GTV6 as a daily driver

[cranberry]

What's everyones thoughts on an Alfetta GTV6 as a daily driver, up to 30kms per day? Can it cope with hot summer days?

[Al Campbell]

The Car can, but you might not.

The engine cooling system works fine (when in good repair). I never had any issues with mine in the hot weather. Any problems people seem to have are the usual things that can go wrong with any car: Thermostat, clogged radiator &c... All easily fixable, water pumps do have a few quirks.

I found the Velour seats, lots of glass and air con that doesn’t work a trial in summer.  Even a short drive on a hot day left me a worn out, dripping wet puddle of sweat. I think it was “MD” from QLD that described part of the chassis structure in the engine bay that funnels hot air from the engine bay in to the cabin. Something that seems right as I felt that the car got hotter inside than you would expect for a car without A/C.
You can replace the compressor with modern one that works, but the heat exchanger & fans in the cabin are still well below effective, although some people have expressed satisfaction with just replacing the compressor.

With 38 C yesterday I was glad to be driving my 2007 Subaru & not the GTV6.

If I ever had a go at restoring a GTV6 I’d do modern injection control, some suspension work, brakes & strip the entire heating & cooling from the interior & make a custom job.

Just my opinion & I’m getting (gotten) old and intolerant.

Al "The Woos"

[VeeSix]

30 kilometres a day in a GTV6, fantastic fun!!!!!

[aggie57]

For whatever reason I always found the ones with tan interior cooler than the ones with black...

[MD]

...up to 30kms per day?..mmm?

I would say like this. If the ratio was 28 km open road and 2km of urban jungle followed by the same on the return journey then by all means get the cheque book out and score one post haste.

If the route is the opposite, buy the Alfa for the week ends toy. Live with never getting sufficent cooling or well distributed air speed in the glasshouse cabin. Roll the windows down and enjoy the breeze through your hair. (If you got some  ).

The GTV6 is a very special Alfa that has unique qualities. Great air conditioning is not one of them.

If this is a key criteria, THE ONLY WAY TO FIX IT IS TO COMPLETELY, UTTERLY, COMPREHENSIVELY, ABSOLUTLEY, BUILD A CUSTOM ORIGINAL SYSTMEM for it based on the heat load (huge) and fix the distribution of conditioned air, noise  and air speed.

If anyone tells you they can fix it by tinkering around the edges, ask them if they have a hole in the pocket with a busy right hand..

[Davidm1600]

MD that is a classic comment.   

But on a serious note, and as a past owner of both an Alfetta sedan/Gt, I too would agree.  Back when I had mine (and sure they weren't a GTV6), I had no choice re AC.  AC meant opening all windows and hopefully not being blown around to bits.  Mind you back then I did have plenty of hair.

Now I have a nice modern 156 with AC that works.  First car I have owned with AC, well apart from my 130 sedan, but the AC in that didn't work at all.

I too have thought about this question as to would they make a good daily driver.  I guess the answer lays with what are you prepared to live with.  They just don't have all the toys, bells and whistles that all modern cars have, but if you are after the drivers experience, then that is a different equation.

Without AC in a glasshouse car, in high temps... yep pool of sweat for sure, oh and in winter you can have the opposite problem of fogging up. 

[Storm_X]

I've done it for the past 6 years in my Giulietta's on and off, great fun.

[Al Campbell]

Yep MD made another good point - fogging - particularly on a rainy day. Never could get the car clear. No working A/C (A/C removes moisture), Asthmatic heater, firewall full of holes & rubber seals that all needed replacing.

Also your clutch & Syncros? In the past I did a 35km one way commute from the edge of Melbourne to the CBD in a manual VN Commodore.  My boss counted 40 sets of traffic lights and it got stop-start closer in. Did that for around 7 years, high wear on the clutch of course – which it’s supposed to more-or-less. My current 15 km commute (when I drive) is pretty easy, with stuff all crawling in traffic & few lights and is much more kind to clutches.

