re: 164 vs BMW

[Carl Prochilo <Carl_Prochilo@domain.elided>]

Hi,  I recently posted that I drove my '91 164 from NY to FL with my
family.  I've spent enough time with the car and had several repairs
done to have confidence in making the trip.  The car is now more than
eight years old and has over 80k miles.  During the trip it saw several
sustained 100mph stints since the V1 was quiet pretty much the whole way
down.  Passed several BMWs on the way too.  Not one Alfa was seen on the
entire 1400 mile ride.  The car felt solid and composed the entire
trip.  The coolant temperature never exceeded the 212 mark on the temp
gauge in 95 degree weather.  The only problem is an overdue alignment
that will be performed shortly.  

Since I've been down here I have had people honk at me with approval and
walk up to me to talk about the car.  Kinda weird but I guess it goes
with the territory.

The hot start problem I reported also has not reoccurred since I've
followed the directions in the owner's manual to "slightly depress the
accelerator" when warm starting the 164.  

Cheers,
Carl P.

From: AlfaBill <alfabill@domain.elided>
> 
> Nizam and all, 
> I agree...
> At 94K miles of shall we say, spirited driving, my 164/8 is as solid as
> it was at 30K when I bought it. For me, This is the first mainstream
> Alfa, in which you can drive it everyday and it just starts and goes
> with little drama. As much as I like Milanos/75, it was much more fussy
> on a daily basis.
> 
> On the trip, a Milano would have concerned me, After 500 miles in the
> 164, I forgot it was Italian. Reliability has never been a question...
> 
> AlfaBill

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