kapiteinlangzaam

Ive been posting over on AlfaOwner forums for about 7yrs, but only discovered this forum today. This is my Spider. A 2.0TS Lusso from 98. Manual roof (my preference), black metallic paint and red leather interior. She is a very early Phase II model with the 155bhp engine. As of today she has well over 250,000km on the clock and although cosmetically she is in a bit of a mess, mechanically she is doing OK. Whenever something breaks or wears out I try to replace with OE or better than OE, ive learnt through experience and money that sometimes the OE stuff is best (brakes and suspension arms mostly!). Since buying the car in 2007 I estimate to have spent about €25k in either repairs or upgrades. Spec: Suspension: Eibach Pro -30mm with new Kyobi gas adjust shocks. Polybushed rear end. 15mm hubcentric spacers on the rear. Weichers strut brace. New OE lower arms. Wheels: 17" multispoke alloys, 225/45 GY Eagle F1 assymettric 2 tyres. Brakes: Recent OE Brembos all round. Exhaust/Induction: Novitec panel filter, induction resonators removed. New OE stainless manifold, new OE CAT, new OE front silencer, Ragazzon Alfisti.net edition centre silencer, Raggazon Biscione racing 128x80mm rear silencer. Engine: Standard, regular oil changes with Fully Synth 5w-40 and belt changes every 3 years. Interior: Standard, new(er) seats, IPOD head unit, after-market door speakers (I forget the brand!) Other: HIDS4U 6000k PRO hid headlamps (best mod I ever made). I drive her like I stole her, once warmed up she is 100% pretty much all the time I love her to pieces and I will never sell. Mainly because I cant afford to! The car has had an interesting life and has lived all over Europe. Bought new in Denmark, then registered in Germany, then France, then Luxembourg, then the UK and now in The Netherlands. Next tasks on the car are new wheels and some kind of body refurb, I may re-spray her or give her a plastic wrap at some point. Cheers Alex

The 166 Callipers require custom brackets. There sets for sale on the Dutch Alfa forums at the moment

The Spider used to be registered in Luxembourg. ZH9143 I used to work on Plateau Kichberg. I cant remember what the roadtax was that I paid, but I get the feeling it was CHEAP!!

It doesnt touch Just the picture makes it look like that. About the brakes - like the other poster mentioned, almost all the braking force is on the front brakes on the 916, so its not really worth upgrading the rear brakes. I just changed the rears to brand new OEM spec Brembo discs and pads at the same time. By upgrading the rear brakes to something bigger, you run the risk of upsetting the balance and having the back end overtake the front under heavy breaking. The 305mm and Brembo callipers are a really nice combo, perfect feel, no fade, and you dont need to change the master cylinder. I also installed new HEL stainless flexi-lines and copper fixed lines. Right now im waiting for a guy here in NL to fabricate some brackets that will allow me to fit 330mm discs with the 166 callipers Worth noting that the 166 4-pot calliper have much bigger pistons than the Brembo brakes fitted to the V6 916s. The callipers themselves are also a sh!t load bigger! They fit under the 16" wheels with about 2-3mm to spare. Because my car is lowered I had to shave about 2mm from the outer edge of the LCA knuckle, otherwise they rubbed the inside of the disc when turning.

Yup, heavy diesel engined XC90 is 2300eur per year road tax here in NL. The Spider is 640euro!

Update time. Car is now riding on 17" Zender Sienas with Vredestein Ultrac Cento tyres. I really like them In March the car was fitted with Stage 1 CATCAM fast road camshafts, and in May I added a custom chip tune from Savali Tuning in NL. This now makes it an 'official' H&S Corse Evo Stage 1 spec. Perhaps something around 170bhp depending on how many escaped over the years!! Ive also added some 305mm discs, and 4-pot Callipers from a 166. Stopping power is now fantastic! I recently purchased a Biscione/Ragazzon 2x70mm rear section exhaust, and im waiting for delivery on a CSC stainless middle section. I also have the unsilenced small post-cat pipe from Ragazzon waiting to go on the car. So, quite some upgrades in the last 6 months

I bought the aerolip second hand, it was literally in almost new condition and I got it for only €50, which I think was very lucky. I really liked the Azev wheels, but they rubbed the rear arches quite a lot when going over dips/bumps in the road, plus I like to change my wheels once per year, just to have a bit of variety

Observant people will also notice the new licence plate. I removed it from Dutch tax free / diplomatic plates, and now drive it on regular Dutch licence plates. My family car (XC90) has now got the tax free licence plate, and that saves me €2,300 per year in road tax!!

Its been a very long time since I was on the forum here. The car has had a few changes in this time. Some 17" GTA wheels. Then some 18" Azev A wheels (in various colours). Now finally back to its original 16" wheels, with new tyres and plastidipped in Anthracite. The car has also had a new roof, new clutch, some new seals and gaskets. I only drive about 3,000km per year with the car, so the mileage is not much higher than last time I posted. Some more recent pictures: 17" GTA wheels: 18" Azev: and darker and with my new aeropack splitter and now finally, how she looks today

Added some 15mm hub-centric spacers this weekend. Bargain from eBay (50 quid for all 4 including the 20 bolts. Id normally expect to pay that just for the bolts). I really like the rears, but im not sure about the front.

Yes, everything in the Netherlands (and Luxembourg before that) is expensive. I am amazed you managed to change so much for less than 5000e. Just last week I had to replace two parts of the exhaust and one lower arm on the front suspension - total cost was nearly 900e. If you were stupid enough to take a TS to a dealer here for a belt change it is more than 1500e. I buy my oil in the UK and ship it over - its 2 or 3x the price here in NL

The engine is the one thing on the car I have never had to repair in any shape or form! (touch wood). My specialist says she sounds great and internally she looks good too. Just regular oil and belt changes in my ownership (I cant vouch for before that).

Yeh, she needed a lot of repairs over the years. I have given up caring now If I wrote down everything that was replaced I think the list would be too big. She has had a new ECU, CODE box, locks, doors, arms x 6, CV joints, drive shafts, radiators, 3x belt changes, rear arms, exhausts, seats, wheels, lots of tyres, winter tyres, brakes x 2 all round, all new suspension, brake hoses - thats just what I can remember from my head