Alfa 147 Tuning
"Turning your 147 into a real track car."
The 147 is a great car and handles really well. Alfa Romeo certainly know a thing or two about producingĀ a sporty car.
Despite the great ride and handling in the standard car, there are still plenty of things you can do to improve this further.
They key to modding a 147 is getting the right mods, some sadly compromise this excellent car.
We would go to a maximum drop of 35mm on most models. You risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this.
Top end power should be your overall aim on the 147 with a nice fat peak torque band.
The best power gains come from larger engine sizes. The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods for small engined cars. The base engine really does make a big difference to the effectiveness of your 147 tuning modifications.
Tuning modifications.
The following mods are usually carried out by our members, decide how far you want to go before you begin.
Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your car. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.
Best mods for your 147
- Fast road Camshafts are are often the best upgrade for an engine, but ideally be installed by someone who knows what they are doing and you might struggle to find one but there is usually a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft .
- Turbo upgrades - Adding a turbocharger is the most efficient approach to increase your intakes air supply, which permits you to use more fuel and make power gains. It is one of the most costly upgrades you'll see massive gains.
- Brake Mods - Improve your 147's stopping power needs to be near the top of your Mods list.
- Engine Tunes - 147 engine tuning/remapping provides the most power for the money, replacement ECUs, and inline Tuning boxes are all alternatives.
- 147 Suspension - Replacing worn bushings and shocks radically improves your 147 handling Adjustable coilovers and better bushings are what is needed here.
- Air Induction kits and Performance Exhausts - NB: on their own these mods won't ADD POWER in most cases, but they permit you to release power after other upgrades by lessening the restriction.
- Internal engine mods - crank, pistons, conrods & compression ratio including balancing and blueprinting
- Lightened Flywheels - a reduced weight flywheel will noticably improve the engines ability to rev freely. Not a great mod for all 147 engines.
147 Tuning Stages
Typical stage 1 mods often include: Exhaust, Panel air filter, Engine Tunes/Remapping, lighter flywheel
Typical stage 2 mods often include: Fast road cam, ported and polished head, fuel injector & fuel pump upgrades,
Typical stage 3 mods: Engine balancing, forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), competition cam.
A fast road cam will be one of the best power mod you can do mechanically to your engine. You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to uprate the fuelling.
An aftermarket fuel pressure regulator will almost certainly give a snappier throttle response than the standard Alfa Romeo one! Uprating the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel but is only required if you have done extensive engine mods.
Alfa Romeo 147 Intake and Exhaust Tuning.
The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Derestricting the airflow into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a better flowing air filter. Induction kits sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and actually rob you of power. Sports exhausts balance the flow of air throughout the engine. But if your exhaust is too large, ie it is over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of the flow rate and lose power on most engines.
Head work including a polish and port and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the 147'sĀ engine. Your clutch can seriously let you down if it starts to slip and the standard Alfa clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 50%. NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications.
Despite the large cost involved, adding forced induction to a NA (naturally aspirated) engine will give large power gains. It is easier to bolt on a supercharger than it is to get a turbo working and we have seen a number of Rotrex based supercharger kits for the Alfas.
It is easier to map a supercharger because the boost is proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. Adding forced induction will usually require a lower compression ratio or water injection.
147 Handling/Suspension upgrades
Handling modifications are high on the agenda for the 147.
We suggest that you fit sports suspension and lower the car by 25 - 39 Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with uprated suspension.
Adjusting the handling is often the first step in using the 147.Adjusting the 147's handling is often the first step in modding it.
When it comes to modifying your 147, one of the most often cited objectives is to enhance its handling. However, we repeatedly encounter the same mistakes.
Adjustable Coilovers enable you to set a ride hight and this allows you to tweak your cars handling to suit your driving style.
What considerations must you make when setting up and selecting your suspension if your 147 serves as a daily car as well?
Uprated Bushes
Bushing improvements are needed so what's involved?
It is possible to connect the 147's suspension components to the chassis of the 147 using poly bushes, which are direct replacements for the rubber mounts. The rubber ones usually start to fail with time and need replacing anyway so why not upgrade.
By replacing new OEM rubber bushings, you may greatly improve your vehicle's performance.
It's probable that the ride may be a touch rougher because of the stronger polyurethane bushes but they'll last longer and maintain tighter handling.
Increased vibration and play may also lead to an increase in the decay in other suspension components.
A new set of polyeyurothane bushes might assist in reduce the excessive play associated with rubber bushes.
You may struggle to find a full set of poly bushings, but most stores have the primary mounts available. Custom polyeyurothane bushings are often made to your requirements.
A common misconception is that a non-adjustable suspension system that lowers the vehicle by50mm from a franchised component shop is the best option. But suspension design and setup is quite complex.
Vendors may assert that their 147 suspension kits are compatible with any or all of the 147 model years.
The 'one size fits all' approach is obviously a flawed assumption when it comes to adequately supporting a diverse variety of cars. Engine weights and trim levels, and even alloy rims will affect the handling and require different suspension setups.
How low should you go on the 147?
When it comes to road vehicles, the maximum suspension drop is 25 - 39 mm, but when it comes to versions that come with lowered suspension already, the maximum suspension drop is 18 mm, according to TorqueCars.
Tolerances may be greatly diminished by altering the diameter of the wheels. Lowering a vehicle, even with 17-inch wheels and stock suspension, can create several problems.
Because the 147 is lower, less air travels under it, which may aid in stability; nonetheless, the main goal should always be to enhance handling. It is critical to use the proper shocks when employing lower springs buying matched components as a kit.
Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you 147 radically enhancing your drive.
147 Brake Upgrades
Adding bigger discs and better high friction brake pads can make for sharper improved stopping. (They will brake effectively over longer periods during heavy use than stock brakes will, but grip has more of a bearing on the cars ability to stop).
As a word of warning please note that motorsport pads can be noisier and will need a lot of heat before they bite.
On a road car the brakes are only applied now and then and won't be as effective at slowing you up so specify friction pads which don't need to be really hot.
Alfa Romeo 147 Wheel modifications.
Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are usually lighter than the steel ones. The downside to large alloy wheels on your 147 is that you alter your effective final drive ratio and this will have a detrimental effect on performance. For this reason we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of 16 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.
If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our car forums where you can discuss 147 options in more detail with our 147 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Alfa Romeo tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.
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2 Responses to “147 Tuning”
This article is exactly what i have been looking for all i need is to know who i can call or who can i talk to about getting all 3 stages of modifications fitted to my car. Can you broaden my horizon to inform me where do i go and who to talk to?
Kind regards
Stephen
Goodday trust that you are well im from south africa and i love this italian car its great i just wanted 2 know if its possible 2 modify the standard cams eg a cut cam and for lowering the car here we heat the springs or cut them im not really rich and we have no parts in sa 4 ds car or after market upgrades kud u fill me in on more thanks