Selespeed(Alfa Romeo)

califano

I was wondering does or has anyone ever owned a Selespeed(Click 'Tech Details/Selespeed) and your opinions on this type of transmission whether good bad or indifferent?. Im thinking of buying a 156 2.0 TS 16V SPORT.
Also im insured to drive automatic transmission only so would selespeed be deemed automatic?.

Anan1

I'm guessing from the fact that you're insured to drive automatic only that you are not particularly passionate about cars. If i'm right, then you would probably do well to steer clear of any Alfa Romeo. I love them, but they do require a greater level of committment and mechanical empathy than most cars. If either is not forthcoming then they are not averse to throwing inconvenient and expensive sulks.

Max_Damage

Selespeed is only a clutchless sequential (sp?) manual gearbox, with no auto option included at all. Therefore it is not an auto box.

As the previous poster said, you really want to be passionate about cars to own an Alfa. While an Alfa will always be in a special place in your heart, they'll break it at the same it.

Lex Luthor

Stay away from the selespeed. They gave too much trouble to go into in one day. Plenty of the manual gear boxes out there, you would be best advised to stick to one of them. Why only insured on auto's?

califano

Thanks for the comments. If its not automatic transmission then every dealer on carzone dealer are advertising them as automatic so someone is wrong?*.
Im not sure i like the sounds of the reliability issues you intimate. I really like driving but i'd agree with you that im not passionate about cars. Bringing the car to the garage for servicing is all i know. I dont know what a "greater level of committment and mechanical empathy than most cars" involves?


*Also it says in the link "Selespeed is primarily a sporty, sequential gearbox, but its sophisticated design allows the driver to use it as an automatic, as well. In cities, in heavy traffic, in jams and in "stop-start" situations, the driver has only to select 'CITY' mode and gearchanging is then carried out automatically."


p.s Lex im only insured on automatic because i took and passed my test in an automatic. I never intended to use a manual transmission by choice.

Henry Ford III

I think you can drive them as a full automatic in "city" mode.

I've tried the selespeed system and enjoyed it. It's not perfect and gearshifts can be a bit bumpy but it worked on my test drive anyway.

Max_Damage

rounders123 wrote:

*Also it says in the link "Selespeed is primarily a sporty, sequential gearbox, but its sophisticated design allows the driver to use it as an automatic, as well. In cities, in heavy traffic, in jams and in "stop-start" situations, the driver has only to select 'CITY' mode and gearchanging is then carried out automatically."

My mistake, the only time I ever drove one I couldn't find the auto only selection on it!

TomMc

The selespeed is one of the worst gearboxes on the market. Avoid.

Any car without a foot operated clutch pedal will be fine as regards your license. Auto, tiptronic, semi-auto or DSG, as all have none and also have a fully automatic mode as well.

califano

Thanks for the opinions. They are shaping the way im thinking about it now so even more opinions welcome so i can have a greater sample size.

JHMEG

They do indeed have a fully auto option. But, they are a terrible piece of work and have earned the nickname Sellafield.

A good friend of mine has one, and despite 3 software upgrades it still gives trouble. Before the software upgrades the gearbox used shut down going around roundabouts (gbox light on dash comes on, car won't move). Now that that problem is solved 3rd gear is missing 90% of the time, and in stop-start traffic the gbox appears to overheat, and shuts down for 20 mins.

It's embarassing to be sitting on the quays in Dublin blocking rush hour traffic whilst waiting for the gearbox to come back to life.

Henry Ford III

TomMc wrote:

....Any car without a foot operated clutch pedal will be fine as regards your license. Auto, tiptronic, semi-auto or DSG, as all have none and also have a fully automatic mode as well.

You sure about that? What about clutchless manual transmissions? (Renault did one in a Clio I think).

galwaytt

stop the lights.

Unless you've owned, or driven one, then your comments are of little or no value.

I've driven, and a colleague owns one.

