute driving sessions are
available where you will share the helm with a
professional driver. The superb Alfa 4C will be
on display too. You’ll need to book your driving
slot so please contact Alfa Service on 0115
855 3040. Food and drink will be available
and there will be some amazing deals available
on new and used Alfa Romeos. All based at
Chris Variava, Basford, Nottingham.
Fri 17 October, 6.30pm
Our karting extravaganza will return. Team
format, £40 a head, for a 60 or 90 minute race
depending on numbers (2 stints of 15 minutes
plus practice). Friends and family are very
welcome, minimum age 16. BRILLIANT fun!
Please contact John if interested.
Get ready for another terrific late summer event at
Leicester Airport, on Gartree Road near Stoughton.
This a FREE event, put on by the Leicester Aero Club
primarily for local residents who they frequently fly
over, but thanks to model plane flying fanatic Dave
Atkins, we’ve been attending for many years and
providing a nice display of our own. That’s us above
last year. It all opens at 10.30am.
IMPORTANT - we use a NEW GATE this year from
Gartree Road. Travelling from the direction of
Leicester and Stoughton Village, go PAST the usual
Stretton 2000 Karting entrance on left, and take the
next gate on left, approx. 200 metres further on. We
will do best to get signs up.
Some of the regular features include the chance
for FREE pleasure flights in light aircraft (just get your
name down on the day), which must be worth £100
at least, and that’s in anything from Cesnas to stunt
bi-planes! There’s some great planes to see; WW2
War Birds are promised again and the local police
helicopter, and fly pasts too - like the Hurricane and
massive Navy Merlin helicopter last time. Please
note though that this is not a massive public air
display like Farnborough or Waddington, but it has a
real charm. There’s a range of other attractions too
like archery and model plane flying The club’s base is
in the control tower, which has hot food and an allday bar too. And we’ve something extra this time too:
ALFA PARADE RUN. We have an opportunity to
take our Alfa Romeos for a run along the main
runway and perimeter track. There will be a small
donation to the Air Ambulance Charity required. We
looked on at the TVR club doing this with some envy
last time, well now’s our chance!
As you’ll see on the panel to the right and inside,
we’ve some other great stuff on this September and
early October too. 10 September will be busy for
many. El Presidenté, George Cole, has organised
another Curborough Sprint Circuit driving experience
for us, and we still have places for that so do get in
touch if you’d like to take part. In the evening on the
10th at our regular monthly meeting at the George &
Dragon we’re having a convoy run around the local
lanes, just like the one we all enjoyed in July, but with
more headlights on!
Then, Paul Jones has geared up a great weekend
of driving for us at Chris Variava’s on the 13th and
14th. It’s bound to be fun to get a flavour of the new
Giulietta QV TCT’s acceleration (0 to 60 in under 6
secs), and the racy MiTo QV with its new TCT ‘box.
Talking about driving fun, it doesn’t get a lot better
than karting. and we’re off to the excellent outdoor
Sutton Circuit near Broughton Astley on 17 October friends and family very welcome. Here’s
to some great entertainment!
Cheers!
John
Alfisti is edited and produced by
Inside:
John Griffiths

AROC East Midlands Section Secretary
Tel: 0774 8881317


e-mail: [email protected]

See our website for latest news and more:

www.AROC-UK.com/EastMids
Alfisti’s production sponsored by
■ Alfisti Issue 168 ■ September 2014
MITCAR Report
Spider Night
Aero Club Open Day Info
Giulietta QV LE
Our Cars
. . . and more
@AROCeastmids
ALFISTI / EASTMIDS
Free to club members
SPIDER NIGHT
The George & Dragon, Thringstone
We traditionally have a Spider Night in the summer and this year
at the George & Dragon, Thringstone, we had some lovely ones
along again.
New member Rob Incenti was first along with his Spider S2,
having enjoyed the run down from Mansfield with his wife
Sharon. David Malpas is another new member, he was there with
his Meteor Grey 916 Spider 2.0TS, which looks terrific. Great to
welcome also for the first time Mark Gunston with his 8C red
Giulietta Cloverleaf, and Phil Larning with his black MiTo Distinctive.
We had a great line or two of non-Spider Alfas too, and before
dusk we were off doing what we term ‘blag-a-rides’, as passengers
in each other’s cars.
