Are automatic alfas rare?

[Sir Lancelot]

A friend of mine went to an Alfa dealership, where they were told that most 2002 156s are manual and that the automatic variant is somewhat rare. I was surprised to hear this (particularly since it came from a dealership - although it could be a sales thing) and didn't think this would be the case. I assume by the use of the word rare they mean that there is a significant difference in the number of automatic cars to manual cars - not just a slight one. Can anyone confirm one way or the other?

[Scott Farquharson]

I guess you are talking about v6 (slushbox) autos not 2L selespeeds (there were no 2L autos).  I don't know the exact breakdown but it wouldn't surprise me if most of the v6's by then were manual.  Initially the v6's only came in auto (back in 99/00), the manual came later.

[John Hanslow]

Well a few of the club members have 156 V6 manual cars from that year.  However there are fully automatic Q sytem V6 models around from 1999 onwards available.

I was suprised when searching 156's for sale on the internet  - the 156 Sportswagons and found a couple of 2002 manual models for sale as they are normally only with the Selespeed gearbox (4 cylinder cars only.)

I did hear that at one stage the factory workers were on strike and this had a an impact on our imports; so perhaps that resultedin a  geater stock availablity of maual cars in right hand drive in 2002?

But, it was a good year for 156 manual cars.

[Sir Lancelot]

Thanks guys, massively helpful. Always impressed at the abundance of knowledge on this site.
For others reading this thread, here's a link which explains the Selespeed and Q-system auto/manual systems:

http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_51082/title_Unique-Performance-Automatic-Gearboxes-for-the-New-Alfa-Romeo-156/newsarticle.html

[JasonR]

I have an 02 156 V6 with the Q System Auto and it's pretty good - never had a problem with it. The gear ratios are a little long but some understanding of it's power bands etc. and you can get around it

I'm told that it's a Japanese made unit so i wouldn't expect much problems with it.

Funny I always thought that the manual V6's are much rarer than the autos for some reason.