Re: Alfetta fixation

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I drove my GTV-6 for several months sans air-dam (the idiots who 
repainted my car broke both the dam and ALL of the attachment fasteners 
for it. It took me months to locate a new lip spoiler and to figure an 
alternative mounting scheme. The one I came up with is actually 
superior to the factory because now the air dam can be removed with a 
screwdriver).

Anyway, at normal highway speeds, it makes ZERO difference, but over 
about 110, the front end tends to feel a bit light and skittish. When 
Alfa Romeo of South Africa built the 3.0 liter GTV-6 spec racer to beat 
the BMWs at Kalyami in '83, they had to sell a certain number to the 
public to qualify for that race series. They found that they had to 
deepen the spoiler lip on the air dam because the cars tended to (a) 
run slightly hot at high speed without it (not enough airflow through 
the radiator at high speed), and (b) the car became somewhat unstable 
above 135. So I guess its designed for speeds between 110 and 135 MPH, 
which, was coincidentally, the range of the 2.5 liter car's factory top 
end.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6
now with 3.0 liter 'S' engine
and Power Steering



On Wednesday, March 19, 2003, at 06:05 PM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2003 16:12:39 -0500
> From: "Barrett, Jim" <JiBarrett@domain.elided>
> Subject: Subject was: Re: Alfetta fixation
>
> Which prods me to ask a (non-tea tray-related) question:
>
> Has any GTV6 owner ever driven his or her car without the front air 
> dam? I'm
> curious what, if any, functionality is different. Certainly there is a
> visual effect, and the appearance would suggest some airflow 
> difference at
> speed. I don't imagine adding additional downforce would improve 
> handling,
> especially with the increase in weight of the 2.5L engine over the 
> 2.0L.
>
> Thoughts, speculations, real world data?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Jim Barrett
>
> Huntington Beach, CA USA
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