Wohay !!!! I finally found a 156 GTA

[Jimmy Footski]

Originally Posted by Autolusso

Its quite amazing how many garages don’t change the tensioners and water pump, I had a GTA in a couple of weeks ago that had a belt done by a franchise dealer and neither of these had been changed, anyway just because it says it on the invoice does not mean it has been done, especially at franchise dealers as the technicians are pushed so hard to get jobs done it the assigned times unfortunately things get missed off.

Ned

What ya reckon the cost would be at an independent ........Say Black & White as they are relatively local to me.

[Mr_Caine]

Should cost around the £600 mark. If in doubt get it done.

[Autolusso]

We charge £615 then there is a 10% off our labour for AO club members. As Mr Caine said, if you are not sure it will give you piece of mind.

Ned

[240z]

Ned is sorting mine at the moment...

Oh, and that price is for the 72'000 mile service, including fluids etc...isn't that right Ned? ....Ned? Well, I hope so anyway

He might just be waving some magic in the diff area of my car too...

Now Jimmy, you really shouldn't have to ask what advantage the Q2 has...the Accord Type R has a LSD standard, and handles superbly! I'm surprised I haven't heard you bitching about how poorly the GTA puts the power down in comparison...have you tried stomping out of a roundabout with the TC off yet? Big torque difference of course, so not exactly apples for apples comparison, but you get the idea. I think it's sacrilege that the GTA didn't come with LSD standard.

[240z]

Good to meet you yesterday Jim. How is the car going? It certainly looked nice Did you sort the brakes out, or is Ned having to give it the magic touch? He's sold me on the PF pad thing...as soon as the bank balance permits

[Jimmy Footski]

Hiya mate

Brakes are still not perfect, but in fairness they may need a little more time to bed in.

Ned is by far one of the most clued up and nicest grease monkeys I've ever met...top bloke

He had a look at my front brakes, gave them a clean and put the pads back on...they are now considerably better than they were before.

When he'd finished cleaning the crap of my brakes that the fecking butcher that had previously fitted my discs and pads couldn't be bothered to clean off we went for a spin in his 2.5 V6 which is essentially a bog standard car with the exception of a Q2 diff and some new shocks etc.....****** me the Q2 makes a HUGE difference to the car.....

If you can afford the upgrade DO IT !!!! I'm sure the upgrade will transform any performance grip / stabilization problems the GTA's suffer from.

By the way you lucky bugger I always wanted a Blue GTA when I was looking and could never find one...so I settled on plain old red

Indeed, Ned is great...............provided he tightens your wheel nuts up

I was very impressed and am getting a Q2 and bunch of other stuff done.

Cheers,

Nigel

[240z]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Footski

Hiya mate

Brakes are still not perfect, but in fairness they may need a little more time to bed in.

Ned is by far one of the most clued up and nicest grease monkeys I've ever met...top bloke

He had a look at my front brakes, gave them a clean and put the pads back on...they are now considerably better than they were before.

When he'd finished cleaning the crap of my brakes that the fecking butcher that had previously fitted my discs and pads couldn't be bothered to clean off we went for a spin in his 2.5 V6 which is essentially a bog standard car with the exception of a Q2 diff and some new shocks etc.....****** me the Q2 makes a HUGE difference to the car.....

If you can afford the upgrade DO IT !!!! I'm sure the upgrade will transform any performance grip / stabilization problems the GTA's suffer from.

By the way you lucky bugger I always wanted a Blue GTA when I was looking and could never find one...so I settled on plain old red

Yeah, Ned's a good guy alright, will bend over backwards to make sure everything is top notch...that's a rare quality these days.

I'm still avaluating my Q2 and PF brake pads...it's all very promising so far though. Just about put my head through the windscreen first time I hit the picks

I really need to get a better handle on my throttle control as, prior to this car, I pretty much just used to nail it going out of roundabouts etc...The tractoin control masks it to an extent but it's not the way to get the best out of the beast. Also need to get a decent set of tyres as the current lot are well past their best...the tail comes out really easily at the moment!

How's yours going Jim?

[dabsafc]

Hi Jimmy Footski just picked up on your thread and would you believe i test drove your very car about 18 months/2 years ago when it was for sale at a place called SPORTIVA in Tewkesbury. It was being advertised then with about 59k miles on i think and it had just suffered a cam belt faliure as you mentioned at the beginning of your thread so that will give you some idea of the mileage the new belt has done before you decide whether to replace it. I didn't end up buying it cos on the test drive the engine management light came on so we had to drive it to the dealers local alfa independent to check it out. The garage was NJS Motor Vehicle Services in Pershore and he diagnosed the lamda sensor on the rear of the engine needed replacing which i think he arranged to have done. I was still set to buy it at that point but on the drive back to Sportiva the brakes failed completely would you believe . I nearly crashed it into traffic at some lights so made the guy drive the rest of the way back. Just turned out to be a front brake pipe that had been rubbing on something and finally burst while i was giving it some beans!!! Hope this info doesnt worry you too much mate but i thought the timing belt mileage could be handy. Enjoy it now its all been fixed

[Jimmy Footski]

Hiya mate....

Well I'm glad to say all the gremlins you detailed dabsafchave been sorted as well as plenty other bits and bobs. I do know of Sportiva as they are only a few hundred yards from a project I'm running in Tewkesbury. Thing is I drove past a few weeks back and place looked liked it had closed down, maybe another prospective buyer was finally killed by an Alfa with dodgy brakes

I'm happy with the car Mr 240Z apart from my squeaky bloody brakes !!!

[dabsafc]

Well my loss appears to be your gain. Hope you have many trouble free miles from it. Just looking at the photo i posted reminds of what a gorgeous looking car it was all polished up and parked under spotlights in SPORTIVA's unit and even in the rain it looked a peach! Enjoy!!!

[Squadrone Rosso]

The PF pads will get quiet after a few weeks. The ones on our GT are now silent and the stopping power amazing. Q2 is awesome too. Watch the brake dust though! Autolusso are a great place to get servicing and repairs done. Shame they're not a bit closer though

[dabsafc]

Originally Posted by dabsafc

Well my loss appears to be your gain. Hope you have many trouble free miles from it. Just looking at the photo i posted reminds of what a gorgeous looking car it was all polished up and parked under spotlights in SPORTIVA's unit and even in the rain it looked a peach! Enjoy!!!

Just found another photo of your GTA which i thought you might like