What to change/upgrade around 48k

So my car is a little over 3 years old now and heading for it's 48k service, which is the one that for some time I've seen as sensible for some upgrades and some preventative medicine. I have to say firstly that despite all the doomsayers (not on here) before I bought the car, besides the odd electrical hassle (air con and indicators) it feels in fine fettle, there are no clonks from the suspension, the engine is better than ever, and inside and out it looks like new.


Upgrades first. Particularly with a new job meaning a 70 mile round trip commute on quick and sometimes bumpy B-roads, I'm planning to upgrade the dampers, possibly for a full coilover setup but more likely just Bilstein B8's or Koni FSD's and standard springs/ride height/ARB's. I've always been happy with the handling balance, it just feels a little under-damped to me. Any views - from a comfort/stability perspective, not for track work?

Diff/clutch - I'm in two minds whether to do this as for the driving I do the standard diff is fine 99% of the time, even "pressing on", but I may have a Q2 fitted - the question is, would I be daft not to do the clutch at the same time? how much are they? Presumably it is barely more labour... Are the standard diffs really that weak? At the very least I'll have the gear oil changed for Millers synth stuff.

Other "preventative" stuff... I don't want to go crazy as I may change the car in a year or so, but the cambelt/tensioner is a given. What about the water pump as well? Suspension-wise, I was going to have the front lower arms and the front ARB drop-links done as much of the front suspension needs to be off to do some of the above, should i consider the upper arms and ARB too? What about rear suspension? As I've mentioned, it all seems great now (probably as there are no speed bumps around here) but it's about to have a harder life and I'd rather change stuff now than have to in a few months time.

Any advice appreciated

Sorry can't advise on much, but the water pump I would definitely do. I got mine changed with the belts at 48k and the mechanic said the pump was in a poor state, with some cracks showing. Get the metal impellor one from the 3 litre GTV.

JWyatt
Mine is 4yrs old and has covered 62000 miles I have recently just had all original suspension and ARB’s and bushings checked everything is in order. Like you I thought about having a suspension upgrade, but the original stuff is still working, so I’ll just run it to the end before investing.
Q2 is a must if you can afford, changing the clutch at the same time is a good idea, clutch for a 156 GTA from EBspares about £140. Didn’t change my clutch it was still working fine plus I wanted my monies worth. Still have the original diff and its looks in near perfect condition.
Water pump change out when Cam belt and tensioners are being done, make sure you have the upgraded pump fitted, EBspares £75 delivered to your door.
Changing air pressure in tyres will assist with ride comfort and handling along with the tyres you use, I have gone through 3 sets of tyres Toyo, Dunlop’s and now run Goodyear F1 Asymmetrical, without any doubt for me, the best tyres for the car.
I drive my car hard, but it’s not abused, no stupid donuts, trashing over speed humps, or burning clutches. Most of the problems I’ve had with the car are related to bad workmanship at Alfa dealers. Any other problems I’ve had seem to be electrical like air bag warning lights and engine control failure warnings, all sorted in 5 minutes.
To be honest I think the car is totally fine in its standard form for everyday driving and the occasional mad moments.
Must say my paint work has started to look a bit tatty

Get the cambelt, tensioners and waterpump done, and the Q2. It actually doesn't make a massive difference to do the clutch at the same time though, but driving around with the standard diff in is a timebomb waiting to happen. Cost of new gearbox due to diff failure - £2500. Cost of Q2 - £500. Do you want to take the chance? My car has already had a new gearbox once due to diff failure, Nicky's 2.5 just shed its diff, he was only doing 20mph in a straight line at the time. Get it changed, is my advice

Warranty £22.50p per month from Direct Choice.

My GTA will be 3 years old in a few months and have been thinking about what to do in terms of extending the warranty...

Options are :
- get a 2 year extended warranty from Alfa - I bet that's about £1100
- get something like an AA or something like the one Karlo is mentioning...

Except - how good will they be at paying up come the time you need it...? Was it OA's GTA that had the AA warranty ????

