Alfa GTV Tuning

"GTV - Grand Tourer Vitality"

I remember first noticing a car and it happened to be an old 1980's GTV with a very distinctive flat boxer engine sound.

This may well have been the turning point in my life sparking a lifelong interest in cars and the GTV will always have a place in my heart.

The cars are great to work on and there are some good quality aftermarket part suppliers out there.

The key is to pick the right mods or you risk ruining the excellent ride quality of the standard GTV.

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.

Improving the handling should be your first priority in your GTV tuning project.

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

Turning our attention to the GTVs engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end.

Alfa GTV Tuning modifications.

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 GTV

1. Low mass flywheel - a lower weight flywheel will significantly improve the engines ability to rev freely. Not always suitable for all GTV engines.
2. Intake and Sports Exhausts - Please be warned on their own these mods won't ADD TORQUE in most applications, but they permit you to lift power after other mods by lessening the restriction.
3. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - Adding a turbocharger is the most efficient approach to improve intake air supply, which permits you to burn more fuel and make more power. It is one of the most costly upgrades it offers big gains.
4. Fast road Camshafts are generally the biggest mechanical mod upgrade, but ideally be fitted by someone qualified to set them up properly and some cams are hard to find but there might be a local firm to regrind a stock cam for you.
5. GTV Handling Mods (Suspension) - Replacing worn bushings and shocks radically improves your GTV handling Coilovers and Bushings are the usual go to mods
6. Braking Mods - Improve your GTV's stopping power needs to be somewhere in your mods list.
7. Flowing and porting the engine head - for larger gains, you will get better flow and make a more efficient engine if you do this to support your other mods.

GTV 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.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.

Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

Breathing mods are usually next up. Maximum power gains come from a full induction kit with a cold air feed, preferably sited within an air box but a panel filter should suffice for most applications. On small engines you will actually lose low down power so TorqueCars suggest you use a panel air filter instead.

Do not go with the biggest exhaust you can find this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 2 to 3 inches on the lovely 3.0 V6 engine.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional porting and polishing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. Your clutch can seriously let you down if it starts to slip and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of up to 50%. Fit an uprated clutch to avoid power losses through the transmission. 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.

The largest power gains for NA (naturally aspirated) engines usually involve the addition of forced induction. Turbos are harder to add than supercharger. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult. It is easier to map a supercharger because the boost is proportional to engine speed on a linear curve. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the compression ratio of the engine.

Some specialist Alfa Romeo tuners are offering Rotrex and similar supercharger kits. If you run low boost and use high octane fuel then you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Alfa Romeo GTV Wheel modifications.

The benefits of alloy wheels include a lower unsprung weight and more efficient brake cooling. Large GTV 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 17 inch rim size as the maximum.

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 GTV options in more detail with our GTV 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 use the comments box below to pass on your own GTV tuning tips, all constructive comments are greatly appreciated!

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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.

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