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Its almost a year since I traded the 147 for the GTi. The reason right from the start was to get a 4 door hatch that’s fast. At the time Alfa didn’t cater for such a market, and I was eager to get into the “software” tuning game, to feel what it was like.
It comes with great sadness that I say this, but I’ve made a moerse mistake! I should have waited and bought a 156 GTA as was my plan B from the start. I initially went to Chatz and had the Dep with me for a GT! I was dead set on driving away with a 3.2 GT. They did not have one in red nor did they want to give me a good trade for my 147. I left completely dismayed and the car veered off into the VW dealership.
Many who know me will know I absolutely hate VW, but when I sat in the backseat of the GTi it just dawned on me…this is perfect! A turbo hatch that can be tuned and I can carry the baby and wife’s luggage easily, plus it had 4 doors.
Long story short, this has been a year of mixed feelings on the GTi. It is by far the best car I’ve ever driven for what it was bought for, meaning, it did what it was supposed to do, but it never had that connection with me…that Alfaness! I never wanted to get out of the bed at 3 in the morning to go drive it, I did it a couple times with the GTi but this was just to test the modifications I’d done on the car on open roads with no traffic.
As time went on I became used to the power that was bourn from all the mods…to date I’ve spent close to R35000 on mods alone, and I can almost be 100% sure that a GTV and GT 3.2 will sit with me until 140kph…after that is when the car is a beast, but who races past those speeds anyway? My dad always told me that the GTi is a waste of money and it’s a bottomless money pit! It has never broken, not once! It only left me stranded at my flat once due to the dealership who broke my oil cap and the oil spilled out…other than that I’m sure most of us agree that this is a good all round car, that probably why so many sheeple buy it. When I would visit my dad the 1st thing I’d do is ask for the V6 156’s key and just start the car, we’d talk for hours about Alfa’s and we could never do that with the GTi…yes I have tons of TLGP stories but my dad was not interested, he was more interested in Alfa stories!
On a weekly basis I’d find myself searching the online classifieds for GTA deals and found one or two but could not get to actually buying an Alfa. My desktop always had an Alfa on it, never a GTi. One thing I’ve learnt about this boy racer scene is that it’s a bad scene to be in, it’s a scene that demands money, it’s a scene that has unscrupulous characters in it and there were always stories of this one doing this and that one doing that. I’ve decided before my 2nd daughter was born that I don’t want to be involved in that scene anymore.
Now that the GTi is almost stock, bar a DP and software, I’m on a mission to get it sold and then searching for an Alfa that will tickle my fancy! The problem is once you leave the brand and start to itch again…you want ALL the models! I’m just empty without an Alfa…yes the GTi has fulfilled its goal by introducing me to the street racing scene and the software tuning scene, but there is more to cars than that. That is where an Alfa comes in, where an Alfa fills the void! My goal is to have a yard full of the hottest Alfa’s in town…not for other people’s pleasure but for my own, the night that I wake up to go for a spin in an Alfa is surely coming soon!
ALFA FTW!
It comes with great sadness that I say this, but I’ve made a moerse mistake! I should have waited and bought a 156 GTA as was my plan B from the start. I initially went to Chatz and had the Dep with me for a GT! I was dead set on driving away with a 3.2 GT. They did not have one in red nor did they want to give me a good trade for my 147. I left completely dismayed and the car veered off into the VW dealership.
Many who know me will know I absolutely hate VW, but when I sat in the backseat of the GTi it just dawned on me…this is perfect! A turbo hatch that can be tuned and I can carry the baby and wife’s luggage easily, plus it had 4 doors.
Long story short, this has been a year of mixed feelings on the GTi. It is by far the best car I’ve ever driven for what it was bought for, meaning, it did what it was supposed to do, but it never had that connection with me…that Alfaness! I never wanted to get out of the bed at 3 in the morning to go drive it, I did it a couple times with the GTi but this was just to test the modifications I’d done on the car on open roads with no traffic.
As time went on I became used to the power that was bourn from all the mods…to date I’ve spent close to R35000 on mods alone, and I can almost be 100% sure that a GTV and GT 3.2 will sit with me until 140kph…after that is when the car is a beast, but who races past those speeds anyway? My dad always told me that the GTi is a waste of money and it’s a bottomless money pit! It has never broken, not once! It only left me stranded at my flat once due to the dealership who broke my oil cap and the oil spilled out…other than that I’m sure most of us agree that this is a good all round car, that probably why so many sheeple buy it. When I would visit my dad the 1st thing I’d do is ask for the V6 156’s key and just start the car, we’d talk for hours about Alfa’s and we could never do that with the GTi…yes I have tons of TLGP stories but my dad was not interested, he was more interested in Alfa stories!
On a weekly basis I’d find myself searching the online classifieds for GTA deals and found one or two but could not get to actually buying an Alfa. My desktop always had an Alfa on it, never a GTi. One thing I’ve learnt about this boy racer scene is that it’s a bad scene to be in, it’s a scene that demands money, it’s a scene that has unscrupulous characters in it and there were always stories of this one doing this and that one doing that. I’ve decided before my 2nd daughter was born that I don’t want to be involved in that scene anymore.
Now that the GTi is almost stock, bar a DP and software, I’m on a mission to get it sold and then searching for an Alfa that will tickle my fancy! The problem is once you leave the brand and start to itch again…you want ALL the models! I’m just empty without an Alfa…yes the GTi has fulfilled its goal by introducing me to the street racing scene and the software tuning scene, but there is more to cars than that. That is where an Alfa comes in, where an Alfa fills the void! My goal is to have a yard full of the hottest Alfa’s in town…not for other people’s pleasure but for my own, the night that I wake up to go for a spin in an Alfa is surely coming soon!
ALFA FTW!
