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159 Sport Wagon showing

4K views 16 replies 10 participants last post by  Nicola 
#1 ·
All

It was great to see so many NW alfisti out for the showing of the 159 by Microsoft. Thanks to Velle and all the Microsoft folks for bringing the car and telling us the story.

What a great car. I can't believe we have to wait 3 years still.

Who is going to post pictures? There must have been 30 cameras there.
 
#3 ·
Here are some pics

Sorry, seems I didn't get any interior shots....so mezmorized by the outward styling!
 

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#5 · (Edited)
159 Four Door Hatchback WITH DIESEL

Hard to imagine an Alfa with a 4500 red line with 200 hp and 35 mpg. But it is a diesel with five cylinders and four valves per cylinder. Since the Microsofies are NOT permitted to drive the vehicle on the public roads due to Federal limitations we got their impressions of the NOT driving and it sounded very very good. Looked a bit tight in rear seats, but surpisingly was really quite roomy for four passengers. Report on the NOT driving was that there was very little, if any, torque steer on the front wheel drive engine.

Why did microsofties have this vehicle. Very simple. Alfa has always been one of the forerunners of the industy -- just name it. And they saw the benefit of having entertainment abilities and communication abilities (including no matter how many iPod variations, telephone systems, etc) built into the car platform that could be upgraded no matter how long one kept the car and no matter how media advanced. And all controled on the steering wheel. GPS, of course, and drving directions, of course -- all any other compnay could offer and ten times more -- for + or - $300.00 added to price of a new car. The world's experts in both fields combining.

Car is great with 6 speed transmission, comfortable seats, nice adjustable drop down rear seat and removable package rear shelf. Won't haul a 4 x 8 piece of plywood, but it would haul * * *.

Momma, I want one. Latest promise is 2009. Hope my eyesight and hearing last that long. Till then my 1959 Two liter (and a few other rapidly aging treasures) will remain my joy and solice. No one drives Alfa cars just for the transportation.
 
#6 ·
Hooray to see an Alfa here officially!

What a pity it very likely uses very bug prone Microsoft CE like the BMW 5 and 7 series, rather than open source code. How long before MS decides not to support iPod functionality in favour of their own media player? This just makes the car harder and slower to upgrade, as well adding to the bottom line cost (MS had to drop lic costs from $15 to $3 just to get automakers interested). Also, like all things computer, the hardware underneath will become a limiting factor and the car will be obsolete that much faster.

http://www.baselinemag.com/print_article/0,3668,a=35839,00.asp

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003May/bpd20030515019999.htm

Look 1/3 of the way down the page
http://www.programmingresearch.com/pressroom/pressroom2.htm
 
#11 ·
Microsoft in Alfa?!??

Relax guys. From what the Microsofties said, their effort involves ommunications, not with electronic engine and mechanical components. I confess I have Microsoft software in my computer and know the pitfalls from frustration after frustration. The machine was purchased as availabe to all on the German market, shipped here from Germany strictly as a research platform to which they added an additional battery and a 120 volt converter so it can run video machines and do demonstrations. When they are done with the car they will take everything back out and send it back to Germany or destroy it because it cannot be licensed or sold in the States. They are strickly intent on developing a system to run IPod and other like music devices, any type cell phone now running with voice activated dialing designed to be hands free and easily upgradeable no matter how long people might keep their cars. One of the perameters they mentioned is that the average length of time cars get kept is seven years (although Alfa people regularly keep theirs three to five times that), whereas the lastest cell phone is almost worthless and obsolete in sixteen months. The communication system has to be inherently "upgradable".

But since this is going to be an add-on option, that means for some of us old ducks Alfas will still be available without phones or radio so we can still enjoy the wild throb of the engine and get away from those distractions like always.

