Alfa Romeo 159 Tuning

"159 - a real drivers car."

The headlights and front design of this car make it look mean and moody. The 3.2 JTS V6 engine lives up the menacing look and is the tuners choice of engine. Handling modifications are usually your first port of call for the 159. Drop the car by as much as 35mm and fit stiffer dampers, lower drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Our aim in 159 engine tuning should be to increase peak power and Torque at the top end.

Sadly with smaller engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap to the 2.2 or preferably the 3.2 then apply the following mods.

Alfa Romeo 159 Tuning modifications.

One of the best mechanical mods you can do is to fit a fast road cam. Don't forget to uprate the fuelling when you are increasing the power - it makes the car more thirsty. A fuel pressure boost valve will make the car more responsive and respond better.

To get sufficient fuel you may need to uprate the injectors on your engine. Uprate the fuel pump to cope with the extra fuel requirements of your tuned 159.

Alfa Romeo 159 Intake and Exhaust.

Now we move on to the intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit. On small engines you will actually lose low down power so we suggest you use a panel air filter instead. Do not go with the biggest exhaust you can find - the best for power gains are usually between 2 to 3 inches.

When you start tuning your 159 you will find that the standard clutch starts to complain so get an uprated clutch. NASP engines with the exeption of the 3.2v6 do not achieve big power gains if you remap them but with turbo engines this is another story. Adding forced induction will see big power gains but this is usually too expensive to be cost effective.

We have seen some of our 159 owners sucessfully bolt on a supercharger (at low boost) and this would certainly be easier than adding a turbo. It is harder to map a turbo as the boost comes on exponentially with engine speed. The nice steady boost to rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the compression ratio of the engine.

Alfa Romeo 159 Wheel modifications.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. Large 159 alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio. Although some people have gone larger we would stick to a 18 inch rim size as the maximum.

Please join us in our forum to discuss the 159 options in more detail with our 159 owners. It would also be worth reading our power tuning articles to get a full grasp of the pros and cons of each type of modification.