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From Alfa To Lexus


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Has anyone else on here gone from an Alfa to a Lexus??

How have you found the transition?

Not trying to insult any ex Alfa drivers now but I would have thought the fact that the lexus will start in the morning is a nice touch. :D

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I dont think anyone would admit to previously owning an ALFA to be honest!

well now come on!

I know being italian play a big role in that, but - let say - from 147 on, Alfa's been pretty good, with nice sporty lookin and performance to leave our IS in the dust.

I've never owned one personally but I wouldn't mind - if only they had a rwd! :)

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from 147 on, Alfa's been pretty good, with nice sporty lookin and performance

OK I'll give you the looks and performance but pretty good I question. The 147 is a disaster for reliability. A huge number of the Selespeed gear boxes had to be replaced. The electrics are a disaster and they have the resale value of a pink Lada.

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Has anyone else on here gone from an Alfa to a Lexus??

How have you found the transition?

Not trying to insult any ex Alfa drivers now but I would have thought the fact that the lexus will start in the morning is a nice touch. :D

And any other time in the day. Im amazed at the shocking build quality of Alfas.....given the biggish price tickets.....

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I know being italian play a big role in that, but - let say - from 147 on, Alfa's been pretty good, with nice sporty lookin and performance to leave our IS in the dust.

wouldnt be leaving my RS in the dust!

did i say RS? Not.

you could've said "wouldnt be leaving my (pick a car of yr choice with over 200 hp) in the dust!" but I thought we were talking about the IS, not some other car.

That said, Altezza's are not sold in italy so there's no room for comparision anyhow.

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I know being italian play a big role in that, but - let say - from 147 on, Alfa's been pretty good, with nice sporty lookin and performance to leave our IS in the dust.

wouldnt be leaving my RS in the dust!

did i say RS? Not.

you could've said "wouldnt be leaving my (pick a car of yr choice with over 200 hp) in the dust!" but I thought we were talking about the IS, not some other car.

That said, Altezza's are not sold in italy so there's no room for comparision anyhow.

Calm down calm down :D

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Hmmm....Ok. Guess no-one has. Didn't mean to post such an emotive post. Just a genuine interest.

I agree with pretty much all the sentiments expressed so far. The 156 I had previously, which was sports-setup although the bloke who sold it to me didn't know-shhhh.. had extraordinary performance! The steering setup used the same technology as they use in the formula one cars! I used to leave little lightweight Golf GTI's for dead from the lights! However, as many have pointed out, it spent more time in the garage or broken down on the side of the motorway than it did on the road.

Oh yeh, and it tried to kill me about 3 times as well- never had a single accident until I owned the Alfa. I think its got magnetic bodywork because it loves to crash into other cars, posts, lampposts, etc, etc.

I think Jeremy Clarkson summed it up beautifully when he described it as the dichotomy of when everything is working properly its a wonderful drive alongside the agony of it always breaking down.

It was a real love-hate relationship in the truest sense.

I enjoy the Lex too, but I dont get the same exhileration- the "X Factor". I can accelerate happily to 120mph but it doesn't thrill me quite me the same. Maybe I'm lacking the "Fear factor" that its going to chuck me into the central reservation, or truck, or whatever is nearby basically. Does that make me an adrenalin junkie??

Or am I missing something? Is my Lex under-performing? Its the first one I've ever owned so I've got nothing to measure against. Other ppl who have driven it, including 3 mechanics and 1 AA inspector, all commented on how the car is a great drive with good performance and handling, but I cant quite "get that" because it seems tame to me.

I guess if you go from owning a mad rottweiler that tries to rip your head off every time you take it for a walk, to owning a nice, calm labrador (or greyhound- for those who are a bit sensitive) you can expect there to be a difference. Not to say thats a bad thing by any measure.

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I think Jeremy Clarkson summed it up beautifully when he described it as the dichotomy of when everything is working properly its a wonderful drive alongside the agony of it always breaking down.

