Please tell me about the GTV 3.0 V6 24V...

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388
I've never had an Alfa but have recently been eyeing up a lovely low mileage bright red GTV 3.0 V6 24V.

Would love to know from anyone who's had one what they're like to drive, own, what spares availability and running costs are like? Plus anything to watch out for? It's a 2003 model so would it come with the Q2 diff that I've heard is preferable? Thanks.
 

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,038
Just do it...I've had two and they were the most reliable Alfas I have owned. Neither of them let me down unlike others Alfas I've had. Servicing was reasonable at a specialist and didn't find parts that expensive but the only things I really had to replace was consumables. Last one I had was in 2012 so they are older now so not sure what parts availability is like but looks have had them on here so sure you'll get more advice.

Q2 makes a massive difference to the way the car drives and I wouldn't buy one without it or at least budget to add....it transforms the handling. The GTV for me is a much better drivers Alfa than later ones like the Brera....and then you have one of the best V6's ever. GTV is just such a little gem. If it's a good car I would snap it up as good ones are getting rare and prices seem to be on the rise.

Loved my last one....
 

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allandwf

Member
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10,958
Agree with the above, apart from Q2, I don't think it makes that much difference on day to day driving, I've owned 4, and still own 2, but Spiders. Make sure belts done, watch out for rear spring pan corrosion, and sills, usually crushed on the seam by bad jacking. The only other area that seems to rust is the rear of the sill if it gets bad its an mot failure as its near the belt mount. Seriously under rated, but prices starting to rise.
 

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,038
I know when I bought the silver one I drive one without Q2 and it was worlds apart but then the silver one was a better sorted car so may have been an accumulation of things as well as the Q2.
 

ChrisH

Junior Member
Messages
89
I also vote great cars having owned a Cup for a number of years.

The best thing I did to mine was polybush it. There are a LOT of suspension arms... it's quite a complex design... so you do tend to get play in those. After a polybush change all round the handling was amazing... totally on rails. It was firmer... but to be honest I would probably say better in that department than my 4200.

In a similar vein... it's very sensitive to alignment and tyres... so get them right.

Another thing to check is the oil cooler... these corrode and are a bugger to change because the pipes connect at a very unsociable point right up behind the engine. You need special tools so it's a specialists job really... I tried for at least a full day in a drive before giving up.

Exhaust is kinda muted as standard like 4200... I tweaked the silencer a bit but ended up quite drony and not that loud. Personally I find the Ragazzon exhausts that some use offputting... it's too much for the car IMO. What does work great is the BMX carbon intake kit... that gives an amazing induction roar but only when you floor it.

I'm sure Q2 is good but I wasn't aware it was ever standard. It usually got swapped in from 147s. I tracked mine and I didn't have it and it was still an admirable performer showing up a lot of more exotic cars. Main thing Q2 would have done is save my tires I think which were toast afterwards.

Rear screen heater melts itself... i out a guide to rewiring with a relay on tge main Alfa forum which is now quite a long thread and works well. Window drops can be sensitive but you can fiddle them to work well.

As has been said... cam belts are a main service item but relative some cars they're not too exoenaive. Get them done by a specialist though as they are very sensitive to timing in terms if power. I've seen dyno results of +-15% on this done well vs not! Which is well worth paying the right person to do.

Can't think of anything else for now... Will post a picture of my old one later if I can. I would also say the vest Alfa I ever had having had various others.

A great car. Definitely under rated. And if buy a good one again in a heartbeat.

Chris
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
media.jpg
One of the original, six I think, press cars. Hence the 2000 Reg. The first UK 3.0 Spiders went on sale in 2001.
 

Delmonte

Member
Messages
878
Superb cars. Only just sold mine to buy the 4200... After 12 years of ownership... I was torn, very torn about selling, wish I hadn't really.

Anyway: in common with 4200 it hates uneven surfaces, it upsets the handling and the ride is about as bad as a car can get imho. It can't really escape that Tipo front end which was underdeveloped especially compared to the rear.

But still, the handling and road holding are great, you can really throw them around and they are very forgiving. Unlike the 4200 you can explore the limits in safety. There are no more superlatives you can say about the engine, its as good as folk say,but it needs to be driven on the cam if you want to go fast.

