What Model is This?

[beeeerock]

I drive a Alfa 156 20v jtd veloce......grin factor when boy racers see its a diesel

We don't have that model in this market... for that matter, we don't really have Alfa in North America to speak of anymore.  I think they left in the 80's but I'm actually not sure when it happened.  Long time ago though!

My Italian mechanic (retirement age and a bit) was back in Italy a year or two ago and came back raving about the diesel Alfa he'd driven there.  Maybe the same one...

I think you're actually talking about two grin factors... the first is from the boys when they see they're going blow that diesel off the road... the second grin is yours as you watch them disappear in your rear view mirror... 

I've owned a few diesel VW's since 2000 and now a MB E320 diesel.  The VW's did pretty well, but the MB is stupidly quick!  I'd bet the Alfa is lighter and significantly more nimble!

Is the '20V' a suggestion this is a 5 cylinder engine?

[purple gerbil]

Your mechanic probably drove the newer 159 which have dropped to 4 cylinders,mine is the 5 cylinder 2004. Has been remapped to 225bhp & pulls from 1400rpm,think of a v6 with a turbo. Pulls nicely away from my mates subaru wrx.

[whisperdancer]

The 2.4 liter always had a 5 cylinder engine.
That particular model has a 175hp engine, and the 20v is a reference to it's number of engine valves (4 per cylinder).

See here:

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/cartestreports/2004031.html

[beeeerock]

I figured it must be 5 cylinders with the assumption of 20 valves.  I'd like to try that engine out... the geometry of the crankshaft for 5 cylinders seems to result in an exceptionally smooth idle - at least that's what I found with my '94 Volvo 850 turbo.  With the typical harsher idle of a diesel, it probably makes quite a difference.  My E320 is a V6 (they changed from the straight six of the same displacement a few years ago) rated at 210 HP and 400 ft-lbs of torque... enough to pull out stumps. 

But here's the funny part... in this market, the only trailer hitch receiver I can get for it is the 1.25" size, suitable for small garden trailers only... which made finding a good bike rack all the more interesting!!!  I've heard that the same car pulls travel trailers in Europe, so evidently a larger hitch receiver is available there.  I wanted to be able to carry three bikes at a minimum (an odd number for sure) but had to settle for two (thanks to the small receiver size), using this model:

http://northshoreracks.com/NSR%202-bike.htm

I had been using a Yakima roof system since around 1990, but the attachments I started with don't fit newer bike frames, plus every car seemed to require different towers or dedicated factory bars that didn't fit the attachments.  I finally decided to stop the bleeding, go to the hitch system and be done with the roof racks.  Way faster to load and my wife can do it too, in spite of her being quite a bit smaller than me!  I like that the center of gravity is more forward on the hitch than is typical of the platform racks I'd been looking at.  Here's a photo of it loaded...:

[w2zero]

The Fairlane isn't as heavy as it looks.  Right at 3000 lbs and 400 hp, 4wheel disc and suspension tweaks to corner pretty flat.  It will hang the rear out before it will push.

That second vid is the kind of ride I love on the 855.

[beeeerock]

The Fairlane isn't as heavy as it looks.  Right at 3000 lbs and 400 hp, 4wheel disc and suspension tweaks to corner pretty flat.  It will hang the rear out before it will push.

That second vid is the kind of ride I love on the 855.

Only 3,000 pounds?  Must be plenty of air behind those big fenders because it sure looks big and heavy!    The E320 weighs in at just under 4,000 I think.  So much for cars getting lighter with modern materials and designs etc... 

The second video is typical of most of the rides around here.  Of course, it doesn't show the other half of it... where you chug chug chug up the hills to get home again...  I have never understood how you can start and finish your ride at the same place, but do twice as much up as down... 

I'm pretty blessed with the terrain and both quantity and quality of trails around here.  I don't realize it until I go somewhere like Vancouver where you have to drive an hour or more just to find a trail worth riding... and then share it with the other 350 people wanting to ride it too!  I saw a posting tonight that a buddy from university days in the '80s is on a mountain bike vacation with a couple of friends in the deserts of Utah... Moab I think.  Dodging boulders instead of trees... looks like it would be good fun.

[w2zero]

The Fairlane is a unit body and yes there is room in the trunk for a small country.  It was a mid size car back when it was new and there weren't any of those pesky safety reinforcements to add weight.


I am most jealous of your trails.  I have to drive to find that.   Best I can do close is to hit the 700 acre park down the street after dark with my lights and yahoo the trails there.  Actually I prefer it that way but daylight singletrack close by would be wonderful.  I am dinging on the local mtb association to develop a plot next to the park for legal mtb mayhem like they have done around Seattle area.  Hope they get to it before I drop dead.  There were some most excellent trails out south of town that were very well done but low interest rates and development are wiping that out very fast.

[beeeerock]

Just checked your profile and realize you're in the SeaTac area?  I've wondered what the Olympic Peninsula is like for biking... are there some good trails out that way, or is it just thick impenetrable bush?  I've never been out that way at all, in spite of being in Seattle for the odd Seahawks game (this is the year!) and to warm some mall benches while the wife shops    It looks like an area worth exploring, with or without a bike?

[w2zero]

Here is a guide for the Seattle area and farther out as well.  http://trails.evergreenmtb.org/wiki/Main_Page

Went on a shuttle ride from the microwave towers in Capitol Forest down 14 miles to a camp ground.  (south of Olympia) Had to stop and rest the arms several times.  More downhill than I could take all at once.

 Evergreen has done a load of work on trails maintenance and creation as well as building mtb parks at Duthie Hill and other locations.  They are also building a park out south that I have to visit one day. 

[beeeerock]

http://trails.evergreenmtb.org/wiki/Trail:Vashon_DNR 

"ridden each day at lunchtime by K2 dudes"... learn something everyday! 

[w2zero]

Yep, can see Vashon and Maury islands from my front porch.  K2 on the island was handy when I needed new squishies for the 'flex.  My corner deli guy/fire chief also rented K2 skates out and the skate rep comped me the squishies.

They moved off the island in 02.

[beeeerock]

Yep, can see Vashon and Maury islands from my front porch.  K2 on the island was handy when I needed new squishies for the 'flex.  My corner deli guy/fire chief also rented K2 skates out and the skate rep comped me the squishies.

They moved off the island in 02.

How can you not love a small community where the fire chief also runs the deli AND rents skates out the back door! 

[w2zero]

It's a weird little burg with Tacoma and a big park on three sides and the water on the other.  I was the asst chief at the time on the all volunteer dept.  Used to ride with an undercover narcotics officer, small town police chief, my adopted paramedic son and me, being training officer and asst chief/medic on urban park rides.  If you fell down, you could expect to get run over. 

[skiddlipbop]

Hi, I own a 957, I am resurecting it for 2015. I would really like risse shocks front and rear, has anybody got a second hand one for sale? (either front for girvin cross links, or rear for frame).

yours hopefully,

Skiddlipbop

[Spokes]

I've bought all mine off eBay. They pop up from time to time and you can buy them new on there.

Chris