Alfa Romeo Brera

Style Italdesign Alfa Romeo Brera Coupe concept has been demonstrated that, in Geneva in 2002 was a success, it is this new 2 +2 coupe - the successor to the Alfa Romeo GTV - and the new design of 159 monkeys. (Even if the credit for the Alfa Romeo Brera in Italy, automotive, design Magazine Editor Robert Cumberford, he says, ahem, the hacking of a previous study Zagato). The cut breathtaking Alfa Romeo builds on the new Premium platform, which are initially in cooperation with Saab, the Swedish motor vehicle by the joint venture. The 173.8 cm in length, is due to a car rear Multi-Link and control before the suspension, and the three units in common by Fiat and GM: a 2.2-liter four in line, direct injection, 185 c. 200-PS, 2.4-liter turbo direct injection diesel and a 3.2-liter V-6 produces 260 horses. The four-wheel drive is available as a six-speed automatic and manual transfer. The design, the large glass roof panel is said to promote air. The Alfa Romeo Brera is on sale in November and will be followed by a spider in the spring of 2006. Alfa Romeo says that, finally serious about returning to the U.S. market, where appropriate, at the earliest in 2007. Alfa Romeo during this almost every year since the United States market that, our sources indicate that mean that companies at the moment. If the Alfa Romeo Brera in the U.S., we are first in line to try this wonderful cups.

Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV

In the latter half of 1960s, Alfa Romeo had another formidable coupe to succeed Giulietta Sprint. This was Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV. In racing form Alfa Romeo GTA, it won four European Touring Car Championship in 1966, 67, 68 and 70. The road car was also highly praised for strong performance, good handling and everyday practicality. From 1963 to 1976, as much as 223,000 cars of various versions were sold.In 1963, Bertone's young designer Giorgetto Giugiaro designed the Giulia Sprint GT coupe from a shortened chassis of Giulia sedan. The car ran a 1570 cc twin-cam engine good for 106 horsepower and 112 mph. A couple of years later, the engine was tuned to 109 hp and the car was called Sprint GT Veloce (means "fast"), or simply Sprint GTV. This started the famous label GTV which is still being used today.

The Alfa Romeo GTV employed independent front suspensions with lower wishbones and a live axle rear suspensions like many contemporary coupes. Nevertheless, the front suspension mountings were easily adjustable while the live axle was made pretty light. Disc brakes were employed in all wheels to provide excellent stopping power. That was a very high-spec equipment by contemporary standard, just like today's ceramic brakes. Moreover, Alfa's lightweight all-alloy engine was always a benefit to chassis balance, no wonder the Alfa Romeo Giulia GTV handled brilliantly on the road as well as in racing circuits.Highlight of the Alfa Romeo GTV was the sweet revving twin-cam engine and the quick shifting 5-speed synchromesh gearbox. Their quality was yet to be matched by contemporary British sports cars as well as BMW 1600ti. However, the competitors were developing larger and more powerful engines, therefore in 1967 Alfa Romeo upgraded the 1.6 engine to 1779 cc and 118 hp. The car became Giulia 1750 GTV. It can be distinguished from earlier GTV by the 4 circular headlights (in contrast to two) and a 30 mm longer wheelbase to boost interior space. By 1970, an even faster model joined the range - 2000 GTV. It was powered by a 2-litre 132 hp version of the twin-cam engine. These two cars had really strong performance thus were the favourite among the Giulia GTV family.Also worth noting is that due to tax reasons, the majority of the fast Giulia sold in Europe was the GT 1300 Junior. It used a 1290 cc 89 hp engine. The original short-wheelbase bodyshell, twin headlights and the smaller engine meant it weighed only 930 kg, about 110 kg below a 1750 GTV, so it still had enough performance to please their drivers. Although it was never called a GTV, we still regard them as a member of the Giulia GTV family.The GTV's success can be indicated by its high price - the 1750 GTV was sold in UK for £2248 in 1968. That was much dearer than the contemporary Lotus Cortina (£1162), Fiat 124 Coupe (£1438), BMW 2002 (£1597) and even Lotus Elan +2 (£2119). It simply matched a Jaguar E-Type (£2300) !! Despite that, Alfa Romeo still sold 44,000 units of 1750 GTV and then 37,000 units of 2000 GTV. If it were not so exciting to drive, how could it have achieved that?

