Re: Alfa Spica vs Ferrari Webbers Another twist?

["Alex" <CLAMBROPOULOS0222@domain.elided>]

Hi Alfisti,

Here's a fly in the ointment.(maybe). Triumph TR6s were sold with Lucas FI
(mechanical though I think) for the domestic (U.K) market from 1969 to 1976,
but were  fitted with Zenith Stromberg carbs in the States. The result was a
25+ horsepower drop for carbureted Americans. That fuel injection system
provided more horsepower than twin carbs but was it actually too dirty for
the U.S. market, or could the use of carbs in the States have been just a
means of keeping prices down? It is a pleasant distraction to think about
such matters on a sunny afternoon.Sorry I had to mention the little British
shoe boxes.

Ciao Amichi,

Alex Lambropoulos
Toronto, Canada
----- Original Message -----
From: "James Montebello" <jamesm@domain.elided>
To: "Paul Misencik" <paul@domain.elided>
Cc: "Alfa Digest" <alfa-digest@domain.elided>
Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 12:07 PM
Subject: Re: Alfa Spica vs Ferrari Webbers


> On Sat, 1 Mar 2003, Paul  Misencik wrote:
> > This is an interesting string, because it does seem a little strange how
> > some manufacturers switched to FI early, while others kept carbs for
some
> > time longer.  I don't think carbs were necessarily a huge liability in
terms
> > of emissions in the early days, probably because emissions laws were
pretty
> > slack by today's standards.  Catalytic converters weren't mandated until
'76
> > or '77.  MG kept their venerable (but increasingly slow and ugly) B
legal
> > with a Zenith carb until it died a quiet death in 1980, and my mother
bought
> > a 1985 Honda Prelude that had twin carbs!
>
> A great many cars continued to use carbs well into the 80s, with O2
sensors
> controlling the mixture circuits.  These were semi-electronic systems.
The
> difference between CA and 49-state regulations caused a lot of the smaller
> volume manufacturers trouble, and forced a choice to either abandon the
US,
> abandon CA, or simply make CA models for the whole US market.  Tough
choices
> at the time.
>
>
> > If Honda could make carbs clean in 1985, then I find it hard to believe
that
> > Alfa switched to FI so early purely for emissions reasons, but who
knows?  I
> > wouldn't be surprised at all to find that the reason was sort of a
> > combination of emissions sensitivity and just good 'ol performance
> > technology.  Porsche and BMW were getting heavily into FI in the early
> > 1970's, mostly for performance reasons, so perhaps Alfa did the same,
also
> > knowing that eventually, emissions would require it anyway...
>
> Porsche switched at roughly the same time, to a similar technology, so
Alfa
> wasn't alone.  People forget that fuel injection was considered an
exciting
> exotic performance technology in the 60s.  I'm sure a great many other
> manufacturers would have switched if they could have justified the expense
> to the beancounters.  The engineers won at Alfa and Porsche, and lost in
> many other places.
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