Re: Rear ends of 164

[Alan Lambert <lechefgerard@domain.elided>]

I gots to disagree. I have a '91L, an '84 GTV-6 with modified
suspension, and a'74 Spider also with modified suspension.

I drive them all on the road, and the GTV-6 and Spider on the track. I
find the 164 extremely unforgiving when traction becomes slippery--on a
slightly wet road, I fishtailed, spun, and rolled- totalled the car. On
a road with some gravel on it, when the traction got slippery, I was
unable to prevent a 180 degree spin. Luckily, there was no traffic
around, pulled a U and went on my way.

The point is not that I drive too fast (I do), it is that an
experienced driver on two occasions has not been able to prevent a spin
once traction was lost. I can guarantee that neither of other two cars
would have spun. Slid yes, but controllably.


--- Jarmanhome@domain.elided wrote:
> 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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=====
Best Regards,

Alan Lambert
Find a job, post your resume.
http://careers.yahoo.com

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