The differential – that crucial bit that helps deliver power to your wheels – is one of the 147 GTA’s most notorious weak points. To say these units fail regularly would be putting it mildly. The basic issue is simple enough: the parts inside just aren’t strong enough to handle the car’s power, even when you’re being relatively gentle with the throttle. If you live somewhere hot, you’re even more likely to run into trouble.
What makes this problem particularly nasty is there’s no warning when things go wrong. One minute you’re driving along happily, the next – bang – you’re looking at an expensive repair bill. Making matters worse, Alfa Romeo’s response to these failures was less than stellar. Many owners found themselves in lengthy battles with the company just to get warranty repairs approved, even though this was clearly a design flaw.
The real kick in the teeth is that replacing the broken diff with another standard unit is just delaying the inevitable – it’ll fail again sooner or later. The smart money goes on upgrading to what’s known as a Q2 torque-biasing differential. This beefed-up unit was developed specifically to solve these problems, and it’s become the go-to solution for owners who want to actually use their cars without constantly worrying about diff failure.
For more Alfa Romeo 147 problems and facts, check out our buyer’s guide here.