Originally Posted by 156GTASW

Except - how good will they be at paying up come the time you need it...? Was it OA's GTA that had the AA warranty ????

Yes, and they were a bit of a pain at first. I have heard that most people have good experiences with them though.

Autolusso use a warranty company that sounded good. Ned may recommend them to you?

Originally Posted by Pud237

Get the cambelt, tensioners and waterpump done, and the Q2. It actually doesn't make a massive difference to do the clutch at the same time though, but driving around with the standard diff in is a timebomb waiting to happen. Cost of new gearbox due to diff failure - £2500. Cost of Q2 - £500. Do you want to take the chance? My car has already had a new gearbox once due to diff failure, Nicky's 2.5 just shed its diff, he was only doing 20mph in a straight line at the time. Get it changed, is my advice

I believe it was actually Nicky's driveshaft that went, just took a chunk out of the diff when it went!

If you're doing the work yourself, you could consider changing the clutch. But the advice to me from Ned at Autolusso is don't unless you need to because it's a big job even with the diff off and therefore expensive (even at Ned's reasonable prices). So if the clutch is ok, leave it. That's what I did and my car's five years old (and I plan to keep it for at least another three years, probably longer).

Cheers,

Nigel

Originally Posted by OperationAlfa

I believe it was actually Nicky's driveshaft that went, just took a chunk out of the diff when it went!

Ah.. All makes sense now, didn't realise this is what happened, I thought it was diff failure initially mis-diagnosed as driveshaft failure.

Cheers guys, from looking into this more it looks like the clutch is a lot of extra labour even if doing the diff already. My 156 2.5 V6 was still on it's original clutch when I sold it at 90k, and that had a very hard life...

Yup its not very much savings in terms of doing them both together, unless you are replacing the gearbox itself or something of course.

While powerful the 2.5v6 didn't have all that much torque though, but I wouldn't be suprised if folks got a suprisingly long time out of the standard diff - 90k would be unlikely though I suspect!

Since you like the current dampers a Q2 probably should be top of your list (you obviously drive on better roads than I do! ).

Personally I would also recommend an adjustable whiteline rear anti-roll bar, but perhaps its not strictly needed for the road, makes a huuuge difference for the odd track day though and makes the car feel very alive on the road.

Have you tried the pagid pads on the GTA yet James?

Originally Posted by jwyatt

Cheers guys, from looking into this more it looks like the clutch is a lot of extra labour even if doing the diff already. My 156 2.5 V6 was still on it's original clutch when I sold it at 90k, and that had a very hard life...

When I bought my car 6 months ago the seller had changed the dampers and put in Bilsteins B8's and left in the standard springs. I can't compare them against anything else but bearing that in mind I have been very happy with them for comfort and the odd heavy foot if the surface is good. They don't bottom out easily and are supposedly far superior to standard.

Cheers

Rory

Originally Posted by Trailbraker

Personally I would also recommend an adjustable whiteline rear anti-roll bar, but perhaps its not strictly needed for the road, makes a huuuge difference for the odd track day though and makes the car feel very alive on the road.

TB, could you tell us more about this rear ARB please?

(I think I'm getting hooked on mods....help)

Cheers,

Nigel

TB, I've been lazy - or more accurately I've been busy - was made redundant, got a new job, bought a car for my other half, done loads of DIY, etc etc! As a result I still have the Pagids laying about and the original pads/discs are still fine. I may have all the brakes done at this service as well - the Pagid Blue fronts, perhaps DS2500 rears, on OEM discs. I've already ordered some high-spec brake fluid (along with fully synth engine and gear oil) from Millers, so fluid will definitely be done.

It is going to cost!

Yep no real saving on having the clutch done at the same time and it is a big job. Had mine done and it cost a small fortune, thankfully I wasn't charged for all of the hours it took them to do it!

Originally Posted by gtachris

Yep no real saving on having the clutch done at the same time and it is a big job. Had mine done and it cost a small fortune, thankfully I wasn't charged for all of the hours it took them to do it!

Quite often you can’t charge all the hours a job takes, you need to look at it and be fair if you want the customer to come back.

Ned