My own experience is that it was nice, but curious, but I couldn't fault it, as it 'did exactly what it said on the tin'. I nearly bought a new Alfa GT with it in 05, but they only do it on the petrols, which I didn't want. If I could have had it in the Diesel, it'd be in my drive now.

In the interest of science - and fair play - though, I will send an email off to the current owner of the Selespeed 156 and come back to you.

prospect

Well,

As an Alfa enthusiast, I would be wary of the selespeed box. I am a member of a large owners website and posts regarding selespeed isues are a bit too frequent.
Personally I would go for the standard manual gearbox ina 156. But as that is not an option for you, I'd go for another brand altogether, as per Anan1's post.

galwaytt

ok, hot off the presses, as it were, here's a quote........

Well I was luck with the selespeed I bought in some respects and not in others.
The Actuator on mine was fine no problems but one day a pin in
the diff broke and punched a hold in the GB casing.
(got) 2nd hand gearbox and actuator, .... Ok expensive but I got the car cheap.
So far I've changed the front left upper wishbone and the two rear droplinks.
(Irish roads perhaps).

It's a great car to drive, I switch between fully automatic mode and manual.
I switch between gearchange using steering wheel buttons and false gear
stick.
Accellerator is fly-by-wire.
EMS uses double clutching to change gears which I hope will prolong
the clutch. It also makes for smooth gearchanges.
I've gone to Matty Byrnes in Tuam for some of the tricky EMS changes,
like calibrating the gearbox. He has the electronic thingy for Alfa's.
........................
I'm not afraid to give the car plenty of welly as the GB will auto change
up if revs get too high. It auto changes down when braking.
Fully auto mode can catch you off guard if coming off a round about for
example, but you soon get to learn and adjust your style of driving.....

So, to sum up: the car needed repairs - the diff - which is common to all cars, and the option taken was to just replace the gearbox (cheaper) entirely, rather than buy a new case (which had a hole in it...). IMHO, this is a general problem, not a unique Selespeed one.

Other issues, which I'll agree there are: wishbones and bushes, and in some cars, CV joints as well.

BTW - I presume you mean you're only LICENCED to drive autos - it's not an insurance thing. Is this right? Other than that, you can a slightly older auto like a Merc for, well............down to peanuts, really

califano

galwaytt wrote:

BTW - I presume you mean you're only LICENCED to drive autos - it's not an insurance thing. Is this right?

Yeah your right i meant im only licenced to drive autos. And thanks for following up on this. Interesting stuff.
I was also told they lose their resale value hugely i wonder if this is true?. The 156 selespeed im interested is an '00 so i presume its the latest upgrades in selespeed.

Lex Luthor

if you have any doubts about the selespeed I suggest you read this thread
http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-147-156-and-159/67597-selespeed-sticking-me-in-neutral-at-roundabouts.html

also do a search on this website about selespeed and you will get loads of info

galwaytt

Lex - interesting link....it just goes to show how we are all inclined to presume the worst, and all it was was a loose/bad battery.....

Lex Luthor

galwaytt wrote:

Lex - interesting link....it just goes to show how we are all inclined to presume the worst, and all it was was a loose/bad battery.....

ya, but I would still not recommend one....they are troublesome in general and OP would be better off getting a manual if they can

galwaytt

...except he has no driving licence for a manual, so that's that out, then.

I saw a Citreon Xsara 1.9 auto for sale a while ago for Eur1700........

BTW if you go to the carzone.ie homepage, you'll see a 'browse automatics' button on the r.h.s - and after that it's sorted by brand - easy to use. There must be a fair bit of traffic looking for that on the site to warrant it, so it's obviously something more people are considering.

califano

Thanks for the views.
I selected the 'auto only' box on an advanced search on carzone so im browsing other auto types.

Lex Luthor

you cant beat the old Merc auto boxes if you're looking in that direction

galwaytt

True. And you'd be surprised at what you'd get for.........€5k??

Doc Farrell

I hear that they're quite nice actually....
Although I don't know if I'd trust one of those salespersons, they all seem like a bunch of Terry Thomas'!

...i believe its pronounced shilling actually.... (cough) :rolleyes: