159 Sportwagon

[Rm2s]

I am smitten by the 159 Sportwagon, test drove it and the only thing I am worry about is the selespeed.

 

I have been driving regular auto car for most part of my driving life, only manual was my first car, never enjoyed it, auto is more enjoyable for me.

 

Question is, anyone here switched from regular auto to selespeed and loving it now?

 

Anyone knows when was the 159 sportwagon launched?

[Nero159]

Selespeed is fundamentally a manual and needs to be driven as a manual. If you're expecting Selespeed to behave like an auto, then you'll be disappointed. If you want auto, get the Q-tronic version.

[Relagsingh]

1st quarter of this year i think.

 

i'm different from you. i like manual. the sportwagon only have selespeed

[Rm2s]

I would love the 3.2L V6 regular auto, but, the list price of 170K is not within my budget.

[Relagsingh]

the v6 sounds good too

[Rm2s]

I think you are younger than me .. hehe, i cannot do manual anymore, knee is weak.

[Relagsingh]

heh... i'm not that young too. actually the clutch pressure is quite light and cushy.

but since your knee is weak, to much movement will affect your knee too. take good car of them.

 

but quite sad to see the local dealerships for most brands selling auto variants only.

[Rm2s]

Looking at it this way, if you own a dealership, would you bring in niche model or something that will sell by the thousands?

[Nero159]

Yup, sad that most dealers only bring in auto version of their cars. I've gone back to driving a manual, after 7.5 yrs of Selespeed. I only miss the paddles when need to change gear in mid-corners (when the car in front seems to be lacking the ability to move at decent pace when cornering).

[Relagsingh]

if i'm a dealer that religiously follow the stick shift, i'll still offer manual models as options or at least have a few in my stocklist. i do understand that some dealerships that carrying models that have a manual variant are selling very slowly and they only keep a few in stock. but models like swift sports, wrx, focus st etc dun say lah...

 

thats why i say its sad, at a business point of view, i'll forget about importing manual cars... what to do? herd mentality... most think that manual more convenient and now have class 3A license. even my wife insists that she only drive an auto. lucky she got her own car, or else i'll suffer.

 

not for alfa though!!! the dealership is nice enough to include manual models for most of their lineup! hope it stays this way!

 

a quote form jezza: "alphamales, buy bmws... alfas, are for nice people..."

[Relagsingh]

so your 159 is a manual? cool!

[Nero159]

Yup, the second manual 159 on the road here. Think the manual 159 population remains single digit till today.

[Relagsingh]

aw man... i really wished that i can add myself in.... but i can't now!

 

bet you must be enjoying every single moment with your serpent.

Edited June 18, 2007 by Relagsingh

[Nero159]

Absolutely! Every second of it! Couldn't understand why is auto so popular here.

[Relagsingh]

hmmm... a few reasons:

 

1) hectic schedule: drivers with breakfast on one hand and the other on the steerign wheel, ladies can apply make-up.

 

2) jams, jams and bloody jams.

 

3) class 3A license, much easier to pass.

 

4) auto used to be 3 to 5k more expensive than manual for the same model. but now usually only 1k more.

 

5) much easier and convenient.

[Nero159]

6) Lazier.

[Firstcall]

I am smitten by the 159 Sportwagon, test drove it and the only thing I am worry about is the selespeed.

 

I have been driving regular auto car for most part of my driving life, only manual was my first car, never enjoyed it, auto is more enjoyable for me.

 

Question is, anyone here switched from regular auto to selespeed and loving it now?

 

Anyone knows when was the 159 sportwagon launched?

 

Contrary to most, I think I'd love Selespeed tho.

 

I never owned one but test drove both the first gen Selespeed of 156TS and last gen 156JTS.

 

I loved the 156 JTS. I drove expecting it to be 'jerky', never expected it to be smooth like auto and was surprised that it is actually quite 'smooth' and 'quick'. In fact I like the slight pause to change gear like it a manual car.

 

however I dont like the first gen 156TS selespeed gear shift. The pause is too long which makes a first timer hard to accurately predict the gear shift. It also tends to 'blip' the throttle (which many like, but i dont) which I find makes the shift even slower.

 

I felt the JTS shift was a lot faster and responsive. I can change gear at any rpm like a manual and downshift 2 by gears to overtake quickly, unlike the first gen.

 

159 being the newest, i believe should be even better. I haven't test drive one, will certainly look forward to... 159 is one of the choice for my next car. I didn't one to commit to 156 because of the short warranty. 159 100k, 5yrs warranty is more assuring.

[Falc]

I think you are younger than me .. hehe, i cannot do manual anymore, knee is weak.

 

Mine hurts when climbing up stairs due to too much sports. But driving manual no problem still. Should be ok still for u, give it a try.