[no subject]

There were no other significant differences except the L came with crappy
Goodyear NCT's which wore like iron (relatively) and handled ditto, the S
came with "special" Pirelli 4000 (not the current 4000 which is an all
season design I think) which handled better (duh) and wore out fast(er).
Tires are a nothing in used car buying decisions, you want to see worn out
whatevers, they tell you more about the car and you'll be buying new P6000
or some outrageous Japanese super tire anyway. S came with electrically
adjustable shocks (wow) very expensive to replace (if you can find any) and
of dubious efficacy for street driving. The S also came with sports seats
in the front, but there's nothing wrong with the standard seats and the
rear seat in the L is much more practical.

So, your decision boils down to a choice between a shorter geared (by 9%),
heavier (by 3%), heavier breathing, more powerful (by 10%), marginally more
torquey (by 2%), more expensive and maybe harder driven S, which isn't
geared tall enough to use it's extra horses anyway or the more logical,
lighter, probably cheaper, maybe driven carefully by a loving owner (though
this is doubtful, what self respecting Alfa owner would abuse the car by
driving it gently,  and why?), and ultimately more satisfying L? What an
easy choice.
 If the valve overlap of the S appeals to you, changing to the S cams when
you do the valve clearances and the Timing Belt  won't add much to the
cost.  Why would you bother though because the low end torque will suffer
in order for you to top out a few mph higher in Montana maybe?

Oh yes and the L came in more colours!

Responding to comments in AD 745:
Thanks for the Bently story. I now understand why the relationship with a
new car is so impersonal to begin with. A 3 year warranty deprives one of
the intimacy you achieve by getting the grease from your beloved new Alfa
under your fingernails, I wasn't even permitted to remove the DRL relay to
turn off the headlights in the daytime because "no mods allowed under
warranty".

Furthermore, the idea about rotating the gears in the steppers is ingenious
but I caution against it in the strongest terms. The outrageous cost of
this repair is due to the ridiculous design of the dashboard. Between 5 and
12 hours of labour is required to reach the parts and reinstall the dash.
The equivalent task for the similar system on the SAAB 9000 is under two
hours. All so Alfa could hang the glovebox on the outside of the dash, why???

------------------------------