164 as a winter beater

[C M Smith <cmsmith@domain.elided>]

Yup, that 164/Thema/Croma/9000 design has to be one of the best winter cars 
out there, except for the heater, and except for the SAAB 99/900 modified 
winter tank models.

Traction is phenomenal, especially with winter tires. One advantage over 
the SAAB designs is a little drop throttle oversteer dialed into the 164 
chassis. When cornering in winter lifting the gas in the 164 tightens the 
line very nicely thank you, enabling more controlled cornering.

Brakes are very, very good in winter. Alfa seems to dial in a little 
tighter braking into their abs software. You can get the tires to chirp on 
dry pavement before the abs kicks in. In winter this seems to translate to 
more braking effect before the abs unlocks the wheel. A very interesting 
tidbit appears in the Owner's Manual for my 91 model. In the abs section 
Alfa publishes a graph showing the stopping statistics for braking with and 
without abs under four different conditions. The most interesting is the 
sharp increase in braking force with radial tires on snow as the tires 
lock. Braking force climbs dramatically with locked wheels, just as Road & 
Tack discovered during their abs testing.

The only problem with the 164 in severe winter conditions is the heater 
just doesn't cut it. And since the Alfa's heated seats also stop working 
frequently, the SAAB is still king of the winter hill IMHO.

Cheers


Michael Smith
White 1991 164L
Original owner
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