lilminkey

I am renting a car in Florence next month and opted for a standard transmission .I did not ask, but I am sure many people can help. The car is an intermediate car 4 door Alfa Romeo 156. Do these cars have 3 or 4 speed transmission on the floor or steering wheel? Thanks in advance,also if you were to guess how much does gas cost, and how many miles per gallon on the average does this type of car get.

logos999

I havn't seen a 3 speed standard transmission in my life. 5 is normal. On the steering weel? Vintage cars maybe...
Why don't you just Google for it...

ira

Hi L,

Can't help with your questions, but do make sure that you know how to

put the car in reverse
open the gas cap
find the spare tire and the jack
check the oil and water

Have a great trip.

indytravel

I've never rented a car in Europe with the manual shift on the column or 4 gears.

They've all been on the floor and all been 5 speeds plus one more gear for reverse.

rkkwan

The "lean burn" 4-cylinder 2.0L has a 5-speed manual, and gets around 27MPG (8.6L per 100km/h, combined city/rural cycle).

The 2.5 V6 has a 6-speed manual, and gets around 20MPG (11.8L per 100km/h).

There may be additional engine choices in Italy where you rent your car.

No one makes 3-speed manuals anymore, and only NASCAR uses 4-speed. Most cars use 5 or 6. And for regular sedans, the stick either comes out of the floor, or the dashboard (but with the same pattern). Only delivery vans or taxis that need to sit 3 in the front will have the stick comes out from the steering column.

Don't know gas prices exactly right now, but in most of Europe, it's about 3.5 times the cost in the US.

indytravel

The last "three on the tree" (3 speed manual with gearshift on the steering column) I saw was a big Dodge van that my college dorm had. This was the early 80's.

Underhill

In addition to Ira's excellent suggestions, be sure to get someone to show you exactly how to use the security system if the car comes with one. Those can be tricky.

tomboy

Here is a link to find the price of fuel per liter:
http://www.iru.org/Services/Fuel/Welcome.E.html
Hope it's useful to you, or others.

rex

<<Don't know gas prices exactly right now, but in most of Europe, it's about 3.5 times the cost in the US.>>

This math hasn't been right since gasoline was about $1.50 in the US (admittedly not so long ago).

The site cited above by tomboy shows that the price varies from about 2.2 times current US prices to 2.7 times (doing the math in my head) - - from a bit under $5 USD per US gallon (Andorra, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland) to close to $7 (Netherlands, Belgium). Italy is about $6.

Gas mileage of 20-30 mpg would be typical for most cars in the 1.6 to 2.4 liter class; a good deal better with diesel (which is inherently cheaper); and cars of 1.2-1.5 might get well over 30 mpg (plus that big rubber band you have to wind up! wink!)

Best wishes,

Rex

Neil_Oz

lilminkey, not trying to be funny or negative here, but it sounds like it's been some time since you drove a manual (like about 40 years? - do you really want to do this?

The last time I saw a gear lever mounted on the steering column was on an auto Ford Explorer we rented in the US in '96 - I'd thought this had gone out in the '70s.

And the last time I saw a 3-speed transmission of any kind was on an auto Dodge Neon rented on the same trip - this also was a surprise and a real pain in hilly country.

lilminkey

YES, YES YES, these comments are great and it has been 40 years,I drove big moving trucks in colllege and in the war Vietnam, cars back then had three speed on steering column, I love the suggestion do you really think this is wise? I will print my iterinary to let all know where I will be in Italy .I had a great time reading these.I will rent a car this week and practice . also thanks for all the rest of the info.thanks so much.

rkkwan

lilminkey - If you really haven't driven a manual for this long, I'll tell you the main difference between modern gear boxes and the old. All gears, except reverse, have synchros, so no need to rev match and please use the clutch everytime you move the stick.

Also, most 6-speeds and many 5-speeds have a lockout mechanism for the reverse. You need to find out how to get into R. Some you pull a ring on the stick, some you push the knob down, some you pull it up. They're not all the same.

I also don't know where modern Alfa puts its reverse. Many European cars have them next to 1st in the upper left, while Japanese almost always put them next to 4th or 6th in the bottom right.

rex

<<I will rent a car this week and practice...>>

such a simple and good idea. i enciourage this all the time here. i bet you'll do great and love your alfa!

Intrepid1

Unfortunately, there is one small deatil that nobody has mentioned so better now than never:

there is every possibility that the Alfa you are expecting to get when you arrive at the rental car office will be replaced with the well-known "or similar" model.

This happens in Europe just as it happens in the US...we recently rented what we THOUGHT would be a M-Benz and ended up with an "or similar" which turned out to be a Lancia.

Please take Ira's advice above VERY seriously: all of those things you need to know before you drive off are important, especially when the instructions in the owner's manual are in a language you do not speak.

Also get the agent to go over the car and mark any damage, dents, scrapes, etc.

Believe me, once you get used to the vehicle the price of gas and also learning how to use some of those gas pumps will seem easy.

BTilke

Lilminkey, you brought back painful memories. The first car I learned to drive on was a 1963 Ford Fairlane with manual on the steering column. It was not fun...fortunately, after about a month of that I "upgraded" to a 1981 Chevy Citation with four on the floor. As clunky as that was, it was a big improvement over the Fairlane.

We've driven a 156 from time to time. Not our favorite car, but its 5 speed shifted ok (better than some cars we rented, worse than others).

Although it's all metric here, I would guess you'd get about 25-30 mpg overall. That's roughly what we get on our diesel Laguna, which is more or less in the same class.

m_kingdom2

Why's it matter how much gas costs? You haven't got much choice in how much you pay for it, so you have to buy it regardless. And ditto for miles per gallon. If you drive say 1000 miles, and you could've saved 10 miles per gallon then perhaps you'd have saved 30-50EUR, but not much more than that.

If you're stuck with that car then make the most of it!

nukesafe

Lilminkey,

I feel for you. I will be renting a manual shift in Scotland next month, and it has been YEARS since I have driven a manual with the stick on my LEFT. I recall that as being the hardest part of driving in Britain -- not the "wrong side of the road" bit -- the making my left hand do the shifting.

Oh well, this is the last time I will have to make this adjustment, as they won't rent to me after this year. They are really reluctant to rent to anyone over 75 in Britain. Problem solved; someone else will have to drive next time.

cls2paris

In April, I rented this same car in Italy. It was a five-speed on the floor. I normally drive an automatic but have driven manual transmissions on my last 3 trips to Europe (Italy and Switzerland). I agree with your idea to rent a manual transmission to practice before you go. You'll want to be sure that you practice stopping and going on a hill. Both in reverse and forward (speaking from experience!). I liked driving this car - smooth ride and took the turns nicely. We drove for 1 week in Tuscany and Umbria - day trips from a villa to various hilltowns. We used about 1-1/2 tanks of gas and it probably cost around $125. I can't remember exactly.

Other things to know before driving away from the agency -
How to turn off and on the wipers and lights and whether the car is diesel or gas. The one I had was diesel.