One complaint I heard from the "Not driving" experiences of the bunch (who nevertheless had somehow been able to determine the true miles per gallon rate) was that this particular diesel engine in the car was so quiet that they could not shift relying upon the sound of the engine. Especially those with prior Alfa experience were forced to visually check the tach. For them that was the only driving disappointment. It would bother me too (as would a 4500 rpm red line). I like to hear them unwind. Still, if Alfa Romeo would only get some Brera coupe or convertible here like the one I saw and photoed in the Pebble Beach tent last year I could happily give it some alteration to produce some satisfying sound feed back to provide the proper Alfa ambiance. But I suspect the Microsofties (being diseased in their own peculiar way) picked this seemingly non traditional diesel car because they want it silent so they can commuinicate with the world, not get away from it all and just rapture in the pure joy of the driving experience. As they say, we all march to the sound of our own distant drummers. I have always loved the quote in the Alfa museum about the basically emotional and perhaps semi non rational relationship between Alfa cars and their serpent seduced devotees. Our disease is different from the Microsofties. Cars other than this diesel from Alfa could really excite me, but there was great joy in just seeing what might be. I could so fall in love with the right one and would hope never to hear a phone ring or any music other than engine scream. But that's my disease. I've had it longer than any of the Microsoftie had theirs.
 
#16 ·
Relax guys. From what the Microsofties said, their effort involves ommunications, not with electronic engine and mechanical components. <snip> They are strickly intent on developing a system to run IPod and other like music devices, any type cell phone now running with voice activated dialing designed to be hands free and easily upgradeable no matter how long people might keep their cars.
Sorry for reviving an old thread but I'm wondering if we are now seeing the results of this venture. I just saw an ad for "Sync", a hands-free communications system on Ford products. Am I correct in thinking this is what they were working on in the Alfa?

Link to Sync info
 
#12 ·
Del said:
Haven't had any problem with Windows on my computer for years. My brother has had his Apple into the shop several times.
We have the opposite problems at work, and a friend has reached the end of her rope with her Dell after three repair attempts and will buy a Mac.

I have to admit, however, my computer at work is much better with XP than it was with 98. Still have unexplainable problems crop up, however, and tech support is worse than no tech support. (And in all the years I've owned Macs, I've never had to use tech support for anything on them.) Both platforms have made great strides, though; XP is more stable than previous versions of Windows, and at home I could leave OS X running for weeks, literally, without rebooting, far better than OS9 was. And there's less difference between Apple and Windows platforms than there once was (remembering the days when I could read a Windows floppy on my Mac but not vice-versa, and cross-platform capabilities even for the same program were difficult at best).

I'm a little surprised at Alfa's choice to use Microsoft, though--MS are not great innovators; that title goes to Apple without a doubt. Microsoft has the weight to at times force something to be a standard, and they're great at looking at a concept and coming up with their own version of it, but really, Apple has been at the cutting edge for years and probably always will be, and they've certainly positioned themselves as the industry standard for MP3 players.
 
#13 ·
Isn't it sooo stupid that our wonderful govment would worry about one car causing mayhem and pollution on the highways? Bureaucratic morons. They allow older high polluting cars into the country without problem, but importing a new tech very low polluting and much safer car? No! No! No! They show absolutely no sense of reality or common sense.

Is it any wonder that recent national polls show that most people have very little respect for our goverment and the current administration.
 
#14 ·
I know nothing about diesels, and therefore nothing about Alfa's diesel or its performance potential, but I would think that, the way the costs of oil are headed, car manufacturers would do well to be ahead of the curve on technologies like biodiesel. It might just be naivete on my part, but it seems to me that a biodiesel-powered race series with Alfa factory support would do much to promote both Alfa (raising their profile in the US and giving them more of a cutting-edge and "green" image) and biodiesel.
 
#15 ·
In a short time here in the USA, the only car you will be filling with gasoline is your 1971 1750 Spider Veloce. In Europe, the only cars you see filling with gasoline are sports cars. In fact, when I was trying to return my Hertz rental car in Torino back in February, I had to visit 5 seperate gas stations before I found a station that even had any 'gasolio' (all stations were dry to the bone). My next modern car purchase will be a low sulfer diesel automobile.
 
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