Had the privilege to ask a senior Alfa staff member a few questions...

Do not ask me how I got the opportunity to ask a senior Alfa staff member a couple of questions... Let's just say I was rather resourceful (and forceful)..

But I was allowed to put a few questions to this Alfa man..

Now who would like to see the Q&A?

[EauRouge]

Oh go on Perreby, hope you asked him why are the electrics so blawdy awful?

And why are the brakes so useless?

Why do twinsparks have balance belts, is it so that alfa after sales can screw you to the wall over servicing and rebuild costs?

Why is the Mito so ugly?

Why is the Brera such a disappointment?

[steveisfrowning]

Originally Posted by Perreby

Do not ask me how I got the opportunity to ask a senior Alfa staff member a couple of questions... Let's just say I was rather resourceful (and forceful)..

But I was allowed to put a few questions to this Alfa man..

Now who would like to see the Q&A?

me me me me

[Squadrone Rosso]

Take what they say with a pinch of salt sadly

Been there, been shown that, confirmed plans yet no mito GTA, G SW, G 3 door Coupe etc etc.

The only chap who knows for sure is the distasteful Mr Macaroni

Originally Posted by Squadrone Rosso

Take what they say with a pinch of salt sadly

Been there, been shown that, confirmed plans yet no mito GTA, G SW, G 3 door Coupe etc etc.

The only chap who knows for sure is the distasteful Mr Macaroni

Well the GSW they said was never on the cards. Neither was a G coupe. Both was made off as sensation seeking websites with some poor photoshopping of the G.

As for the MiTo GTA, due to Alfa's sad financial state they decided to can it and focus on getting the Giulietta right.. And based on the number of Giuliettas sold since launch and the market share it holds in the hatchback segment they seem to have done something right.

Will post a few highlights a little later

Okay so the Q&A's. Let me state right off the bad this is a very senior staff member of Alfa Romeo.

Q: With the 4C not being at Geneva 2012. Should I take this as a sign that the 4C is dead in the water?
A: No, development on a production version of the 4C in continuing and the aim is still a final weight between 850kgs and 900kgs. It will hit the production line and go on sale in 2013.

Q: A few owners of the MiTo and Giulietta have complained about the DNA system that cannot be switched off. Will future models have this option?
A: "The DNA system, its operation logic was designed to provide maximum performance, safety and driving pleasure in all road conditions and, therefore, we made a clear choice on not to let it turned off. For Sporty versions and models (such as the 4C) we are thinking to give the possibility to de-activate the DNA but no decision has been taken yet"

Q: Will we ever see the GTA badge on an Alfa Romeo again?
A: "As for the GTA versions, these could represent the natural evolution of extremely sporty models we are going to launch in the future"

Q: Will Alfa Romeo ever have a V6 engine in them again?
A: "The possibility to offer Alfa with the V6 either naturally aspirated or Turbo that can also be important engines for Alfa Rome'so commercialization in the US market"

Q: Any news on future models?
A: "A few models will be released in sequence (after the 4C), but at this moment we prefer not to give details to maintain the suspense"

Q: What does the future hold for Alfa Romeo?
A: "Continue to follow us, the future will reserve beautiful surprises"

There is more but these are the ones I wanted to post here...

[David P]

Originally Posted by Perreby

Okay so the Q&A's. Let me state right off the bad this is a very senior staff member of Alfa Romeo.

Q: With the 4C not being at Geneva 2012. Should I take this as a sign that the 4C is dead in the water?
A: No, development on a production version of the 4C in continuing and the aim is still a final weight between 850kgs and 900kgs. It will hit the production line and go on sale in 2013.