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Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV

The original prototype and forebear of the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV was unveiled at the companies new factory in Arese in 1963, and following a subsequent appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the car was put into production, then as the Giulia Sprint GT (or Bertone Coupe).This original iteration came with a 1600cc engine borrowed from the sedan, however twin carbs were used to provide the necessary increase in power to make the car more sporting.Mechanically the Giulia Sprint GT was a little underpowered, however it made up for the perceived shortcomings by providing ample standard kit, such as a 5 speed gearbox renowned for its beautifully slick operation, disc brakes to all four wheels and suspension revisions (such as mounting the shock-absorbers upside down) to ensure a sporting drive.It is testament to the technical innovation incorporated into the car that it was able to give the best of the Italian super-cars a run for their money on roads where suspension, and not straight line speed, were the measure of a great car.In 1965 the Giulia GTC, GTA and GTV were released. It was the Alfa Romeo GTV that, at face value, seemed to have only a few minor changes, but if you looked a little deeper you would see how significant these actually were. For instance, the inlet valve size was increased by 2mm, which improved power and now increased the maximum speed to a whopping 185 km/h.Then in 1967 the ultimate was released, the Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV. Changes to the beautiful Bertone design included smoothing out the step front and moving the indicators down to below the headlamps. The interior was sensational, with hooded central rev counter and Speedo, while the auxiliary gauges were put into the top of the centre console. The seats too came in for revision, now featuring cut outs between the centre of the seat and the side supports.

Characteristics of Alfa Romeo

The Alfa Romeo Spider and Alfa Romeo GTV were based on the then-current Fiat Group platform, called Tipo (Italian for 'type') 2,in this case a heavily modified version with an all new multilink rear suspension which allowed passive rear steering to help reduce understeer. The front suspension, engine, gearbox and drive was based on the 1992 - launched 155 saloon. For engines, the 1.8 16V (144 PS (142 hp/105.9 kW)) and 2.0 16v Twin Spark (150 PS (147.9 hp/110.3 kW)) were available along with a turbocharged 2.0 V6 that produced 202 PS (199.2 hp/148.6 kW) or a 3.0 V6 in either 12 (192 PS (189.4 hp/141.2 kW)) or 24 valves (220 PS (217 hp/161.8 kW)) and finally a 3.2 V6 24 valve.
The 2.0 V6, called V6 TB, was developed because of an Italian law that put an extra sales tax on cars with engines larger than two litres. It is basically a sleeved-down version of the three litre V6. The turbo was added for extra power while avoiding the tax.
When new the 3.0 V6 24V was the fastest production Alfa Romeo with a top speed of 149 mph (240 km/h). The 3.2 V6 24V GTV 240 PS (236.7 hp/176.5 kW) is currently fastest Stradale Alfa Romeo (introduced on the 2003 Alfa Romeo GTVs), capable of 0-60 mph in just over six seconds and a top speed of 158 mph (254 km/h).

