Peter K

hehe..no i don't feel stupid at all.. in fact being such a stickler for handling feel and details have paid off for me personally. First time i took my brand new GTA to the Street i felt something was not right. Had my garage take a look and they took a test drive. They came back said all was fine, in fact "it drove fantastic" Damn i thougt.. So I took it to a specialst who had it 4-wheel-alligned and thoroughly measured They found a serious Caster misalignment between the two front wheels...Went back, report in hand and got it fixed.

Drove it for about 3000 km, then felt another handling problem this time releating to what I thought was a problem in the front left hand side wheel or suspension. They had a look at it, took it out for a drive and came back said it was fine, in fact "it drove fantastic"...... Double Damn i thought..... Drove the car home but could still feel it. It got worse, so I took it back a few weeks later and told them to check it again. They sort of looked at me like i was a fool, but promised to give it another look over. This time they found a totally worn out wishbone. (left hand side)

On the other hand, i remember once during some Alfa meeting this young guy who was totally chuffed with his 156. He just had it lowered it on stock dampers. Anyway he went on about how great it handled through corners with thw new springs. Few months later a buddy of him told us that not long after that meeting, the guy had taken his car for MOT inspection where it failed miserably with two defective dampers and a worn out steering rack! I think the guy honestly thought his car handled great, but probably had no idea how a car was supposed to handle. Not saying I know this either, but it certainly suggests that some basic suspension knowledge at least helps.