When driving the bmw you were looking for nice things to say without any enthusiasm, When driving the GTA, the look on your face alone tells us how much fun your having

I remember when both these cars came out and most reviews favoured the bmw years later people are appreciating the real value of the Alfa

Busso is awesome, love the GTA! like I've said in previous comments I'm not a BMW fan. Good to see you and Jay teaming up again 👍 merry Christmas everyone 🎅🧑‍🎄

Alfa, Alfa, Alfa. A very good car, even if a fwd. Its design is perfectly balanced, the mechanic is strong and it will have future between collectors, like any Alfa compared to a bmw. It is incredible how many Alfanatics there are, how many classic Alfa enthusiasts there are and how few new cars Alfa sells. Something wrong with FCA?

Alfa just for the soundtrack ❤️. Thanks for the great videos Jack and hope you have Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2021

I’d take the Alfa just for the gorgeous sound and look

I absolutely hated the 1 series when it first came out with its odd profile, but now looking at the 3 door version, it’s certainly aged quite well and I’m quite liking it. Very impressed with the interior of bmw, far superior to the GTA. The straight 6 seems silky smooth but has less character than the busso. And that’s where the BMW falls short for me.

Busso is all you had to say. It's like a diamond that is surrounded by copper.

Excellent video Jack/Jayemm. Very interested in your comparisons. 147/156 GTA are two of the cars on my maybe to buy list for a weekend toy in the new year. Happy Christmas...

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Another fun ride. Always the search for the perfect car.

Happy Xmas Jack & James Thanks for the great videos all this year

Great video, and a great team-up with J.

The comparison underlines you made the right choice with Fredo. The Alfa involves you with everything, the whole ownership experience. The good and the bad. Real personality. It's a true petrol head car, despite being flawed. The BMW doesn't give you that experience. It's just a good car. The first half of the review, I just sat there smiling at the sound of the busso. The 2nd half of the video, reviewing the BMW, I was just bored by it.

Great content Jack, I follow you both and recognised the 130i immediately (having not read the title fully...). I look forward to more collaboration in future videos. All the best for the New Year and beyond to you and the subscribers.

Should compare the alfa with a Clio v6. I have one you could film!

Fabulous entertainment... at half five Xmas morning as I wait for the kids to wake up, so I can start opening my presents 😁

So true, James is an "encyclopedia" of cars! 😁

I used to own an N52B25A engine in e90 as my daily for 4 years, now I have Busso as a weekend car. Comparing those 2 for me personally is a heavy task. both engines are marvels. Beemer was a revving monster but Busso just sounds like nothing else...

Thanks a lot. I love the content where you feature Alfas. I grew up with two 33s and my first car was a 1.6 TS 145. :-)

great video!! love both cars,but for me it will always be a rwd car...balance,handling,grip etc! i own a 130i e81 and have dragged it against a couple of 147 gta a few times... they are evenly fast i can tell you! it depends a lot what gear you are in though,the n52 with its vanos system only really comes alive above 4200rpm when it kicks in!! also,with a resonator/mid silencer delete on the 130i and a performance air intake the n52 will almost sound like the old e46 m3 !! anyway,comes down to personal opinion i guess...i would always go for the 130i , but i will always smile at any 147 gta i see on the road!! :-)

You will have more friends in a Alfa 147GTA , enjoy people being courteous to you when pulling out of junctions and getting a smile and wave of acknowledgment when out on the Sunday morning drive. BMW's get what they deserve..... Nothing 👍😁

Wish we got the Alfa in the US! Happy Christmas and thanks for some great videos this year. Look forward to the next.

Nice one Jack.. Maybe time to think about those coilovers?

I think it would be possible to retrofit the hydraulic power steering into the facelift 130i. The parts catalogue lists the parts for it and specifies that they are used only when the "CO2 package" is not selected. I seem to remember having read someplace that only the American 135i gets HPS. If someone knows, please leave a reply here about it.

