[alfa] (alfa) Squadra Chip

["George Schweikle" <schweikg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Digesti,

There was a query regarding this chip a few issues back. This is the item from
Stephan Lenoir in Holland, with a very nice website at www.squadra-tuning.com
He has an installation for almost every applicable Alfa. For a Motronic
Spider, dynamometer charts indicate 10 HP increase at 5500-6000 RPM  and 18 Nm
torque increase at 2000 RPM. Rev limiter is changed from 6500 to 6800 RPM.I
installed a Squadra chip on my new to me ' 91 Spider Veloce, and compared this
to a friend's '91 Spider with a Ricambi chip, and his wife's '94 CE Spider
with no chip. My car has a K&N air filter, and a rear tailpipe section without
muffler. Mileage is 36,000 the two comparison spiders were 47,000 and 57,000
respectively. Non scientific preliminary results are:

Higer idle: From 900 to 1100 RPM. The 300 RPM "hunting" variation in stock
form seems to have disappeared.

Increase torque and horsepower: Absolutely. Allthough originally I didn't feel
a lot in the seat of my pants, in comparison, driving the stock '94 CE spider
felt like it was at part throttle. The other '91 Spider with Ricambi chip
seemed to have slightly less torque, but it's performance was otherwise very
similar to my car with the Squadra chip. Thanks to Dave and Irene Jarman for a
great Saturday afternoon driving Series 4 Spiders.

Mileage: I have only run 3 tanks of BP 93 Octane since I bought my car.
Filling to the tank neck each time indicated 25-26 MPG for the first two
tanks, and 23.5 with the chip for the last tankfull. The last tank had more
town driving, and maybe a "little more" throttle use.

Drivability: My car had a slight hesitation accelerating from stop at low
throttle setting, and this has been almost eliminated.

A return call from Alfa Ricambi states their chip is still available at
"around $215.00", but they don't have any performance data. The Squadra chip
is 245 Euro, which was $287.44 on Sept. 24.

George Schweikle
Lexington, KY
'91 Spider Veloce retirement cruiser
'76 Spider dedicated autocrosser
'00 VW Jetta
'95 Safari Trek
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