Re-introduction, and Alfaholics GTV

[Hobson284 10]

Hi all! I joined a while back, just enjoyed watching what was on this forum. Much less hostile than certain other forums...

Anyway, until about April I had a fairly standard GTV 3.0 V6 24V, in metallic silver, but with green calipers, a Wizard exhaust, and a few other bits and bobs. A great car, but still needed much doing to it, such as suspension refresh, bodywork issues etc etc.

I had spent around £3000 in 6 months running up to March this year on things such as GTA clutch and flywheel, Quaife, Wizard exhaust etc etc. It was at the point where although I had spent so much already, buying an already better GTV may be slightly better financially.

Now I know these cars are for the heart and not the head, however I needed to start saving for a house, and spending £3k every 6 months is just too much. Now I, like many, had been watching the Alfaholics GTV that had been on sale since around November 2013, dreaming and wishing, but not really seriously looking at buying it. It was around £8000 at this point. Considering all the Alfaholics bits on it it was still amazing value, but out of my price range.

Anyway, getting back on track, by March it had dropped under £6000. Using man-maths I realised that this was by far the best value for money GTV when taking all parts and servicing into account.

Best of all I could now afford it!

So now a gentleman who lives about 10 miles away from me owns the silver beast, and the fully loaded Alfaholics Nuvola GTV is mine!

Needless to say, it drives utterly differently to the previous car. In some aspects it's probably difficult to say what individual mods make which difference as there are many mods in many areas, but the most noticeable is the handling. It is so much more composed, much less body roll, and you can feel the wheels are in contact with the tarmac more often, rather than pitter-pattering over rough surfaces. The ride is firm, yet more comfortable, even though it has 17" teledials as opposed to the 16"s on ol' Silver.

The brakes are also of note. I haven't been on track, but on fast road driving, they are utterly faultless. Fade free, powerful yet not sharp so smooth fast braking is an ease. Not to mention they look huge and fantastic!

The full Alfaholics exhaust also has a lovely, cultured tone, very far removed from the mind-blowing yet raucous Wizard. Still miss the Wizard sound sometimes though...

The only minor thing that does need doing is a couple of bodywork dinks, and a staggering amount of stone chips on the nose. But it is rust free and solid, so this is purely cosmetic, and I bought it (mainly) for its mechanical attributes.

Nevertheless, the Azzurro Nuvola paint is beautiful, and full Aero kit and teledials is just classic.

Main mods are:

Alfaholics bits:

Full exhaust and sports cat

Handling kit

Big brake kit

Recaro sports seats

Pipercross drop in air filter

Other mods:

Q2 diff

GTA lightweight clutch and flywheel

Koni front dampers

Ferodo DS2500 brake pads

HID full headlight upgrade

Alpine CDA-9855r stereo

Upgraded speakers

Probably more but I can't remember!

Also fully loaded from factory, so Azzurro Nuvola paint, factory sunroof, and Blue-style interior.

This really is a very special GTV, and hope to share my experience with you all! Many thanks for reading and having me on this forum,

James.

[Paso 239]

Great news Hobson, good to have you back! The car looks amazing. The seats are ace!

[kunev 131]

Great car with so many good mods and special color  , simply complete car!

With so many changes to the car I'm sure it is completely different car  .

Do you know what brake pads this caliper use and more specific does they are same as on some other standard car?

And what about the engine management, custom remap or untouched ECU?

[Hobson284 10]

Currently on standard untouched ECU, although planning an Alfatune remap in the near future;-) They're Ferodo DS2500 pads. I don't know the size/spec, I'll try and find out the weekend as I'll be having the passenger side caliper off.

[Hobson284 10]

Thanks by the way folks!

[A6C 15]

Looks good matey, I can help point you in the way of a good local dent man. Had my car done took the poor bloke all day but he's brilliant got them all out !!

[Hobson284 10]

Marvellous. The worst bits are a dent underneath and forward of the wing mirror, and some chips/nicks out of the rear bumper. Not sure how they got there, possibly a mishap whilst parked in a building.

[Hobson284 10]

So I've found out that the brake pads number is FRP3003. Which from a quick search looks like a very expensive special pad! :-o

Edited August 9, 2014 by Hobson284

[Filip 124]

So I've found out that the brake pads number is FRP3003. Which from a quick search looks like a very expensive special pad! :-o

Not too surprising tho? Six pot calipers equal pricier pads. >_>

What car do the calipers come from originally?

[Hobson284 10]

Nothing, they're a special development by Alfaholics for the GTV. As a complete guess I reckon they vaguely resemble an Alcon unit, and the pads fit an Alcon caliper too, amongst others.

[Hobson284 10]

And yeah, no surprise, lol!:-D

[Thanos 193]

Do not forget the better antiroll bars by alfaholics.

You have a unique and well ballanced gtv there.

Congrats!

[Hobson284 10]

Do not forget the better antiroll bars by alfaholics.

You have a unique and well ballanced gtv there.

Congrats!

Absolutely! They probably make one of the biggest differences to how the car drives, so much less body roll.

Thanks for all the love for her!

[kunev 131]

I have make a check with the pad part number and look like there isn't any "cheap" option and only performance pads. This part number is from Ferrodo. Only "exotic" calipers use such pads - Alcon, AP Racing, Coleman, Rotora (link).

[Hobson284 10]

This is what I found too. It's not a problem as there's no point having performance calipers with cheap pads. I was just a little surprised at how expensive they were. Better not wear them out too quickly!

[Alfaduden 226]

Å good thing that this lovely GTV got in your good hands! Look forward to follow this thread!

[Hobson284 10]

[A6C 15]

Looks very tidy in there, need to change the coolant tank though to freshen it up

[Filip 124]

Very nice!

[Thorleyman 3]

Nice car mate, one thing to do is put HIDs in the front fog lights. A bit more involved to do than the headlights but looks better than the yellow bulbs

[Hobson284 10]

Nice car mate, one thing to do is put HIDs in the front fog lights. A bit more involved to do than the headlights but looks better than the yellow bulbs

Ta very much! Well, that'll be the next thing I look into I guess!

[Thorleyman 3]

just found the pics i took when i did mine, might start a thread later.

was watching your GTV when it was for sale trying to justify adding all the upgrades to my cup.

[Hobson284 10]

just found the pics i took when i did mine, might start a thread later.

was watching your GTV when it was for sale trying to justify adding all the upgrades to my cup.

Yeah a thread on that would be great. I watched it for a while, there's no doubt they are flipping expensive upgrades, but personally I'd say they're worth it, the brakes and handling kit in particular.