Alfa Romeo Spider Tuning

"Tuning guide to the greatest Alfa Romeo Spider modifications."

The Spider is a good car modification project to do. We see car owners wasting money on their Spider doing the wrong mods and then having to start over. Follow our guides to avoid wasting your money

We shall look into Spider tuning and outline the best upgrades. Alfa Romeo Spider are popular cars and with the ultimate performance tuning mods like remaps, turbo kits and camshafts you will noticeably enhance your driving opportunities.

A facelift in 2003 offered a new exterior design, with the new Alfa 147 style grille, and the 163hp JTS and 247hp V6 were offered.

Handling/Suspension upgrades

Handling modifications are top of many to do lists for the Spider.

Fully adjustable suspension allows you to fine tune the handling of you Spider often improving your drive.

We suggest that you fit motorsport suspension and lower the car by 23mm - 42 mm. Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with performance suspension.

Fitting better brake discs and better quality pads will make for radically 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).

We should point out that some performance friction pads can be noisier and will need a lot of heat before they are effective.

In every day driving the brakes are only applied now and then, therefore won't be all that effective so select pads which work well in daily use.

Top end power should be your overall aim on the Spider with a nice fat peak torque band.

To be completely frank and honest, on the more modest engine sizes you are wasting your time spending money on modifications, so if this applies to you get yourself an engine swap then apply the following mods.

Power mods.

The following parts are usually fitted by our members, decide how far you want to push your car before you begin.

• 1.8 L Twin Spark 16V I4
• 2.0 L Twin Spark 16V I4
• 2.0 L JTS 16V I4
• 2.0 L Alfa Romeo 12V turbo V6
• 3.0 L Alfa Romeo 12V V6
• 3.0 L Alfa Romeo 24V V6
• 3.2 L Alfa Romeo 24V V6

Getting the correct grade of tuning modifications for your planned usage of the car is a time and money saver. Stage 3 competition upgrades just won't work well on the road and will make the car undrivable.

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 Spider

1. Lightened Flywheels - a lower weight flywheel will significantly improve the engines ability to rev freely. Not recommended for all Spider engines.
2. Brake Upgrades - Improve your ability to stop ought to be somewhere in your mods list.
3. Tunes - A tune/remap offers the most advantage for the money, replacement ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
4. Fast road Camshafts are significant power adders, but they must be fitted by someone familiar with setting them up on your car and some cams are hard to find but you might find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft for you.
5. Spider Handling Mods (Suspension) - Upgrading your suspension greatly enhances your Spider road holding and cornering. Coilovers and Bushings are the usual go to mods
6. Intake Upgrades and Performance Exhausts - Be aware on their own these mods won't ADD PERFORMANCE in most applications, but they can help release power after other modifications by freeing up a restriction.
7. Flowing and porting the Head - Head work will get air flowing into the engine while removing turbulence or restrictions.
8. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - Adding a turbocharger is the most efficient approach to raise the intake air supply, this means you are able to burn more fuel and make higher power. Although one of the most costly mods you'll see massive gains.

Spider Tuning Stages

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Sports exhaust, Panel air filter, Engine Tunes/Remapping, Suspension upgrade (drop 23mm - 42 mm.), Lighter flywheel, Alloy wheels.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Power/Sport clutch, Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Sports gearbox, Engine balancing, Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

Peak power is nice in motorsport but for a drivable and fun car you need a wide power band and perhaps extending the rev range.

The aim of our advice is to give a starting base of modifying upgrades and point you in the right direction, our forum is best place to go if you need more detailed advice and tips on your tuning project, the best modified parts and all aspects of modding cars.

Spider Fast Road Camshafts

A fast road cam often proves to be one of the best NASP power mods you can do mechanically to your engine.

It improves the intake and exhaust flow and pushes up the power if done right. Ideally you'd add other mods and finish up with a remap. TorqueCars would caution you not to go with a competition cam as this affects the engines idling and general town driving characteristics.

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so will need to pay attention to the fuelling.

If you find you experience flat spots and power surges after your modified upgrades you should check the fuelling and try a higher octane fuel as well. Uprating the injectors is another beneficial modification and will deliver sufficient fuel.

If you are increasing your fuelling with bigger injectors you will also need to get a bigger fuel pump to supply it.

Spider Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up.  Air induction kits are only beneficial to boost performance if your cars air intake is restricted!

Adding an induction kit to most low power engines will see LITTLE LOW END POWER GAIN AT ALL.

If you have heavily modified your engine and it's need for air INCREASES DRAMATICALLY then an induction kit is the answer and will help remove this restriction.

Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit with a cold air feed on heavily tuned engines, this can be sited within an air box but a panel filter should suffice for most applications. TorqueCars suggest you use a panel air filter as these are easy to clean and maintain and generally perform better than paper ones.

Do not go with the widest exhaust you can get this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 1.5 to 2.5 inches. It is the shape and material more than the bore size.

Head work including a polish and port and 3 or 5 angle valve job will really help to release the potential of the engine. When you heavily modify your Spider you will reach a point that the standard clutch starts to complain so get an uprated clutch. The best mods in our opinion for your Spider are a tune/remap especially on a turbo, a fast road camshaft and sports exhaust, with a good air intake.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and fully release the potential power of the engine.

We've also seen some tuners playing with twincharging conversions and making some very high power hikes.

The most phenomenal power gains for NA (naturally aspirated) engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Superchargers are usually easier to add than a turbo. Turbos provide boost in exponential proportion to rising engine speed and this can make mapping difficult.

The nice directly proportional boost and rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them more straightforward to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the engine compression ratio .

Alloy wheel upgrades.

As alloys are lighter they improve performance and they help to cool the brake disks. Further improvements can be made to your cars handling with the addition of directional tread pattern tire. The drawback to large alloys on your Spider is that you're altering your effective final drive ratio so this will have a detrimental effect on performance and acceleration.

Although some people have with bigger wheels we would restrict ourselves to a 17 inch rim size as the maximum.

Spider Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for most drivers, is rated as a top priority mod in your Spider tuning project.

Drop the car optimally somewhere in the region of 25 - 40 and fit performance stiffer dampers, bigger drops will need other modifications in most instances.

Adjusting the handling is often the first step in using the Spider.Adjusting the Spider's handling is often the first step in tweaking it.

When it comes to tweaking your Spider, one of the most often aims and objectives is to enhance its handling. However, we often witness the same mistakes.

We would choose a set of Coilovers that allow set a ride hight to suit your driving style and cars usage

What considerations must you make when setting up and selecting your suspension if your Spider serves as a daily car as well?

Improvements to the bushings

Bushing upgrades are needed so what's involved?

It is possible to connect the Spider's suspension components to the chassis of the Spider using poly bushes, which are direct replacements for the factory mounts. The rubber ones usually deteriorate with time and need replacing anyway so why not upgrade.

Installing new OEM rubber bushes may dramatically improve the performance of your car.

Because the polyurethane bushes are firmer, the ride may be a bit bumpier, but they will last longer and maintain the handling.

They may also accelerate the degradation of other suspension components due to the increased vibration and play.

A new set of poly bushes might help to reduce the excessive play associated with rubber bushes.

Some polyeyurothane bushings are hard to locate, but most will find the primary mounts readily available in their areas Custom polyeyurothane bushings are often made to your requirements.

A frequent misconception is that the best setup would be a non-adjustable suspension system that lowers the vehicle by 50mm purchased from a franchised component shop.

Vendors may assert that their Spider suspension kits are compatible with any or all of the Spider model years.

To adequately support a diverse variety of vehicles, the "compromized" approach is obviously a mistake as engine weights and equipment trim levels all affect the cars handling characteristics.

How low should you go on the Spider?

TorqueCars research and testing indicate that the maximum suspension drop for most road vehicles is 25 - 40 millimetres, whereas the maximum suspension drop for versions that come with lowered suspension already is 17 millimetres.

Tolerances may be greatly diminished by altering the diameter of the wheels. Lowering a vehicle, even with 17-inch wheels and stock suspension, will create several complications.

Because the Spider 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.

Putting a little negative camber on the wheels and a few degrees of toe (in for better stability or out to improve cornering), will dramatically benefit your Spider in handling and cornering.

Spider Brake Upgrades

For sharper improved braking put better brake pads and combine this with meatier brake discs.

As a word of warning please note that motorsport pads can be noisier and will have to be hot before they are effective.

On your regular commute to work the brakes are only used rarely, therefore won't be all that effective so choose brake pads which have a low working temperature.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Spider options in more detail with our Spider 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.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love hearing about our website visitors projects, especially the mods done and which work best for you on your car. Which helps us keep our guides and tips up to date helping others with their modified car projects. Your feedback and comments are used to keep this page up to date, and help improve the accuracy of these articles which are kept updated and constantly revised.

If you've enjoyed this page we would be very grateful if you could share a link to it on your favourite forums or on your social media profiles, it helps us keep going.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

Click to accept YouTube Cookies & Play.

This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Alfa Romeo. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.