I think many many people are misunderstanding Alfas chassis, thay dont know the rear wheels have passive steering and this makes people belive the rear wheel is unstable and not so able, but if you train yourself to get into that limit zone comfortably and controlable you get alot in return

Left tavarish and gang on cartrek to watch. Love your videos

I owned a 130i for several years, yet I tend to agree with you regarding extra-joy provided by the Alfa (although I never had the chance to drive one)

Hi Jack & Happy Christmas to you & your clan. Really enjoying your channel... been getting better & better :-). Your 147 GTA is a great addition & suits you 100%, but you keep mentioning the suspension / ride really lets it down. My guess is its the coil over units fitted. I come from the Lotus side of things, where the rolling chassis is the core, I've owned various Exiges over the years, but if they are fitted with the optional Ohlins 2 way coil overs they are like a different car.... it just flows over the road with total control and not crashy at all. By contrast, Exiges come standard with Bilstein fixed units and the car feels as if it has hardly any suspension! Of course high-end suspension units cost $$$, but I'm sure if you look into it you'll find a better solution & maybe the supplier would help you with the cost.... as it would be an interesting video series all on its own. All the best for 2021 chap, I'll be tuned-in :-)

What a collaboration!!!

JayEmm Santa says get rid of those side M badges and wheels back to silver ho ho ho

Merry Christmas Jack, I don't know about the cars today on the video, but my wife is wanting another dog especially after seeing Rocco! The video today was very good, I guess the 130i is one of the really the last BMWs to have links to the original yuppee cars, of the 80s so has alot to live up to, that said after 20years of professional pcv driving itll be rubbish in the snow as are indeed all rwd german cars of that era! I remember a relative with a then new C reg 318i, having a bag of cement in his boot to aid traction!!!! It's such a shame that whilst fabulous to look at the Alfas dont deliver on reliability, build quality nor robustness which if they did BMW s would be worried! Its such a missed opportunity by Alfa its sad. It reminds me of tests of my beloved but furloughed Mk 1 Focus (ak a Freddie), the magazines thought it was brilliant bar the engines, so an ideal hybrid car (of mine) woukd be an St170 with Honda vtec engine to create a mega car. I wonder how the BMW would run with an alfa engine? All the best. Ben 🚍🚌😷🦌🦌☃️🎅

The car you’re looking for, which has quality build, accessible performance and an epic soundtrack, is the Mk5 Golf R32. If you haven’t driven one, give them a go. Highly recommended!

Hope my last comment inspired this video - Great to see a fair comparison - GTA will always be special even with it flaws :D

Great stuff. For me it'd be the Alfa. The suspension can be remedied. It's set up more for cup racing on a nice smooth track surface. On the road you want that mechanical feel of grip. Made that mistake once on a VW Lupo (even having a herniated disc in my lower back), swapped the suspension back to slightly stiffer than stock springs and compliant shocks. It made the under sprung and over dampened feel of a lot of VAG products disappear and better to drive on normal roads and the daily commute.

Alfas are for Alfa people. You could try and explain but it's something you either get or you don't.

I am lucky my older 2006 E90 330i has the hydraulic steering, along with the rest of the analogue controls. It seems that that is the only gripe you have with the 130i with similar characteristics as mine.

Even your coat matches the interior!

Just want to mention something regarding the roll/harshness/grip on the alfa: A strut brace on the front (and back if you are willing to sacrifice practicality) will do wonders for the stiffness of the chassis and will allow you to run softer damping and less preload, while retaining roll resistance. Generally chassis stiffening allows the suspension to do its job better. Also for grip, feeling and adjustability you need to play with the ARB front/rear, maybe releasing the front a bit and stiffening the back in order to shift the balance and make the rear a bit looser. Remember more roll--> less weight transfer and therefore more grip ! Vice versa- less roll will result in less ultimate grip. Love the channel, keep it up

Happy Christmas No. 27!!

