Re: Alfa V6 and carbs?

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, not always. The first car to use the 2.5 liter V-6 was a 1979 
sedan called the "Alfa 6". It was fitted with no less than 6 
single-barrel downdraft Dellorto carburettors delivering 160 HP at 6K 
RPM. Apparently it was a disaster, being both unresponsive and running 
roughly at all speeds. It took the addition of the Bosh L-Jetronic FI 
in the GTV-6 to make that engine come to life. In 1985/86, the Alfa 
assembly plant in South Africa, in order to homologate a race car 
designed to compete in a S.A. racing series with BMW, built a number of 
GTV-6's using the 3-liter motor form the 75 (Milano). Called The GTV-6 
"Kyalami" (after the famous S.A. race track), this car again went back 
to the six downdraft Dellortos. What Alfa S.A. did that was different 
from Arese's earlier "Alfa 6" or why the "Kyalami"  ran better than the 
older car with a similar carburettor setup on it, I have no idea. But 
when a South African auto magazine tested it, they proclaimed it "The 
fastest car ever made in South Africa." Go figure.

I have never, personally, heard of an Alfa V-6 being fitted with 
Webers, but it is possible, and has probably been done. OTOH, I doubt 
seriously if it's an improvement on the fuel injected version of the 
car. After all, a post 1982 spider with Webers replacing the the Bosch 
FI actually has slightly less horsepower than the standard car. 
Generally speaking, EFI is better than carbs. It is more flexible, you 
don't have to fiddle with the sync all the time as with carburettors, 
EFI dumps less raw gas into the engine oil, runs cleaner, doesn't foul 
plugs or build-up carbon deposits as much, and generally puts out just 
as much if not more horsepower. The one thing that Webers will do, of 
course, is to make the Alfa V-6 sound even better than it already does. 
The music of those six big throats clearing themselves with a mighty 
gulp of air is one of the things that makes older Ferraris sound so 
glorious. EFI doesn't have that intake sound, and even Ferraris with 
EFI don't sound as good as their predecessors with carbs. The sound 
becomes like a symphony orchestra that's missing the entire brass 
section. Yes, the music is still there, but something is missing...

Anyway, good luck on finding a Weber manifold for the car, and better 
luck getting the Webber-equipped V-6 to pass smog, especially if you 
plan to drive it on the street in the US.


George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S


On Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 12:43 PM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Sun, 06 Jul 2003 19:40:55 +0930
> From: Benjamin <budweiser@domain.elided>
> Subject: Alfa V6 and carbs?
>
> From what I gather, Alfa Romeo has always made use of fuel injection
> for their V6 engines (GTV6, Milano/75 etc)... has anyone actually
> retrofitted
> Weber's instead? Does anyone manufacture inlet manifolds to suit?
>
> ~Benjamin
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