Re: Rear ends of 164

[Jarmanhome@domain.elided]

Chiming in here, as an ex-164 owner, I have to agree that the car is very 
consistent in its handling characteristics, regardless of conditions.  This 
is primarily why I liked it as a family car, since my wife and young son were 
tooling around in it daily, year round.  Ours was a '94 LS (Super), and was 
delivered with the Goodyear NCT2 tires.  The only other car I''ve ever driven 
that felt as surefooted, or more so, in the wet, was an AWD Subaru sedan 
(yes, that's a compliment).   Although one of the Goodyears blew out a 
sidewall on the expressway, I still admired their rain tenacity.  I only 
recall sensing our LS hydroplaning one time, in an absolute gully-washer of a 
storm where water was standing probably an inch on pavement.  So, they all 
have limits, so slow down.
Winter driving-- ditto.  We had a set of winter tires mounted, and the car 
was just unstoppable on anything less than 5" - 6" deep.   The steering and 
breakaway feel was identical to that of summertime dry roads, only much lower 
limits of course.  The few people I allowed to drive it commented on how 
solid and "connected" it felt, and some of these were not really car people, 
you know.   The only area I felt Alfa skimped a bit on were the brakes, and I 
think this had to do more with pad selection that any major design factors.   
I do know a switch to improved pads helped high speed stopping power.   
There may have been a couple of times when I felt the rear end bob around in 
response to some really bad pavement taken con brio, but it always remained 
controllable.  It would even oversteer, if provoked correctly!
Overall, a really comfortable and competent automobile, the 164.

Dave Jarman
Lexington KY
USA

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