They bottom out easily on dippy roads, but the standard shockers are **** and will now be worn if not changed. Bilstein being the best imho (mine seemed to improve ride AND firm up the suspension somehow, and definitely helped with bottoming). Some people like Koni adjustsbles but some say too hard even on softest setting.

The 3.2 is noticeably faster if you can find one and better value than the Cup.

The Cup is overvalued in my opinion, mechanically identical with minimal and dubious cosmetic changes.

Find a good interior. Trim parts getting hard to get. Good original mats like gold dust.

Watch for rust, rust and rust, but in places you can't see... Floor, boot floor, bulkhead, sills everywhere underneath plus rear arches.

Also suspension. They munch front wishbones due to built in baljoints and bushes. Worse and more expensive are rear pieces, there are 3 pairs of them and some pieces are dear. Better to polybush the rear or look for it being done.

Look for corroded oil cooler pipes leaking or sweating oil. You can't get the pipes from Alfa anymore but you can from Alfaholics (expensive). But then you cant replace them because it tends to destroy the oil cooler itself, and they are very hard to get...

Strut top bearings are NLA on one side. Throttle is a problem when they go produce horrible faults... Throttle pots hard to get and expensive.

Standard 300mm brakes are pretty poor and an essential upgrade imho is GTA 330mm or AP racing.

Clutches can be heavy. GTA clutch and flywheel conversion is lovely and makes it light and faster revving.

Gearboxes explode. Doubt you will see beyond 100k from one.

Q2 imho is an essential for performance driving, grip and traction especially when booting it transforms the car.

Make sure cambelt has been done recently and by someone who knows the cars well or budget £700.

Best aftermarket exhaust imo is Alfaholics, fits like a dream, beautiful piece of kit, sounds lovely and you can change in pieces as they fall off. Original is too quiet, Ragazzon too loud IMO! Second shout for BMC airbox, great kit, lasts forever (just clean it) sounds nice and saves weight (you lose the heavy bracketing of original airbox, which also cracks).

These are great cars and like all performance alfas are stone cold classics; mine got all the right attention was a real head turner even more than the Masser (but then it was Nuvola Blue which is also the best colour) The individuality and inspiration factor is off the scale, do it you won't regret it!

If you're in the North use Peak Alfa.

Good luck.
 

GeoffCapes

Member
Messages
14,000
Lovely cars. Can't actually remember why I didn't buy one.
Oh yeah, I bought a Maser.

Still hanker after a GTV V6 though.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,593
GTV, the 3.2 to be exact is probably my all time favourite car.

Its just got so much going for it and one of the last of the true Alfa breeds.

Go for it, check rear suspension lower pan arms, they rot through but thats about all the rot you get on these cars, never seen a rusty one.

Cambelt and water pump goes without saying.

They suffer from stone chipping to the front and flanks and the frameless windows never fit and give wind noise.

Have heard the odd nightmare of sheared diffs but you can get used good gearboxes for next to nothing.

Apart from that, its fun, fun, fun!
 

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
20,759
The 3.2 V6 is so much better than the 3.0 IMO what ever car it is in but a 3.2 GTV is a very rare car but even in 3.0 guise they are still good. Suspension can be challenging but when sorted they handle well. Good ones are on the rise, personally I prefer the GT, easier to get a 3.2 and much more space both rear seats and boot.
 

ChrisH

Junior Member
Messages
89
Rear seats and boot in the GTV are :)

Step one is to ditch the space saver in the garage and by a can of foam... that'll sort space for one over night bag. If your tall... no one will sit behind you as the driver... so that's the passengers overnight bag... so they're not super practical in that sense.

Gteat none the less.

For me... I prefer the original looks of the 3.0. The 3.2 is more modern in some ways... but the curvy face doesn't quite sit with the rest of the angular design IMO. But the engine is that bit more powerful... but we're still nowhere near Masser performance so kinda mute for me.

I loved my Cup. Granted there isn't oh so much different than a standard car... but they only made 150 or so... they're rare.... and that makes them special to own for the heart... not the head. One if the nicest extras rarely spoken of are the wheels... the finish is totally different to the standard silver... it's too long ago for me to describe it in detail but it's nice. The seats are also better... even if they are part cloth... it's a bit like an early technocloth effort with a Momo badge on it.