Paul Jones and Joe Parmenter brought a literally brand new Alfa
Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde Launch Edition over - in the new
stunning Matt Magnesio Grey. It was a real centre of attention, and
a few of us were able to have a spin in it too. It’s a terrific car that
makes a lovely noise. More on that car in the next edition.
Also on the night it was terrific to see El Presidenté George Cole
when he arrived in his newly acquired Alfa 145 Cloverleaf. See back
page for more on that car. George continues his recovery from his
‘shunt’ earlier this year. He’s insistent he will be at Curborough on
10 September, but also that he will not be driving there! He also
noted that there is a new prescribed route around the track which
participants will be shown.
Next month it’s the Twilight Drive, hopefully we will have as sunny
an evening again. John
Long shadows in
the sunshine…
More photos on
our website
Brian Smith starts the
Blag-a-Rides in his Spider
Above and group on left - all feature the new Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde Launch Edition. You can see
its carbon mirror caps and the gorgeous burnished alloy wheels unique to the ‘LE’. Bob Human is
pictured smiling at the wheel when he got chance for a spin! And Matt Magnesio Grey looks superb...
Pictured left - Julian Austin’s SAAB
Turbo drop-top, a breathed on version
by Abbott Racing with over 250bhp. It
was Spider night so it fitted n (kind of!),
ditto next to it Leigh Nethercot’s
Porsche Boxster 2.7. Leigh enjoyed
giving a few of us a spin too, and I can
certainly say it can shift! On the end,
Mark Sangster’s cracking little Panda
100HP, a car he took over to Le Mans
camping! Terrific car...
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Aero Club Open Day Memories
2006 Was the first Leicester Aero Club Open Day our AROC Section attended in good
numbers. Dave Atkins’ Model Flying Club had a tremendous display of planes there that
year, and it was through him that we had got the invite to park up our Alfas in a display.
Also, Bryan Alexander (our Section Chairman) used his links with the East Midlands
Ferrari Owners’ Club to bring some of their members along too.
We often have the odd random classic car lined up as well; a host of TVRs being
present last time (an Aero Club member owns one and brought their local enthusiasts'
group along.) Generally we’ve been very lucky with the weather, catching some brilliant
late summer sunshine on the event’s traditional first weekend in September slot. 2011
was fun though when morning mist and drizzle meant Dave brought along his VW
‘Damper Van’, aka ‘Section Support Vehicle’, cooking up a raft of bacon butties. Magic!
Here are a few photos to bring back some memories of some great cars and planes
we’ve see over the years. Needless to say, it’s The Vulcan that’s probably the best
remembered, setting off all the car alarms on its dramatic low level fly past! John
Flying high in blue skies - terrific fun.
Messerschmitt ME109E
1926 Alfa Romeo often joins us at the show
Plenty of Bouncy Castles in 2012!.
Diesel Dave with one of his smallest models - a jet MIG 15
Dave on kitchen duty with the Damper Van!
Incredible model jet F15 Eagle that performed amazing stunts.
Bryan’s Italo-Jack, and so close to Mustang!
Fiona is geared up!
Hawker Hurricane coming in a tad low!!
The Flying Banana - get to loop the loop!
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
Wonderful P51-D Mustang. You can’t get closer than this...
Alfas by the taxi-strip and the Control Tower ‘Club House’.
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Rockingham Castle
MITCAR has been going for in incredible 14 years
now. Brainchild of our Section Chairman, Bryan
Alexander, who back in 2001 was also organiser of
the East Midlands Ferrari Owners’ Club group. Last
year Bryan decided it was time to retire from all the
set up, and after a nasty bout of ill health soon after
we’re very pleased he’s well.
Picking up the reins for the advance organisation I
can tell you it’s pretty hard work, even with good
help from Alan Lathwell, and I more than ever
appreciate what Bryan used to do of old.
Happily the team at this year’s venue, the
wonderful Rockingham Castle, couldn’t have been
better to deal with - really incredibly helpful, with
nothing too much bother right up to the day itself.
That made all the stress so much easier!
We we’re delighted again to get sponsorship
from Chris Variava for the programmes and from
Motor World for their fabulous Italian oils (Agip/Eni)
given as prizes—plus the guys at B&W Autocare for
other prizes (they are or local AutoGlym franchise)
and Martin from Bear’s Wax Factory who donated a
lovely prize for the Detailing award.
