Alfa Romeo 164 QV

Author's product rating:   

Safety	Excellent
Comfort	Good
Road Handling	Excellent
Looks	Excellent
Features	Excellent

Advantages:	Fast, powerful, handling, looks
Disadvantages:	Envy  : ) Running costs higher than average

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

The 24v Cloverleaf version of the 164 was released to the world in 1993. It came with a 24 valve V6 with 230 BHP as standard (FWD). Leather interior, electric everything, Air con and even automatic suspension control was all standard fitment.

The car shares the same floorplan as the Lancia Thema, Saab 9000 and Fiat Croma. Engine was exclusive to Alfa however.

0-60 times circa 7 seconds with a top speed of 150 mph.

The Alfa V6 is well known in the motoring world as a truly wonderful piece of kit. It sounds like a true sports car, just try opening that throttle and all hell breaks loose. People have said mine sounds like a racing car, it really is something to hear.

OK the good bits:

Like I said, this car is pretty darned fast for what is at the end of the day a 4 door saloon that is not a lightwieght. Grip is, even by todays standards very very good indeed, this is a car made for fast driving but can potter around town with no problems at all. Leave the suspension control in "auto" mode and it will adjust to your driving style and the road conditions, switch it to "Sport" and it firms up a fair bit...wonderful eh!

Torque steer which was a problem on the 12v models was 99% solved on the 24v with revised steering/suspension geometry but if you really floor it coming out of a low speed turn then expect some tug on the wheel.

Equipment levels are very high indeed but not suprising when you consider this car cost 30 grand when new! Leather interior is absolutely fantastic, you don't see quality leather like these on many cars these days. Recaro seats were a £1,500 option and very rare but the standard ones are just fine.

Roomy - space for 5 adults no problem, the boot is caverous and you can get 3 large suitcases in there with no problems and room to spare. Driving position is good but not to everyones taste as it favours the long arm/short leg approach (one journalist called it the "ape like driving position")

Build quality - suprisingly good for an Alfa, all the major mechanicals will last well if looked after. fully galvanised bodyshell so seeing rust on one is very rare indeed.

Very rare, my 1996 model is one of only 23 registered in the UK during that year and only a total of about 200 ever came to the UK in 24v guise. That said, parts are still available at main dealers and from independant specialists. Owners are passionate and loyal to the model, there are several excellent websites dedicated to the car with people from all over the world posting messages and tech advice etc.

Reliability - if you look after them and get them serviced when you are supposed to, they go on for ever and ever. There are quite a few examples of this model that have done in excess of 200,000 miles and still going strong. On the flip side there are some real "dogs" out there where owners have neglected preventative maintenance etc.

Driving experience - Vauxhalls slogan "once driven forever smitten" should really belong to Alfa's, it's a wonderful car to drive. Long journeys leave you feeling perfectly refreshed even though the suspension is harder than say a Ford Granada (well it is a sports car init). 75% of the torque from this engine is available at just 1500rpm. Up through the revs and hold tight as you hit 4000rpm, there are not many cars on the road that can see one of these off, it really is an express train.

Used Values (see also bad stuff!!!) - Consider a 30 grand car 7 years ago.. you can pick up a pristine example that has been truly well looked after and had thousands spent on it for under 4 grand now... that's the used car market for ya.

Bad stuff - Finding a main dealer who has mechanics who are familiar with the 164 is not the easiest of things, they know the 3 litre engine ok as it is still being used in the GTV and 166 (the 156 GTA and 147 GTA have the same engine that is modyfied to 3.2 litres) but other stuff they tend to scrath thier heads and start throwing your money at the problem. My advice is to find a independant specialist who is passionate about the cars.

Suspension bushes wear out quicker than alot of cars due to the weight of the car and the fact that they do often get driven hard, not a particularly expensive job but make sure you check these if buying one.

Economy - If you drive them fast then dont expect more than about 20mpg, it's just too darned tempting not to open the throttle when you hit a nice clear road :)

Electrics - Alfa used in most peoples opinion poor quality (German!!) switchgear etc, if you go to buy one, make sure everything works as it should.

Maintenance costs - Expect to pay circa £600 for a cambelt service every 36k miles. An oil and filter change will set you back over a hundred quid at main dealer !! but only £25 at your local KwikFit. Parts are not too bad but more than you would pay for Ford parts as an example. Some parts like the electronic shock absorbers are very expensive indeed (most of the really expensive bits very rarely go wrong). If anything needs doing at a main dealer that is more than a simpel job, expect the car to be off the road for a while, parts can take a while to arrive from Italy if not in stock.

Used Values - If you have owned one for a long period of time you can expect to make a huge loss if you go to sell it. If you have bought or are buying one now however then the prices probably wont drop much at all, in fact many believe good examples of the Cloverleaf may actually start to go up or at least hold values in the future. I saw one 1995 75k mile example with FSH going for £2500 recently..almost beyond belief.

To sum up I would say if you like driving fast, luxurious cars that are different from the crowd (BMW, Audi etc) and you have a reasonable budget for running costs then try one out...but beware, once you have owned a good one you probably won't ever want to get rid of it. People tend to either love the look of them or hate them, personally i find myself looking at the car often...I need help...or another one outside the house.

Peace.

PS: QV stands for Quadrifoglio Verde which means Green Four Leaf Clover in Italian ;)

pps: Alfa actually did this model in a 4 wheel drive version with a revolutionary "viscomatic" system with a 6 speed Getrag gearbox but it was only ever available in LHD :( It was very popular in Europe and the motoring press raved about it even more than the standard 164.

ppps: A 3.5 litre conversion is available for this car if you have more money than sense... hmmm