Using oil - minimal Alfa content

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

Karl Chen said -

"I read the same thing where a reader complained to a
car magazine that his new car consumed a quart of oil
every 1000 miles and thedealer say there is nothing
wrong !  The magazine's editor assuredhim that it may
not be perfect but nothing so wrong either."

The old poops in the crowd will probably remember the
wonderful Lotus Elite ads Bob Challman used to run in
R&T, back when he was the West Coast distributor. He
(or his ad guy) was a genius at making a "feature" out
of the Elite's many foibles (predating Microsoft's
similar practices by 40+ years!). One of his more
memorable efforts in this vein discussed the Climax
FWE engine's monstrous thirst for oil, claiming that a
truly high-performance engine must be expected to use
its lubricant extravagantly. If I recall correctly,
the consumption figure was around 300 miles per quart,
owing largely to the huge clearance between the
pistons and their cylinder walls - and this "feature"
was due, not to any high performance requirements, but
to the fact that the original fire-pump version had to
be capable of starting from dead cold and running
immediately at service speed.

As for Alfas, our Milano 2.5 seems to use about 2
quarts between changes, which bothers Tania more than
it does me. She's used to well-maintained 2002s,
whereas my background is littered with BMC Minis,
Hillman Huskies and similar non-oiltight ironmongery.

Will Owen
Nashville, TN



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End of alfa-digest V7 #1496
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