The day itself dawned grey and showery, but was
to brighten up well. We’re pretty sure that kept a
few of the more ‘exotic’ cars safely tucked in their
garages, but we were utterly delighted by what else
appeared including some stunning rarities.
With around 350 cars present there was
something for everyone. We had the very latest cars
from Alfa Romeo - courtesy of event sponsors Chris
Variava, Nottingham, in the form of the stupendous
Alfa 4C, and the Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde; no
fewer than 29 Abarth 500s, 595s and Puntos, 26
Alfa Romeo GTAs plus a special AROC MITo
Register lineup courtesy of new Registrar Duncan
Langford—one of our ‘regulars’ of course, and a
wonderful selection of Ferraris, Lancias and
Maseratis. The parkland space was covered in a
plethora of Fiats and Alfa Romeos of all shapes and
sizes. Fiats included original 500s, 126s, Pandas,
even an Argenta - right up to the latest 500s and
500Ls. Alfas had everything from glorious 1950s
and 60s models to the ‘just launched.’
People had made a superb job on their cars’
presentation too, it was like a giant Concours
parade! As per tradition the Car of the Day award
for the fabled Camshaft Trophy, is chosen by public
vote. We had a stack of entries and unsurprisingly,
the voting was amazingly broadly spread as if
everyone had their own favourite, however, the final
winner after we sadly had to disqualify votes for
past category winners, was an amazing car; the
1957 Alfa Romeo 1900 Super belonging to Quentin
Butler from Derby. They don’t come much rarer, it’s
the only one in the country and only a handful of
examples of this model, Alfa’s first genuinely mass
production car, remain in Europe. You can see all
the other award winners in the panel bottom left. All
very worthy winners - but so hard to choose!
Apart from the long lines of cars, many people
enjoyed the tours of the fabulous Castle house and
gardens, all of which being covered by their
tremendous-value MITCAR discount tickets.
As per tradition, after the award giving we had a
prize draw from the voting slips, and that
completed literally just it time to miss a short but
sharp shower. It didn’t dampen the spirits though
and many people stayed to enjoy the late afternoon
sunshine in the glorious open parkland. A very nice
end to a super day.
As ever, huge thanks to all of the AROC East
Midlands volunteer team who made the plans work
on the day, plus the organisers in the supporting
car clubs, notably Stuart and Dom from Fiat Forum
and their team, plus Colin Rear from the Abarthisti.
Here’s to the next MITCAR…
John
Photos below, clockwise from top left.
Duncan’s SBK heads the MiTo display; The Chris Variava cars
drew tons of attention; Some superb Lancias present; Gary and
Karen Smith’s lovely Giulia GTC; Another amazing rarity—a Fiat
Argenta! A moody shot of a small part of the Alfa rows.
MITCAR 2014 AWARD WINNERS
Car of the Day - winning the Camshaft
Trophy:
Alfa Romeo 1900 Super - Quentin Butler
Organisers Choice
Fiat Panda 4x4 Sisley - Owain Davies
Best Exotic
Maserati 3200 GT - Dave Hood
Rarity Award
Alfa Giulietta TurboDelta - Dave Atkins
Special Award
Fiat 126 - Antony Tramontana
Detailing Award
500 Abarth - Jennifer Butler
Main Sponsors; MotoWorld Oils (Agip/Eni)
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
MITCAR
Car of the
day winner
Quentin
Butler [R]
receives his
award from
John. His
Alfa 1900
Super is
above.
Martin
Brackenbury’s
AFH1 stand
had some
brilliant cars
on it including
Steve
Bestwick’s 147
GTA and an
amazing
Stratos replica
MITCAR
‘Rarity Award’
winner Dave
Atkins [L]
receives his
award from
John. His
Giulietta
TurboDelta is
above.
The Kontz
Wagon team,
and Matt
Wilmott
received the
‘mechanical
sympathy’
award from
Brian Smith.
(The 155 KW
had received
a broken
conrod last
year.)
Dave Hood’s Maserati 3200 GT won Best
Exotic award. In superb condition and a
great colour combo.
