ALFAGTV6.COM

[Barry]

and !!
Ive been trying to get this topic going for a few days now..I just have not known where to start..

The SZ..WOW !! I want one!!

I drove Allans car a bit with bouts of driving my Giulietta in between.This gave me a pretty good idea of how I feel about the SZ.

Nothing has that "in your face!!" attitude quite like this little car..and yes,little it is.The pizzaz factor is an 11 out of 10.period.
Its real solid in build quality,no squeeks and rattles like in a normal old 116 car.Its solid.Its a pity we never got the 75 here as I believe this SZ represents the 75 in a lot of ways.A defenite improvement over the 116 cars.

The isostatic shifter.What a pleasure from an easy to use point of view! Its a bit dead in conveying where the gears are but thankfully they fall into place.Reverse gear was always a lucky dip as I was not sure if I was in reverse or 4th gear.There is no discernible clunk as with the older linkages when you select reverse. I can live with that though.
Then a rude awakening! You are starkly reminded that its still fitted with the ol clunky trans axle when the gears just wont mesh at idle until you cycle the clutch quickly.And then usually with a slight grating before it goes in.

The front suspension! Well.its the best Ive experienced on an Alfa yet.This even beats my full race Autodelta (The real one..) race suspension I had in the gtv turbo.Turn in,grip,more tighter turn in,simply more grip and excellent feel..Minimal body roll..everything just feels so incredibly good!
I drove back from the exhaust shop the first day.At about 40km/h I turned a corner and accelerated a bit more than I would have normally..Damn!!
I had a tank slapper of note!! the rear just went wide and then full back and forth again!.It had caught me unawares and I made a total hash of trying to get the car straight again..!!
I was flabbergasted at this as I had driven SZ`s before and never experienced ANYTHING close to oversteer! I checked the rear tyres and they are rock hard and almost done with.! Ok, This explains why she was such a bitch towards me.Now I know..

The brakes.Allan has fitted some cross drilled discs and some performance pads to his car.The feel at low speeds (town driving) is exceptional and she really pulls up well.
However,I was doing about 80 km/h and the lights changed and I thought Id test the brakes under extreme situation here..Mmmm,perhaps they were not hot enough,but she was not really co operative here..Al.let me do a big Brembo thing for you bud..

You can see that Alfa Romeo simply wanted something "different" to wow the public with when these cars were announced.You can also see that it was not a pet project,but to my mind,the cars were banged together and used for publicity..Why?? Hell,the fibreglass is terrible!!The attachment of glass to steel is terrible! Pop rivets and self tappers abound..The headlamps have thes flat bits of flat bar that thankfully has been plated ..But it looks like the bloke from Brakpan building his hairy Cortina put this car together!.It really looks heath robinson and in a way adds to the quirkiness or the lack thereof in these cars..
If I were to ever get one I would embark on a project to straighten the waves in the glass body and neaten things up dramaticly.I would not change anything for that would imo take away from that typical Alfa "Thats how they done it" way..

The interior..Well,it`s definitely different..Very much like the Maserati Ghibli`s interior..The use of useless carbon fibre as aesthetic add ons is typical 80`s..My verdict is still out on this..The doors are wholly glass and I rather like the inside treatment they gave the doors..Ill post a pic.Gave me an idea for my new Giulietta..The seats? again,typical fantasy 80`s design and execution..Theyre not very functional.

I'm running on flat batteries at the moment and will take a break..but Ill update as and when I have more to add..

Remember,this is simply my own opinion on a great car,destined to go down in history...or not.Ill forever be thankful to Allan for trusting me and giving me this opportunity to experience a great Alfa Romeo icon..At least to us enthusiasts..

Thanks Al.

[Fernando]

Thanks Barry for letting me just sit inside this car last week. I would swop my GTV6 without a moment's hesitation for an SZ.I stood there drooling at it and had to concede to Barry that for me this was outright lust for a car....

My 3.6 in an SZ and I think I would be in heaven.

Thanks for the great write up Barry.

[Zamani]

Barry can you check if there are any reinforcements on the shock towers in the front?

[ALFA GTV6 GP]

SZ
il Monstro !

On my shopping list.

Waiting for the 3.5 Right hand drive on to come on the market.
I think its still in Zimbabwe?

If not there is a few left hookers on the market in the UK,Germany,Netherlands, Japan.



John.

[Mats]

So the hookers that are left are the right to buy?

[mjr]

Thanks Barry for letting me just sit inside this car last week. I would swop my GTV6 without a moment's hesitation for an SZ.I stood there drooling at it and had to concede to Barry that for me this was outright lust for a car....

My 3.6 in an SZ and I think I would be in heaven.

Thanks for the great write up Barry.

really?! you would swap your GTV for the SZ??. No way I would, I think the GTV6 is way better loooking, I just cant get on with the styling for the SZ, IMO its one of the ugliest cars ever built. dont know much about them though, whats the deal with the drive shaft and transmission? 75 stuff? or better

[Barry]

I have taken pics of EVERYTHING on this car!!
Ill post as we go along..F,Your welcome..Its been momentous for me as well..

Mmm,I cannot uploed big pics..all are at least 1 meg.Ill redo them..

[mjr]

Barry,if you end up struggling to get the size down and keep them viewable, try pasting the problem ones into a word document, then save the document as an HTML document rather than a .doc document, it will bring them all down to about 30-40k instantly, then you can pull them out as you need them, you dont lose any picture quality

[Barry]

Barry,if you end up struggling to get the size down and keep them viewable, try pasting the problem ones into a word document, then save the document as an HTML document rather than a .doc document, it will bring them all down to about 30-40k instantly, then you can pull them out as you need them, you dont lose any picture quality

Thank you..will do..

That right hooker thats coming up "For Sale"? Not going to happen! Ive been negotiating with the owner,Dr Di Varas about that car for a year now.and that was only to have a look at it !!
The car is not for sale at all.

[Zamani]

Bazza,

Download irfanview. I think it will process all files at once so you don't have to resize one by one. Just say, resize all down to 25% of original and off it goes.

[Giuliettaevo2]

i use tinypic.com to post pictures. you just upload your picture to tinypic and then use the link... works great, except maybe the time it takes to upload...

RZ/SZ uses the group A suspension set-up with uni balls and is regarded as one of the best balanced cars on the road. i have read somewhere that they could pull 1.4G in a corner while some newer Ferarri struggled to get 1.32G. Brakes are a POS... Gearbox has an oilcooler and uses the same final ratio as the 1.8 TB which i think is best for the v6, good acceleration and not 'booming' on the freeway.

a lowered, black SZ with big, deep dished wheels and a killer 24v biturbo would be my ultimate Alfa. Offcourse one would have to design a new gearbox for it... and put some brakes on the thing!

[MD]

Hey never mind the SZ, check out Barry's hot chick in the background..looks like she plays hard to get too.

[kevin]

Ha Ha. Back to Sz Baz. What are the dims of the upper control arm on SZ compared to the gtv. Trying to see the realationship ratio between the upper and the lower arms(ratio as it rotates).
Open pics up in adobe and go into size and save it as 600 pix x 400pix and this will chainge the kb. If its still to high you can then adjust the scale on that window when you push save.

[rz]

an sz like this with barry's 3.7 24v to come?
lowering is impossible as the front is only 5 inches from the ground and the car touches the ground on heavy cornering.
and barry: thank allan for lending his car!
glad you didn't total it.happens a lot with those old tires

[Barry]

MARC,THAT CAR IS BRILLIANT IN BLACK!!