The 2.0 16v Twin Spark engine gives up to 35 mpg-imp (8.1 L/100 km; 29 mpg-US).It has variable inlet cam timing, giving 25 degrees of variation to improve torque and give a more linear power delivery. The TS engine has a belt driven balance shaft to improve the smoothness of the engine. The TS was the best-selling version of the Alfa Romeo GTV in the UK.
The last restyle of the Alfa Romeo GTV in 2003 also introduced the 2.0 JTS (165 PS (162.7 hp/121.4 kW)) engine, which uses direct injection, in a similar way to a diesel engine. This engine uses only one spark plug per cylinder and has a variable-length inlet manifold to improve torque at low revs.
To save weight the bonnet, inner and outer front wings and bumpers were made from a composite material called KMC.At the time, the bonnet was the largest single composite moulding on a production car. When the bonnet is opened, two rectangular Hella headlamps are revealed with separate bulbs for dip and main beam, behind the four round holes in the bonnet.
The 916 was equipped as standard with power steering, twin airbags, seatbelt pretensioners, Bosch ABS, electric heated door mirrors, electric frameless windows with one-touch operation for the driver's side, height adjustable headlamps, front foglamps, reach and rake adjustable leather clad steering wheel, stitched leather gear knob, an automatic electric aerial,a Clarion face-off stereo with six speakers and central locking.
An alarm system and immobiliser was fitted with remote locking/unlocking. The bodyshell was galvanised with full plastic wheelarch liners and is therefore rustproof.
The only additional options were the Lusso pack, metallic paint and electric sunroof.
Details included a one-piece rear lamp/foglamp/indicator strip across the rear of the body, internal electric release for the bootlid and filler flap, the minor instruments in the centre console angled towards the driver. At its launch, many journalists commented that Alfa had improved overall build quality considerably and that it came very close to equalling its German rivals. The fuel tank has a capacity of 70 litres (18 US gal; 15 imp gal). The battery, CD autochanger and fuel tank are located in the boot, and the tank is ahead of the rear axle line, behind the rear seats for increased safety. The power assisted steering has a very high ratio, giving 2.2 turns lock-to-lock. The bonnet and bootlid are supported on nitrogen filled struts.
Criticisms of the model have been that it is hard to park due to its large turning circle and low seating position, which mean that the end of the bonnet and corners are outside the driver's line of sight. The doors are very long and need plenty of space in a car park, and the boot is very small at only 3.8 cubic feet (0.11 m3), made worse if the spacesaver wheel is included. There are also commonly electrical problems.Contrary to rumors in well maintained cars there are relatively few mechanical problems.
The top of the range (3.0 and 3.2 litre) versions have three mufflers and four catalytic converters installed at the factory on the CF3 engine and onwards (2001-), which result in a somewhat muted sound. Common aftermarket alterations to the exhaust system are straight pipe replacements for some of the mufflers (usually leaving only a single or double muffler), twin tailpipes (which require modifications to the rear bumper), stainless steel systems and replacing the standard cats with race cats or even cat replacement pipes (on the CF3 these replacement pipes do not give lambda engine light warnings). Additional modifications include the popular air filter replacement by BMC CDA, fitting Alfa Romeo GTA cams, etc. Modifications such as these completely change the sound produced by the Arese V6 and are said by some to rival the engine note of Italian V8 engines.

Design of Alfa Romeo GTV

Both cars were designed by Pininfarina. and the phase 3 Spiders were assembled by Pininfarina.
The car was produced in three distinct phases. It is a typical Italian design, with the Alfa Romeo grille with dual round headlights recalling the 1750 GTV of the late 1960s and 1970s. It has a wedge shape with a low nose and high kicked up tail. The back of the car is "cut-off" with a "Kamm tail" giving improved aerodynamics. The car is very low slung and entry and exit is quite difficult. The Alfa Romeo Spider shares these traits with the Alfa Romeo GTV except that the rear is rounded. The Alfa Romeo Spider featured a folding soft-top with five hoop frame, which completely disappears from sight under a flush fitting cover. An electric hood folding mechanism is fitted on later versions. As would be expected, the Alfa Romeo GTV has a much more rigid chassis, although considerable work was done to ensure that the Alfa Romeo Spider does not suffer from the traditional convertible problem of scuttle shake.
Wheels are 15 inch perforated light alloy as standard, 16 inch teardrop wheels with 205/50 tyres are part of the Lusso option package, along with Momo leather seats and air conditioning. A factory option of 17 inch teledial wheels with 225/45 tyres was popular, as are aftermarket 18 inch wheels with even wider 235/35 or 235/40 tyres. Another popular modification are lowered and uprated road springs to reduce body roll when cornering, making the TS cars corner very flatly, even at higher speeds. The phase 1 cars had a black plastic grille in the nose of the bonnet, without the normal chrome edging. A popular modification is to fit a phase 2 grille which has a chrome border and wire mesh centre.
The Lusso has become a separate model rather than an option pack on the phase 2 cars and the standard car was renamed the "Turismo". All V6 cars were of Lusso specification. Very few Turismos were sold in the UK.
A spacesaver spare wheel was supplied, and there was a no-cost option of an aerosol can of tyre repair sealant. This was a popular option as it increased the usable size of the very small boot.

Alfa Romeo Spider & GTV

The Alfa Romeo GTV (Gran Turismo Veloce) (English: Fast Grand Tourer) and Alfa Romeo Spider were two sports cars produced by the Italian manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1995 to 2006. The Alfa Romeo GTV is a 2+2 coupé, and the Spider is a two-seater cabriolet version of the GTV. The rear seats on the GTV can be optionally deleted to increase the small boot space. The Spider has no rear seats, only a small boot for storage.
Known by the internal Alfa Romeo designation 916, the Alfa Romeo GTV and Alfa Romeo Spider were launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995. The GTV's name placed it as the successor to the long-discontinued Alfetta GTV coupe, whereas the Spider was effectively the replacement for the then 30 year-old Giulia Spider.