He also talks some twaddle such as "you can never be a true petrol head if you've never owned an Alfa!" :yawn::yawn:

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Ok I'm gonna be honest, now dont get me wrong, I love my lexus, but it aint all that!

It's a lovely car to look at, and to drive in a straight line at cruising speed, but for anything else, it's not that great. It is seriously sluggish in low revs, it handles like a wobly old bike, and mine has broken down far more times than my mate's alfa. I used to have a Fiesta zetec s, a 1.6 16v and I swear it was faster than my lex, and it was never in the garage for anything more than an oil change!

And before you start sayin 'oh there must be summit wrong wi your car' there aint, I've driven quite a few, and most of them have felt worse than mine! at least mine handles half way decent now since I put on the Tien springs. And it's never been out the garage gettin the brakes fixed what with all the pings and clicks and clunks from the brakes, and dont say you haven't had any trouble with your Lex, cause if you haven't, you will. So in my humbl opinion if you want performance AND reliability, buy a bloody fiesta! rant over. :shutit:

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B)-->

QUOTE(Hank B @ Apr 26 2007, 09:47 PM)

Ok I'm gonna be honest, now dont get me wrong, I love my lexus, but it aint all that!

It's a lovely car to look at, and to drive in a straight line at cruising speed, but for anything else, it's not that great. It is seriously sluggish in low revs, it handles like a wobly old bike, and mine has broken down far more times than my mate's alfa. I used to have a Fiesta zetec s, a 1.6 16v and I swear it was faster than my lex, and it was never in the garage for anything more than an oil change!

And before you start sayin 'oh there must be summit wrong wi your car' there aint, I've driven quite a few, and most of them have felt worse than mine! at least mine handles half way decent now since I put on the Tien springs. And it's never been out the garage gettin the brakes fixed what with all the pings and clicks and clunks from the brakes, and dont say you haven't had any trouble with your Lex, cause if you haven't, you will. So in my humbl opinion if you want performance AND reliability, buy a bloody fiesta! rant over. :shutit:

If yours has broken down mate there is most probably something wrong with it, it is at the end of a day a toyota most probably one of the top car makes for reliablity, i know i've never had anything go wrong with mine (unless i ****** something up on it first) Mines been sound as you like and since the HKS coilovers and TRD roll bars it handles like a dream and (when) the turbo finally starts it'll go darn well to.

Also feeling quick it wont as its a 6 cyclinder my girlfriends Yaris 1.3 "feels" quicker cos its bloomin tiny, but it certainly isnt

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Or am I missing something? Is my Lex under-performing?

No every standard IS200 is :shutit: .

To be honest, I think Alfa Romeo does great cars. The interiors are really nice even more on the 16x model, the engine performance is quite good, the design is very dynamic. Only downside is that it has been bought by FIAT years ago and since then reliability has just moved closer to FIAT standards every year :(

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B)-->

QUOTE(Hank B @ Apr 26 2007, 09:47 PM)

Ok I'm gonna be honest, now dont get me wrong, I love my lexus, but it aint all that!

It's a lovely car to look at, and to drive in a straight line at cruising speed, but for anything else, it's not that great. It is seriously sluggish in low revs, it handles like a wobly old bike, and mine has broken down far more times than my mate's alfa. I used to have a Fiesta zetec s, a 1.6 16v and I swear it was faster than my lex, and it was never in the garage for anything more than an oil change!

And before you start sayin 'oh there must be summit wrong wi your car' there aint, I've driven quite a few, and most of them have felt worse than mine! at least mine handles half way decent now since I put on the Tien springs. And it's never been out the garage gettin the brakes fixed what with all the pings and clicks and clunks from the brakes, and dont say you haven't had any trouble with your Lex, cause if you haven't, you will. So in my humbl opinion if you want performance AND reliability, buy a bloody fiesta! rant over. :shutit:

Im sorry but, myself included, there are many members on here who have many years of trouble free motoring from there IS, and if yours keeps breaking down, then you do have a problem with it, and if the handling isnt that good, then you need the geometry looking at by the DR., And a fiesta is knowhere near as reliable

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think Jeremy isn't that wrong, I do like my Lex and it does have a lot of good points but I have to be fair and there are a lot cars that beat is on other points.