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
Photos here by John G, Gay Swarsbrick, Steve Ball and Brian
Austin. Lots more are up on our website -
www.aroc-uk.com/eastmids
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
Giulietta QV Launch Edition
Global Car Sales
It’s interesting to put things in perspective when wondering why FIAT
Chrysler Automobiles are gearing up models for certain markets rather than
others.
Top 10 Car Markets 2013:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
CHINA
21.984 Million
USA
15.883 Million
JAPAN
5.375 Million
BRAZIL
3.767 Million
GERMANY
3.258 Million
INDIA
3.241 Million
RUSSIA
2.950 Million
UK
2.586 Million
FRANCE
2.201 Million
CANADA
1.780 Million
(12. ITALY, 1.419 Million)
Clearly China and USA are the
most massive and by a
substantial margin over the UK
and Italy. Small wonder then
that Sig. Marchionne
concentrated on reviving the
fortunes of the beleaguered
Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge
brands before the FIAT group
products. And why Maserati has
two new large models, favoured
by Chinese and Americans,
rather than, say, a new Fiat
Punto or Alfa Romeo Coupe.
Alfa Romeo are building 500 ‘LE’ Quadrifoglio Verdes, but just 100 are
bound for the UK.
Priced at £30,280 before any discounts, the Launch Edition features
unique wheels and a full body kit including rear diffuser, plus the big twin
exhaust pipes. The dark grey coloured kit compliments the car’s carbon
grille slats, rear spoiler and mirror caps and the black door handles, and the
bright-work around the side window frames is removed. It rides on
burnished-grey 18” 5-hole alloys exposing the big red Brembo brakes.
Inside you get the ‘tombstone’-backed seats as standard and the 6.5inch
touch-screen sat nav and DAB radio system along with the already
generous standard Giulietta equipment.
Three body colours are available on the LE; Alfa Rosso, then at extra cost
you can have tri-coat Rosso Competizione and the new Matt Grigio
Magnesio that looks terrific, as per the example below which drove over
from Italy to be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
The standard QV is now available starting at £28,120 OTR, featuring TwinClutch gearbox and all-alloy 240PS 1742cc Turbo engine lifted from the
fantastic 4C. 0-62 is slashed to 6.0 seconds, i.e. sub-6 to 60. Great stuff.
The World’s Top 12 Car Brands - 2013 Car Sales
And increase/decrease on 2012
1 TOYOTA
2. VOLKSWAGEN
3. GENERAL MOTORS
4. RENAULT-NISSAN
5. HYUNDAI-KIA
6. FORD
7. FIAT-CHRYSLER
8. HONDA
9. PSA PEUGOT_CITROEN
10. SUZUKI
11. BMW
12. DAIMLER (inc. Mercedes)
9.98M
9.73M
9.71M
8.26M
7.56M
6.25M
4.35M
4.10M
2.82M
2.66M
1.92M
1.56M
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
+3%
+5%
+4%
+2%
+6%
+10%
+4%
+7%
-5%
-1%
+6%
+10%
Of course the next
question is have we seen
the end of all the mergers
and acquisitions? % years
ago Sig Marchionne was
saying that “To survive,
volume manufacturer has
to be making more than
4Million cars per annum”.
Well, BMW and Mercedes
don’t appear to be doing
too badly - perhaps fire to
the idea of Maserati’s
expansion and Alfa
Romeo’s expected push up
-market. John
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
AROC East Midlands Section Events 2014
Gazetta
Date
Event
Sun 7 Sept
Leicester Aero Club Open Day - at Leicester Airport (aka Stoughton
Aerodrome), including air displays, special Alfa display and potential
free pleasure flights too! SEE COVER
Weds 10 Sep
Curborough Circuit Experience take 2 - George Cole has booked another driving day at
this fantastic Sprint track near Lichfield. Cost @£60, contact John to book. See below.
Weds 10 Sep
Twilight Drive at The George & Dragon, Thringstone, from 7pm. Approx 30 minute
drive from 7.30pm followed by drinks and a good natter at the pub.
13 & 14 Sept
Alfa Driving Weekend at Chris Variava, Basford, 431 Nottingham Rd, Basford,
Nottingham, NG6 0FB. 30 minute driving slots with pro driver in the latest Quadrifoglio
Verde Giulietta and MiTo. You must call them to book a slot on 0115 855 3040.