The Busso rules

Wow, both a great hatch back! With pro and cons, but car that we could not see anymore.. Bmw definitely kills the 1 series after the release of F40 model. No other words about it. Man, the Busso voice is unique, the bmw straight 6 is balanced perfectly.. I can't decide which one is better

Great video, great and honest review. As alfaholics, we're sometimes blinkered by our obsession, to other very nice and very competent options. I believe the 156 platform is better and as such, is probably the better, if not as much "toddler with a rattle😊" GTA.

Did any one count the number of times the word flawed was referenced? I'm still not sure why its so flawed and why its being compared to BWM's developed long after the 147 was. The 3 door 130 wasn't released till 2007 nearly at the end of the 147s production so its no wonder the interior is newer. Maybe try a series 1 Ford Focus or Mk4 Golf and see how it compares?

Merry Christmas Jack! Thank you for again making me sad that I live in the US where old Alfas are simply not an option. Woe is me. ;-)

Merry Christmas

BMW 130i ftw!💪All that thing needs is a more brutal sounding exhaust. The engine is as good as 3L inline 6 gets, and the backwheel drive alone makes it one of a kind among hatchbacks. Looks awesome too. Great comparism Jack!

A strut brace was a game changer to the handling on my 156. If you still have it, I'd pop one on and take it out for a blast.

Jack it sounds v much to me like you need to get rid of the Alfa's coilovers to improve the ride. I like coilovers, but if the ride is really being spoilt, then sounds like that's what u should do. Happy Xmas! Love your videos.

I owned a 147gta for 4 years from 2005 and then a 130 E81 for four years from 2009. Both great for different reasons. The GTA had the gearbox replaced 3 times under warranty from new, the 130 never missed a beat. Super low numbers of both of these on the road.

that Alfa sounds so good, i would hazard a guess that some of its faults can be overlooked because its got to be considered to be a modern classic soon and valued as such.

id love some advice from an alfa 147gta owner please. is one for 3500£ worth the risk its LHD and has 90000km no idea on history. underneath rust free. big brakes.

Alfa feels noticeably quicker!? It’s slower? I’ve driven both. Just different feels / hence it feels so. Great video non the less. Love the bmw personally … will be collectables in the future

I think the 130i has the N53 engine? Subtle but important difference. I had an N52 and loved it though.

My head - for reliability- shouts BMW.....but I would say that hot hatch.... not really. Had enough fun in a 1991 saloon *520i* and got arrested .... moving on.... My petrol head heart says Alfa. My wallet and Driving Licence dictate..... stick to the old classic (late 50's design) which can give more fun at 50mph than almost any modern car at 90+ 😊. The "zero" road tax and low mileage per annum are a factor lol. Great review guys. Merry Christmas; despite year 20 ending in TIERS 😿... smiles for the upload. Thanks 👍

Love the GTA - Had a 3.2 GT and an alfetta GTV6, and now a 4c amongst other Alfa’s. But.......You seriously need the Wizard back box on the GTA - it is sublime. Honestly, I would never criticise anybody’s car as it’s such a personal choice, but you are really missing a trick on the sound - not keen on the sound of this quad pipe here at all - it just sounds like it’s had the silencers sawn off. I made a similar error on my GT and I never liked it, Other than that, love the channel, really great stuff and your joyous enthusiasm is infectious...

Great comparison! Shame about the black wheels, but I love the Bmw e87/81 1series, especially the M-pack. But I’ve had lots of italian cars and every one of them has been more fun than my e87. Shame, but great comfort & quality feel. Compared to the later 1-series tho, I’d take the e87/81 any day!! (For me what destroys that one the most is the styling, which was mostly compromised by the new pedestrian crash regulations and that 100mm (or so) higher bonnet.. )

Jack i think i hâte you. I was bashing my former 130i, but seeing that and earing the n52 again... God i miss it

The alfa for me, but that bmw is much better looking and sounding than the more modern cars, and that's what helps it age well. The other Thing to remember is that BMW(late 2004) is nearly a generation in car terms newer than the alfa (early 2002). I've never rated the BMW interiors on modern cars, but agree the alfa could be better.

Way closer but for the passion of driving the Alfa has few piers.

