[alfa] Re: Comparing cars

[Luca <nodoubt@xxxxxxxxx>]

At 12.16 26/05/04 +0000, Will Owen <nashwill912@domain.elided> wrote:
>Well, it WAS a showcar after all, and the decision to put it into 
>production has to have been one of the goofiest ever. Anyway, thinking 
>along those same lines, I'd like to get some input concerning two more 
>recent cars, both of which I find fiercely interesting, if not equally 
>attractive: the last-generation Mazda RX-7, and the Alfa ES30. While the 
>latter was never sold here, I see no reason why a dead-on copy could not 
>be built and licensed, since the car is after all essentially a Milano 
>in drag, and everything I've read about this beast seems to indicate 
>that the results would be well worth the effort. And the Mazda, which I 
>find simply lovely to look at if you must know, has been both praised 
>and damned for its highly focused bias towards sharp handling at the 
>occasional expense of comfort, a common Mazda "failing." As for its 
>somewhat anonymous appearance, I think that's all to the good, if 
>there's a chance you might be breaking a law or two on the public roads...

The ES30 project, also known as Alfa SZ (along with the open sister RZ),
is a car I've had the chance to test drive the past summer.
Get a Milano, make it shorter, make it stiffer, put coil over front
suspension, and an electronic suspension management and you got it.
Add a GT (meant as type of car, not Alfa GT) driving position and here's
the car.
IT's a fantastic car to me. And I am not talking about the look (that's
superb for that matter). For a real Alfista is great seeing some very
nice details (the seats) and then seeing that the air control knobs are
exactely the same of any other 75/milano. I mean, it's got that class
and elegance, bounded to some "cheaper" details making us smelling the
alfa way to be. 
The handling is excellent, the response is fast, perfect and it doesn't
suffer all those understeerings or rollings the 75 suffers (ofcourse, you
got a shorter car here, that makes a difference even in a matter of
frame rigidity).
On the corners the car is just glued to the ground. It's really fantastic
cornering on this car, a bit less for the passenger who gets slammed against
the window, or just jumps on driver's arms (up to where the corner
is turning).
The car, for what it can do, is just too underpowered. But we're talking
about the 3.0 V6 that's an easy tuning engine, capabe of giving those extra
50 ponies this car deserves.
The electronic suspension system is nice, but what Alfa called "comfort"
mode is just ok for descending the garage access w/o touching the bottom
down, and the "sport" mode is the only mode you must leave the car set
when driving it. Simple as that.

About dreaming of owning one. In Parma, Italy, where I got my 75 1.8IE
(well, the seller left it there and there I picked it up), there's this
alfa dealer, ran by two old guys with the Alfa passion on their veins.
Among the new alfas, and a lot of former Alfas (GTV, Alfetta, 75, 90, 6....)
there are 2 beauties from hell:
-1 red Alfa SZ
-1 black Alfa RZ
Still NEW, still yet to be registered, with merely 500km each on the clocks,
mostly clocked up around the square, to keep the cars in shape.

Price? Oh, last time I met the guys, they were already at 90,000 Euros each.
But I don't know now. My friend in Parma has been put in charge of contacting
some specialized vintage cars dealer, to see whether these cars can
have a nice home. I haven't become rich yet, so I pass this along ;)

Luca
PS: the car I tested, isn't any of these two. IT's my friend's one,
 the one who gave me the 75, to whom I'll be thankful forever :)


"When the chosen people 
 grew more strong, 
 the rightful cause at length 
 became the wrong." (John Dryden, Absalon and Achitophel)

937, '87 Alfa 75 Turbo, '90 Alfa 75 1.8ie, '75 Benelli 500 Quattro, RM250
Myself: http://members.xoom.it/nodoubt73
Finnish Mythology: http://www.finnishmyth.org
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