My ALFA was my daily driver, don’t think i’d want to traffic crawl in it. What tipped me over the edge to replace it with an Aircon, Auto Subaru was the damned occasional “I notta going to starta to-day Fangio”, followed by getting the grumpy missus out of bed to drive me to the station.
The down side? I now don’t have an ALFA. God I miss it. After 4 months I’ve started trawling the car sales web sites. Ooooh  that’s a nice GP! Where can I get $20k from?

Want to know if a GTV6 is a good Daily Driver? Go and get one and find out. I bet you won’t be sorry.

(No warranty implied or given, no money back Guarantee).

Once infected there is no cure for virus ALFA, you can only treat the symptoms & there’s only one reliable way to do that.

ALFAless AL.

[Midda Samid]

cranberry, big Al Campbell nailed it.. If you want to know how a GTV6 will go, you are the only real judge.. I have an alfetta GTV and i foolishly modified it and made it redundant as a daily driver.. It served me for 5 years of daily driving.. It doesn't have aircon, it has the same window set as the GTV6 and I miss my daily driver.. sometimes it steamed up, sometimes it was hot.. to be honest, they aren't the times I remember.. how it looks, sounds, goes, feels.. they are reliable with maintenance and you form a strong relationship that is difficult to break..( I have failed twice to quit alfa's.. I won't be trying again)

Everyone complains about the quality of the aircon?? it's a sign of the sad times we are approaching when the quality of a car is gauged by it's power to cool on a typical summer day.. We cry all winter when it's too cold and wet to do anything, but when the sun comes out, we shut the windows and turn on the aircon?? something has changed.. a GTV6 is a cracking car.. traffic or not.. they are a perfectly functional daily commuter with the added benefit of making you grin whenever you step on the gas, pitch it into a corner, see a reflection in the windows as you pass, walk toward it in the morning etc..

they are alfa's though, so you will grow with your Alfa as you learn the noises it makes, the areas of fragility, the basic maintenance to keep you out of trouble... post a pic of the one you buy.. I love the tan interior cars.. but then again, I love the silver cars too.. can't have both without a biiiiggg garage..

[VeeSix]

I think you just nailed it Midda! There are only about twenty or so days a year when the heat is unbearable, like you said sad that some are judging a vehicle by its air conditioning capability, i have removed all the air conditioning lines and condensor radiators from all my Alfa Romeos except one, i find they just get in the way most of the time when doing engine bay work, so much easier to remove a 90 or 75 V6 oil filter without the air conditioning compressor in the way, air conditiong is a great thing but a GTV6, open the sunroof and all the windows and enjoy, thats what a GTV6 is about not keeping it all closed and worrying about what tempreture it is inside!       

[Al Campbell]

Unless it was actually raining, or I was doing over 80km/h, I always drove the car with both windows down (no sunroof) - You got to enjoy more of the beautiful engine sound and it kept the fumes down, coolest in summer and in winter I turned the heater up. The buffeting wasn't that annoying.

AL.

[Paul Gulliver]

Unless it was actually raining

That was always a worry. You can shut the sunroof quickly ( manually) but It is about a 5 minute  operation for the electric windows to go either up or down

[Al Campbell]

Quicker than the rear windows with the small knob ther than a crank handle.

[Beatle]

Go for it.  I don't believe you can truly know your Alfa until you've covered at least 50,000km in it, a lot of that in 'anger'.    My first Alfa was a '79 GTV I owned for 14 years, mostly as my only car.   It's still the one I miss most.  Simple, fun, sorted, reliable, economical, versatile, dead gorgeous, and thankfully, very safe.  I was young and if I'd owned another car probably wouldn't be here to type this.

I had a lot of different girls in that 14 years of owning the same car..............................

I went camping in it, tracked it, did a lot of overnight drives to nowhere in particular (and back), and also had it in the NT for a time (no speed limits).

Actually, the later GTV6 I owned never quite had the same appeal.   

I also reckon you can forgive the coupes a lot of the same faults that are barely tolerable in the sedans.