Weds 8 Oct
Section AGM and Alfa Quiz - at the George & Dragon, Thringstone, from 7.30pm.
We’ll be electing the committee, reviewing events and looking forward to 2015. And there’s
the traditional Alfa Quiz, multiple choice with some nice prizes too.
Fri 17 October
Karting Challenge - at Sutton Circuit nr Broughton Astley. Team format, price @ £40 per
head. Sadly Alfisti had to go to print before date finalised. Please email John if interested.
TBC Nov
The Fox Run 2014 - Part 2 A late season Sunday morning car run in north
Leicestershire, finishing at an attraction for a light lunch. More details in the next edition.
Weds 12 Nov
Regular Meeting Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
14-16 Nov
Classic Motor Show - NEC Birmingham. AROC stand will again feature some superb Alfa
Romeos in this the Club’s 50th Anniversary year.
The AROC 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner
is confirmed for Saturday 18 October at
The Holiday Inn, Coventry. Up to 150
guests for dinner, and numbers are in
excess of 100 at the time of writing. If
you’d like to go to this Black Tie / Lounge
Suits event, please contact Ken Carrington
via [email protected]
Weds 10 Dec
Regular Meeting Night at The George & Dragon in Thringstone - starting at 7.30pm
FOX RUN PART 2!
News Snippets
SUMMER HOLIDAY ALFAS
I spotted this @1989 Alfa 75 1.8 Turbo
whilst in Viareggio. It was in superb
condition all-round, a very well looked after
machine, and a rarity nowadays. John
Please watch our website for latest event news, and join us on TWITTER!
CURBOROUGH SPRINT EXPERIENCE
Weds 10 September - it’s back!!
George Cole has booked anther session for us this year. As
spaces are limited to 10 cars, they will be given first to people
who were unable to make it last time.
For those unfamiliar, the gen is arrive at track at 9.30am for a
briefing and circuit convoy drive, then it’s ‘open pitlane’ with
one car on track at the time for 3 laps per go, right through to
5pm. There’s a mandatory 1 hour lunch break too.
Despite his unfortunate accident last time, George will be
along again but as a spectator.
Additional drivers are welcome, the total hire cost being
split across everyone who drives, normally working out at
between £50-60, i.e. superb value! Spectators and passengers are free. Crash helmets only required for people in open
top cars. We still have spaces, so if you’d like to take part in
your car, please contact John asap.
BITS ‘n BOBS
Here are two products I’ve used lately.
Keen to protect my Giulietta’s paint and trim, I bought some thick clear
tape to stop my clumsy feet damaging the driver’s side sills as I’d
managed to do on my previous one. You can buy strips manufactured by
3M from eBay at a reasonable cost. It’s
essentially like thick sellotape, but is
known as Helicopter Tape - as used on the
leading edges of their blades apparently!
Once applied and any bubbles smoothed it is all but invisible, providing
welcome protection. It is easily cut to shape with a sharp blade and
can readily be used to protect external areas such as the bottom edge
of rear wheel arches. I’d insert an illustrative photo, only you wouldn’t
be able to see it!!
I talked about an Angelwax product last time - well again I’ve found
another of theirs to be very good. This time the trigger spray called
‘Revenge’ - actually a very good bug-shifter! I keep a bottle of it in my
boot bag along with trusty microfibres. You can use it to shift insect
splats on any surface, and it doesn’t strip wax protection on paint.
Good value too. Again, I’d recommend www.bearswaxfactory.com
using code AROC75 for a handy 7.5% club member discount. John
After the popularity of the Section run back
in April, we’re planning another one in
November — that’s either to be like late
summer, autumn or the start of winter, who
knows with our climate! Alan Lathwell and
I are working out the route which will finish
in the centre of our region at a popular
attraction where we’ll also have a light
lunch. We’ll have route guides for the
adventurous - so needing a navigator - or
the option of going in convoy. Should be
good fun again anyway. John
ALFA 4C AT NURBURGRING
The 4C’s 8’04” time may have been pipped
by a track-spec 275bhp Renault Megane,
but did you know it matched that of an Audi
R8? In Italy, ‘Elaborare’ magazine is talking
about tuners upping 4C power past
300bhp… Can you imagine that? Ha har!!
Ugly Car Corner
The curious new Citroen C1 looks
like it’s had a sharp uppercut to the
jaw. . .