Hi Jack. Merry Christmas. I noticed that your driver seat is still waggelling. I think that’s the problem why you think the car is behaving so strange. it’s been mentioned to you earlier by other followers. I commented on it Twice but I guess you didn’t read it. It’s a well-known GTA problem. Once you tighten the seat it you’ll notice a huge difference. The rail on my driver seat was completely worn out. Ps: I really enjoy watching your videos, always something new to learn. Thx

So do you no longer have the Alfa and replaced it with the Lotus? Where is Alfredo?

Jack, it is confusing - I've had an Alfa then got a 1 series then an e46 M3 and ended up returning to an Alfa again. The Alfa is slightly unruly, definitely less grown up but it puts a smile on my face driving it, more than the series did, though the niggles with the maintenance of what is an older Italian car certainly keep you busy. Might be time for something different soon but I really don't know what.

I also thought the 1 series was an ugly car but my views have softened, maybe it’s BMWs latest efforts that make this look much better, or dare i say it in 10 years i might look back at the current grill and think actually it wasn’t that bad 😬. The N52 engine is rather nice (i think it is still the lightest production straight 6 - said through adenoids), i have the same in a Z4 and from 5k it sings; BMW did make them very quiet though and a back box mod helps bring it to life. The BMW will most likely be easier to live with and easier on the wallet, the Alfa is much nicer to look at.. but just shut your eyes and listen to that V6 🥰.

I think your 147 has Eibach anti roll bars, they are a big part of the car being so flat on the road. They are 3 mm thicker than the original GTa ones and way stiffer what makes the car loose that progressive suspension. You can try is to disconect the fron one and do a test drive, not fast of couse has the car will be loose in a fast corner but just to see if the suspension as more movement. I had them in mine and i i took them out. Was so stiff to the point that if you put one of the front wheels in a curb the rear one will be out of the ground.

Hello again....you need to sort the suspension on the Alfa. Get rid of the coilovers. Stiffer springs on coilovers. Get some Bilstein adjustables or Koni adjustables. As i said i had Konis and it was a massive improvement. No skipping on the rear. I bet your suspension has Eibach rollbars or powerflex bushes on the rollbars. Makes everything to stiff. I had 3 Alfas and i never had any issues with build quality....trim, reliability etc. Sort the ride and it will be a different beast...thanks.

in fact 130i weighs about 1350 kg - bmw gives curb weight including 75 kg of driver and luggage

Alfa should have made a facelift GTA because the facelift 147 rides a lot better over bumps especially the Sport from 2007 I had one and it handled like it was on rails.

I’m a big fan of the 130i and am on the look out for one but they’re like rocking horse poo and prices are all over the shop so may end up settling for a 125i which will get a remap. I’m ideally after a pre-LCI for the hydraulic steering. I’m a big fan of the N52 having had it in an old 330 a d I’m hoping that a manual will suit it better then the old ZF6 I had. I think it makes a good noise (the carbon air intake especially adds something). The 1 series only ever got 261 max; the N53 got to 270 odd.

So the BMW is the better car, but the Alfa is more special? Not exactly a surprise. :)

Both those cars DESPERATELY need a good wash!

I feel like it depends on whether you need it to be dependable. 😬

Alfa is the best!!!

BMW engine is outclassed :)

Would you cross the road to drool over the 130i ? The gta is allmost as horny (appearance wise) as a 16v integrale

The 130i was at its best in the initial 2006 year with its hydraulic assist steering (oh Jay said it already!). The electro power steering sucked so much that on the e60 5 series they didnt let it go anywhere near the M5 version. If you want an M130i make getting the initial 1st year run model a PRIORITY! A few choice suspension/diff tweaks and its incredible. The Alfa? Looks so much better, has more character and is alot more tweakable from stock IE when you upgrade it the upgrade goes alot further than you expect because the stock diff and suspension are so embarrassingly bad. Not many cars are so bad that you lower and stiffen it and it ends up with massively better secondary ride quality at the same time lol. However secondary ride quality is as much about weight positioning and the Busso, magnificent as it is weighs alot but more than that weighs too much in front of the front axle at a high height.... you simply cannot ever make that config work well for great handling and ride at the same time. Does it matter though? Nahhh the character, looks, sound, drivetrain are as good as it ever got hatchback wise... it FEELs special, it stirs the soul... the BMW is ruthlessly efficient and great but just wont seduce in the same way. And that 1.7 turns lock to lock just feels so exciting until the 3 point turns in a tight spot comes along! A very exclusive modern classic for sure 🥰