Alfa's are great cars that with some attention proved (at least for me) to be very reliable (All four of them never let me down which isn't too bad with the reputation of the old sprints and 2.5 gtv's).

Thing with Alfa's is that even old ones (in original and good condition) still are nice too look at and drive in where allmost all older jap cars, (there are a few exceptions) I wouldn't even want to be found dead in........

My best combi would be to an alfa with the reliability of a toyota.

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think Jeremy isn't that wrong, I do like my Lex and it does have a lot of good points but I have to be fair and there are a lot cars that beat is on other points.

Alfa's are great cars that with some attention proved (at least for me) to be very reliable (All four of them never let me down which isn't too bad with the reputation of the old sprints and 2.5 gtv's).

Thing with Alfa's is that even old ones (in original and good condition) still are nice too look at and drive in where allmost all older jap cars, (there are a few exceptions) I wouldn't even want to be found dead in........

My best combi would be to an alfa with the reliability of a toyota.

Sharkman, thats the best suggestion i've read in a long time- Alfa looks and performance with Lexus reliability. That would be sharp!

That probably exists but in a market where the price requires you to start selling organs or bump off the wrinklies for a huge inheritance- the 100k market. I'm thinking of course of the Noble's, TVR's, Ferrari's and Lambo's...

Must say I drove an IS220d for a while whilst mine was in to be bodged by Lexus Hatfield. That was a lovely car, although when I pushed it really hard the back end flicked out and the engine stalled. I wasn't too crazy about how short 1st gear was either in terms of building up the revs.

if you want Power just go out and get a S/C for your IS, and if you want it to hold the road better......lower it 30 to 40mm :winky: then you will get the "X Factor" back :D

Where can I get a reasonably priced supercharger?? Who would fix it??

As for lowering- nice idea, but the big problem I have round here- speedbumps!

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B)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hank B @ Apr 26 2007, 09:47 PM) </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->

Ok I'm gonna be honest, now dont get me wrong, I love my lexus, but it aint all that!

It's a lovely car to look at, and to drive in a straight line at cruising speed, but for anything else, it's not that great. It is seriously sluggish in low revs, it handles like a wobly old bike, and mine has broken down far more times than my mate's alfa. I used to have a Fiesta zetec s, a 1.6 16v and I swear it was faster than my lex, and it was never in the garage for anything more than an oil change!

And before you start sayin 'oh there must be summit wrong wi your car' there aint, I've driven quite a few, and most of them have felt worse than mine! at least mine handles half way decent now since I put on the Tien springs. And it's never been out the garage gettin the brakes fixed what with all the pings and clicks and clunks from the brakes, and dont say you haven't had any trouble with your Lex, cause if you haven't, you will. So in my humbl opinion if you want performance AND reliability, buy a bloody fiesta! rant over. :shutit:

Im sorry but, myself included, there are many members on here who have many years of trouble free motoring from there IS, and if yours keeps breaking down, then you do have a problem with it, and if the handling isnt that good, then you need the geometry looking at by the DR., And a fiesta is knowhere near as reliable

Had mine getting on for three years, been faultless! Other than wear and tear on the tyres and brakes, it owes me nothing so far :D

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Would about going from Lexus to Alfa??

The new 159 is a stunning car and the only other compact executive to have any style (IS included). I quite fancy a 159 Sportwagen 3.2 Q4 - if Lexus ever decide to offer us the 3.5 IS350 then I might get that next, but if they don't I think I'll be leaving the brand for a second time.

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