Re: alfa-digest V9 #622

[Zak McGregor <zak@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 06:25:52 +0000
owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided (alfa-digest) wrote:

> 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.

There a few inaccuracies about the SA GTV6 3-litre. Firstly, it was never called
the Kyalami, at least not officially. This is in fact the first time that I hear
"Kyalami" mentioned in connection with the 3-litre Alfa GTV6 except when it was
raced there ;-)

The 3 litre engine was _not_ from the Milano, and has different bore and stroke
measurements to the Milano unit.

6 Webers were used, not Dell'Ortos.

I will dig the SA road test of the 3-litre GTV6 out and scan it for those
interested*. It is still a legend here in South Africa, let me tell you.

In the mean time, here are some specs for it:
http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/models/id/?id=28402

Ciao

Zak, still mourning the undraivasble state of my own 2.5 GTV6 

* this can take anything from days to months, please bear with me ;-)
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