@Number 27 do you have the opportunity to try any smaller (lighter) wheel and tire combo? Look at Jayemm Lancia Delta review, look at Engineering Explained changing wheels and tires on his Tesla. Why I talk about this, look at my profile avatar! I have the same issue, went from 13" wheel to 15" and the handling was completely off and forget comfort. Went with koni dampers to try and control the hole thing, made it even worse. Going back to 13" restores handling, restores steering feel, restores comfort... Just worse on grip due to lack of tire choice on 13" nowadays.... Smaller and lighter wheels and some tire sidewall, would be my first changes on the Alfa. But I bet you already had those suggested to you, but changing the OE looks may prove challenging..

Alfa Romeo 147 💖🇮🇹💖 🥰😍🤩

If you come to France, please come to my place and try my 147 gtam (clubsport tuning), you will love it even more

I drove both cars. BMW 130i is dull and interior quality lower than my ex e46. Finally I bought Alfa 147 GTA. Such an amazing car! Great feeling, superb engine with excellent sound and torque from the bottom. Really special car:)

Why black alloys? Why do people do that?

Jack, you said you think all modern BMWs are boring to drive. Out of interest, have you tried an M2 and if so, you still thought it wasn't exciting?

They look like Corrado side on.

Hi, new subscriber her, can you please do a video on Porsche’s synthetic fuel that could save drivers cars.

Alfa is like a good italian red wine, oldest is better is. BMW is like German beer, never ages well

I had the 130i Limited Edition model, miss it! Great engine, infact one of the best BMW 6 cylinders! Added some mods... www.babybmw.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=63860

Really sounds like you hate your suspension setup on your GTA. Nexxt video definitely needs to be your car Vs stock GTA

❤️🇮🇹

whats wrong with the sound? Also I would take 130i any day, cause RWD. :D

alfa is always more raw than a bmw

It was obvious that you would prefer the Alfa. Where are you going to use the 250+ HP anyway? A bit of a pointless comparison from the start. Either way the amount of power is pointless for the roads we have in the uk. I have had Porsche and Lotus cars and now I realise that it was nice at the time and realise it was all a bit fast car man syndrome.

Having a three door car as a runabout would do my head in. No, I don't have kids but I have friends and family.

The Alfa has a very charismatic engine, but other than that and after having driven both the m140i and 147GTA I would take the BMW. It is faster, handles better doesn't have a wobbly chassis or torque steer and is cheaper to keep and run. For a more modern car the BMW still has something special, rear drive, 6 cylinders and it isn't an SUV...

The GTA was never fitted with anything from factory other than an open diff. Q2 diffs were fitted to the diesels but not the GTA.

You have to try a Honda civic type r and rev it up to 9000 rpm.

The BMW is still ugly. The engine was great, had a 330 around the same time and loved it. The sound of the Alfa is just superb! Could listen to it all day😎

If Alfa vere a little more focused on build quality and safety they would have sold more cars than the Germans.

Alfa all the way every time. BMWs just don’t excite me at all. Regardless of performance the styling of them, inside and out, doesn’t interest.

The 3.0 six in the bmw is a great engine, I had an e46 330i se and that car flew so with an extra 34 bhp and in a smaller lighter car like the one series... the Alfa u buy for the engine the rest of the car is flawed. If your looking for a sporty hatchback with a six cylinder engine buy a golf r32.

"Nice Looking"....get to the opticians pal

0:28 "for me personally the alfa definitely won out. it wasn't the better car". k thx bye.