Q: A few owners of the MiTo and Giulietta have complained about the DNA system that cannot be switched off. Will future models have this option?
A: "The DNA system, its operation logic was designed to provide maximum performance, safety and driving pleasure in all road conditions and, therefore, we made a clear choice on not to let it turned off. For Sporty versions and models (such as the 4C) we are thinking to give the possibility to de-activate the DNA but no decision has been taken yet"

Q: Will we ever see the GTA badge on an Alfa Romeo again?
A: "As for the GTA versions, these could represent the natural evolution of extremely sporty models we are going to launch in the future"

Q: Will Alfa Romeo ever have a V6 engine in them again?
A: "The possibility to offer Alfa with the V6 either naturally aspirated or Turbo that can also be important engines for Alfa Rome'so commercialization in the US market"

Q: Any news on future models?
A: "A few models will be released in sequence (after the 4C), but at this moment we prefer not to give details to maintain the suspense"

Q: What does the future hold for Alfa Romeo?
A: "Continue to follow us, the future will reserve beautiful surprises"

There is more but these are the ones I wanted to post here...

The above seems to contradict info already available which I'd assume is reliable

It would seem that not even AR Staff can be considered as Reliable Sources

Originally Posted by daveb257

OK, so this is my first new thread so be nice!

We all know about TCT, there are so many threads and posts about it it's hard not to but thought I'd make everyone aware of a couple of minor changes to Giulietta on the back of TCT.
These are mainly from January production, rather than registration date so may take a little while to filter through.




DNA is the big update

• Will now show as Natural as default rather than Normal,
• If you switch off the engine whilst in Dynamic, it will stay in this mode when you restart rather than default to Normal/Natural,
• We've all tried to select Dynamic at above 120kph and know its unavailabe at that speed, fundamentaly because the engine is already running a degree of boost so makes overboosting pointless, now though the car will still allow selection of Dynamic at all speeds, will just alter VDC, steering and activate Pre-fill braking above 120kph

On TCT cars there will now be a 2+ second delay before stopping the engine (on MiTo also) and the ability to start the car easier and quicker by moving the gear lever or tapping the steering wheel paddles if you have them,

Oh and the tomtom socket now becomes a no cost option on both MiTo and Giulietta.

Dave

A similar comment regarding DNA was recently published in the UK Alfa Magazine stating the DNA in the Mito TwinAir would not default to N Mode.

[EauRouge]

Is he a Politician?

[David P]

Originally Posted by EauRouge

Is he a Politician?

Perhaps he's double jobbing


Many words, no real info

DavidP? Dont get what you referring too?

DNA discussions I had with them was whether to turn it off completely... So no traction control no electronic aids... Just you and the car... Similar to ASR that can be turned off in the earlier models such as my 156 GTA..

So they might add a button that enables you to turn of DNA if you dont want to use it..

0-100km/h dash should improve drastically since the "mommy" wont kick in. So glad they looking into giving you the option to turn DNA off completely

[David P]

I've not seen many owners complaining they want to turn it off completely.
Some do seem to find it a big issue to select D each time they start the car though ( some who want D as default have described this as disabling DNA ) It seems at least they will be get that wish granted.

[MacGeek]

Don't know who you talked to, but I can confirm what you were told regarding the 4C. It's going forwards.

[Squadrone Rosso]

Originally Posted by Perreby

Well the GSW they said was never on the cards. Neither was a G coupe. Both was made off as sensation seeking websites with some poor photoshopping of the G.

As for the MiTo GTA, due to Alfa's sad financial state they decided to can it and focus on getting the Giulietta right.. And based on the number of Giuliettas sold since launch and the market share it holds in the hatchback segment they seem to have done something right.

Will post a few highlights a little later

We were shown these as VIP guests of FGA at Geneva in 2010 & 11 (we were even invited to Balocco to test an 8c).

Sorry, pinch of salt with everything you get told

[GTA_Nigel]

Originally Posted by MacGeek

Don't know who you talked to, but I can confirm what you were told regarding the 4C. It's going forwards.

Let's hope so - the best Alfa for a long time. Pity it's not a coupe.

Cheers,

Nigel

Squadrone,

Dont be so negative

Lets wait and see what happens.

As I said this was not some regular Alfa staffer.. This guy is very Very senior at Alfa. And hopefully they will follow thru on their promises this time..

[Ralf S.]

I'm easy.... I belong to the believe it when I see it.. though I wish they'd stick a metal roof on that duettottanta so I can have a coope again ..


Ralf S.