With the age now though just find a good one and enjoy.
 

Maser Sod

Member
Messages
1,962
GTV v6 was my first 'proper' car. It had a lot of presence, and back in the day it was one of the faster cars on the road.

Lovely sound from the engine, even better if you change out all the scaffold underneath for a proper mid-section and dual or quad pipes.
 

Andyk

Member
Messages
61,038
I had the dual pipes and looked and sounded great. Always planned to upgrade to the quad as it sort of gave it that proper little Italian Ferrari look but never got around to it.
 

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AT3200AC

Junior Member
Messages
73
I ran a 3.0 GTV for 40,000 miles and it never let me down. I bought it because of that engine which is still the nicest sounding engine I have ever had - no sonic interference from an overly shouty exhaust so if your going to use the car to do decent mileage I would stick with a standard stainless style system. I bought it back in 2006 after coming out of a golf GTI diesel. The GTV was one of the few non exotic cars that would out accelerate the GTI diesel so I would suggest if your main reason for buying is to go fast then you look elsewhere. Pretty much every decent modern diesel rep mobile will out drag a GTV today. As a modern classic they do represent excellent value for money though and I must admit to being tempted with a low mileage spider I saw recently.

The main issues have all been mentioned as far as I recall. I would add electrics to the list of niggles. I had a passenger airbag warning light which kept coming on as the electrical connector was positioned under the passenger seat and every time I had a passenger in the car it would trigger the warning. This needed to be plugged into a diagnostics to turn it off again. I replaced a number of suspension bushes so I would suggest looking for a car with this done or budgeting for a power flex upgrade. Other than that, they are good cars. If you can find a later 3.2 with modest mileage then I would say they are pretty much depreciation proof as well.

Best of luck finding the right car.
 

luckesGTV6

Junior Member
Messages
327
If it is any help: :)

My GTV ownership experience covers 9 years.

I’ve had both a 2 litre Twinspark which died due to a fauly thermostat and WL and also, for the last 7 years, a 3 litre.

The 3 litre does all that the twinspark did without the effort and, although faster, in 6th gear can often pull away in traffic from 1000 rpm.

It still looks ex factory spec. with just the second transverse silencer removed and the flattened section under the rear frame replaced using Alfa’s 3 litre tube diameters, not the aftermarket 2 litre stranglers, but finishing with the original attenuator and tailpipe – I really needed to hear that Busso sound inside the car to assist smooth gearchanges!

The 20 year old spherically jointed rear end remains functioning perfectly as Alfa’s engineers intended (important IMVHO – but don’t ask ‘cos I’ll put on my designers hat and upset the poly men!)
Bearing gaiters are checked over for splits & lubricated every spring during the annual makeover (Garages are not reliable in doing this sort of work I find).

Overall 25 mpg + documented during my ownership. Loves Shell Nitro but now usually slurps bee pee 95 for shopping trips.
It's used as a daily driver, trackday menace (me not the car) :) and runway scorcher.
Nero accellerated from a standing start up to a GPS TV of 125+ when creeping up on a TVR Sagaris at Dunsfold a few years back but I suspect that I may have gas flowed ports. Who knows, it’s a grey import with no pre-history! ;)

Reliability? Good as any IMHO. Only probs I have had:-
Help from rescue service when MAF sensor packed up about 5 years ago but it got me back up the M5 in limp mode.
Early days the intermittent airbag light drove me mad for a couple of years until I found it was due to a Telepass wiring fault. (so obvious)
Interior boot release disconnected (only discovered when I had locked my keys in it :( )
Front tyres on trackdays - Pity Alfa used Macpherson front struts. Mine’s got Konis and some say a Q2 would help but I had a ride in one with the Alfaholics GTV kit on it but didn’t rush out to order one ‘cos a few pairs of rubber shoes iz far cheeper and it seemed no quicker through corners (subjective of course).
Tyres are important for handling. I used the underrated budget Hero 50% until they stopped importing them & now have Vredenstein 55% because of the motorway potholes mainly.

Would I buy another? YES. It does everything a 2 seat GTV should do and more.