I'm toying with the idea of purchasing a GTA to run along side the coupe.

So any general comments - real life MPG, what's it like in the wet / snow, how brittle are they etc etc.

Those with experience of both, could anyone advise which would be best suited to the below criteria:

1) 90% of the time solo pilot for commute
2) 2nd family car or 1st depending on it's size
3) 3 kids in the back and some luggage (some long journeys, +2.5hrs)
4) either model has less gremlins than the other.

I have thought about other v6 medium sized cars but the Mondeo ST is not for me, the Golf R32 is driven mainly by undesirables around these parts and the other VAG shells that carry the same engine do nothing for me.

I prefer the 156 never liked the shape of the 147.I have driven both and I like the 156 more. Reliable if looked after look great inside.Very thirsty cars 27 mpg on a journey 20mpg town driving teens if you are driving it hard.If going for 156 watch out for rust on front wings they do go and they are not standard 156 wings so hard to get

I have a 147 GTA.

I get on average around 25mpg based on a 25 mile each way commute along mostly single lane A roads with not too much queuing. You can get 30mpg on a motorway run if you keep it fairly steady. Not good in heavy traffic.

A 147 GTA is definitely a 2nd car rather than first. The boot isn't that large and the big seats upfront cut down the already fairly tight legroom. 3 kids in the back would be tight I would say.

In snow/ice/wet I would say its good - better than the coupe - but that may be helped by the Q2 diff (more on that later)

Some parts are rare and getting expensive. The ECUs do seem to be failing which may be due to the mounting location above the rear exhaust manifold. Costly (£700) to replace even with used parts. The wing, bumpers etc are bespoke on all GTAs as they are wider so crash damage will get pricey. Factory HIDs are very expensive to replace (£750 new if you can find them - perhaps half that secondhand be equally rare).

Look for a Q2 diff on either model which are aftermarket but common mod. The standard diffs are weak and can/do let go taking the gear box with it - an expensive fix.

Front discs and calipers were an upgraded to 330 on later models but are not essential. About £1k to upgrade if you wanted to.

Have you considered a GT v6? would be cheaper than a GTA.

Overall maintenance is probably a little more than a coupe and the fuel bill definately more.

Some nice handling mods available but increasing the power is limited and generally costly given the gains.

Thanks Hyperlink - very interesting. Some nice big bills there to enjoy!

It would be a 2nd (ish) car, possibly joint 2nd with the coupe. MPG wise that sounds like my coupe and I've lived with that for 5 years!

The reason I said GTA was I can kind of sell it to the wife as a family (ish) car and one that I can get us all in to follow things like BTCC round the country.

Do you get 3 full belts in the back?

For comparison on the same commute I would average about 28ish mpg in my coupe (which was modded).

Yes there are 3 in the back of a 147 but not sure the middle wold be very comfy and if you have boosters etc that may be a problem. There is a center arm rest which folds but isn't that padded and the side seats and recessed as well. I think a 156 may be better.

The GT (not the GTV) is almost identical inside to the 147. Its basically a 147 with a boot making it possibly a little more practical. There are more GT v6 than either GTA verions so you have more choice and i think prices are a little softer.

There are less GT V6's about on autotrader and yes you are right, they are 60% of a GTA price!

I had an E46 Coupe and the seats you are describing sound very familiar, cut into the rear arches and the middle is more occasional than a real seat?

The GTA's look so much better, I'll have a hunt for a local 156 and see what's what.

Food for thought, thank you

No worries. Have a look in the alfa owner forum theres a seperate gta section for these cars plenty of reading including a buyers guide.

I must have planted that seed pretty well this morning.

Just another thought. Check if you have a decent specialist near you at ghe very least the cambelt is a job for a specialst as the GTA has different cams to the 3.0 and many places don't have the right can locks.

Will do - there is at least 2 I know of but I'm not sure if they are old school Alfa or not.

I looked at Q4 159's but they seem a big sluggish for my tastes.

I have a 156 Sportwagon 2.5 V6 facelift model, and it tells me I get 22.8mpg. Not great, but if you keep on top of maintenance and the suspension arms have been done, its a really decent car. The newer the better, as the interiors are far nicer on the newer models.

I used to own a 156 GTA saloon a while back and it was fantastic, it was my daily driver for 4.5 years and never put a foot wrong. I really wish now I had not sold it!

I found it did the motorway cruise very well and would average low 30s mpg on a long run, normal driving for me was more like 21-22mpg but I did not have a very long commute and it would constantly egg me on to press the loud pedal anyway!
The boot is a reasonable size for a saloon but if its practicality you need then a GTA sportwagon would be the way to go, but these are pretty scarce. Back seat space wise it’s probably not much different as the 147, those huge front seats block most of the forward visibility for back seat passengers plus leg room is a bit tight, but they do get their own door on a 156 so access is much improved, it also has three 3 point belts in the back but the middle seat is raised up and quite firm.

The turning circle is worse than the coupe, yes it is that bad! What should be a 3 point turn will be more like 5. But on the plus side steering is very sharp on the road. I had a Q2 diff fitted to mine which transformed the handling/power delivery, and really is a must for any GTA now. As it’s more a question of when not if the diff will decide to spit its innards through the gearbox casing!
I found the traction control system very dim-witted especially in the winter and found the car to drive much better (with aQ2 fitted) with it switched off, the down side of which was chewing through front tyres alarmingly quickly!
Then there’s THAT V6 which along with the coupe 20v are in my opinion the two best sounding (reasonably affordable) engine notes out there!

It'd have to have the Q2 fitted anyway!

I haven't seen a wagon for sale for ages, I'm leaning towards "sprint" blue and it must have tele-dial wheel!

Now I need to convince the wife that a 3.2 v6 is preferable to a new kitchen (or wrangle a good deal on both items!)

Oh dear thats not good