The Small Print: Alfisti is published primarily for the enjoyment of members of the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club East Midlands Section.
Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham supports the cost of Alfisti’s printed production carried out at cost rate by a Section Member’s company.
Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK ltd cannot endorse or recommend services or products advertised in its publications. Any opinions published in
‘Alfisti’ or its sister website, Twitter account or other broadcasts are personal ones. Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club Ltd registered Number 01106134.
Please contact John Griffiths if you have any queries about the Club or our active local Area Section. See cover for contact details.
ALFISTI - September 2014 - Issue 168
AROC East Midlands Section Newsletter
MiTo SBK - Duncan Langford
Giulietta Spider Mike Shelley
Seeing Mike’s Alfa at
MITCAR was a pleasure for
all; a past Best Alfa winner,
it took pride of place at our
Organisers’ Area.
Giulietta Cloverleaf - Mark Gunston
Dunk’s now the new AROC MiTo Registrar and is throwing himself in to it.
He’s organised special MiTo parking at Stanford Hall and MITCAR, has
created a logo, had some screen stickers produced, and revitalised the
AROC MiTo
Register website.
He’s cracking on
with plenty of
communications
too on email and
Social Media.
Meanwhile, his
MiTo has had a
replacement
K&N panel air
filter and a
replacement for
its cracked rear
valance.
145 Cloverleaf - George Cole
We were delighted to have Mark along to our meeting in August, and he followed
that by coming along to MITCAR too, as pictured below. Mark hails from
Daventry, and hasn’t
owned this ‘8C Red’
example for very
long. It’s a ‘fully
loaded’ example,
inclusive of the indash pop-up sat nav
set up. Though he
hasn’t had it terribly
long, Mark delights
in the cars effortless
Performance capable of 150mph
let’s not forget.
Looks superb too!
Great to see El Presidenté at our Spider Night meeting. He’s tracked down
this terrific silver Cloverleaf so has got his regular wheels back! Being a
phase 2 model
the car has
standard air
conditioning too.
The car is in
great order with
very tidy
paintwork. Silver
is the best colour
for hiding any
marks too of
course. Great to
see you back in
an Alfa George!
Spider Series 2 - Rob Incenti
Spider 2.0 Twin Spark - David Malpas
Rob came over to Spider Night with his wife Sharon - hood down naturally—
travelling from Mansfield. A 1972 car it looks in very tidy overall condition,
benefitting from an
attractive set of
Momo
‘Tortoiseshell’
alloy wheels too
and a set of typical
-of-the-period
Cibie driving
lamps. We look
forward to seeing
Rob and Sharon at
our meetings
again, great to
have more classic
Alfas among us.
David brought his car over to Spider Night, driving up from his home in
Tamworth. The sunny evening being a terrific excuse to keep the hood down!
A Series 2 model
in attractive
Meteor Grey, it
also benefits
from great
looking wheels
too. It also
benefits from an
Alfa ‘windstop’
too. David’s not
had his Alfa long
at all, but says
he really enjoys
it. It’s a cracker.
Giulietta Sportiva Nav 175 TCT - John Griffiths
After an initial 2,000 miles in a month, my mileage has settled down now as
I’m not commuting 100 miles a day any more. It means the majority of my
drives in the ‘G’ are for fun/family where TCT is proving to be superb around
town, and really rapid when I need it to be, with just no let-up in torque delivery.
Now at 3,500 miles, the car’s through its ECU run-in phase and is quicker and
more economical than ever. MPG up a clear 10% on my previous 170 JTDm
manual. A software update (thanks to Paul Jones at our July meeting) has given
the Sat Nav Post Code look-ups, which is handy, and all of the ’tech is working
great. The new ‘Uconnect’ system for the Bluetooth music streaming and
phone system works brilliantly, and I’m still blown away by the BOSE sounds.
Just loving it. John
- SCOOP! Unusual news from the world of motoring
Keith Millard in Hot Water . . .
This BBC news item a few weeks ago had us aghast for a few moments,
thinking Section Member Keith was breaking speed records in his 159...
(I guess that
was until we
read it said he
was 27!)
Alfisti’s production is kindly sponsored by Chris Variava Alfa Romeo Nottingham
Alfisti no.169 will be out for October