[alfa] Re: alfa-digest V9 #1108

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jan 29, 2004, at 10:30 PM, alfa-digest wrote:

>
> Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2004 21:28:32 UTC-8:00
> From: "Brett Frymire" <brett.frymire@domain.elided>
> Subject: [alfa] Re: Re: driving George's car
>
> George,
>
> Contemporary magazine tests put the GTV6 with braking times about 162ft
> whereas the Milano is about 155ft.  I would hope that something could 
> be
> done to make that MUCH better.  I am curious about how well the older 
> cars
> can be made, especially in light of what is coming from manufacturers 
> today.
> Of course, they will never have the soul of an Alfa.

There are  a number of things that one can do to improve braking. The 
easiest is to replace the discs with some upgraded aftermarket slotted 
and/or cross-drilled rotors. Unless one goes for bigger wheels, though 
(and they don't look right on a car of that vintage) you are pretty 
much stuck with the standard diameter rotors. Then one can fit 
light-competition.autocross pads from Ferodo or some such. These two 
will improve stopping distances (once the brakes heat up) by quite a 
bit.  For calipers, there are a number of routes. If one can get new 
backing plates made (a minor thing consisting of cutting and drilling 
some sheet metal) and can find a Porsche bone-yard (like our APE, only 
for Porsches) one can use the multi-piston calipers from one of those 
on the front. Or one can buy the after-market kits for these cars 
offered by both Brembo and Tar-Ox. The latter is expensive. There are 
other US aftermarket brake manufacturers that I'm sure could come up 
with a custom solution for a GTV-6. But these are expensive. I just 
went for the cross-drilled rotors and harder pads.



>
> Is it hard to get the GTV6 off the line?  Wheel spin?  Tramp?  Hop?  
> Or does
> it bog?

I've got no problem getting mine off the line. Just give it a good rev 
and drop the clutch (of course, it;s hard on the clutch, so I don't do 
it very often). The only problem I see is that first gear is too short.

>
> (I have a 914-6 that has terrific specs, and terrible 0-60 times due to
> wheelspin.  Just can't launch the car....)
>
> And I am a little surprised about the cornering forces as that is only
> marginally better than stock.  Unless you went for a comfortable ride, 
> which
> I can understand.

My GTV-6 has been lowered and has stiffer than stock springs (although 
they were fitted by a PO and the lowering was done by a PO) but I know 
nothing about them except that they AREN'T red! I fitted yellow Konis 
(the competition type as opposed to the orange) but set them in the 
middle of their adjustment range. I also fitted a set of Pirelli P6000 
as they are close to the tires that came with the car new. I'm sure 
that I could get better skid-pad results if I set the Konis harder and 
went to a stickier tire like the Khumo. But then I'd have to change to 
a bigger, lower-profile wheel, which I do not want to do as Khumo makes 
all their stickier tires in 16, 17 and 18 inch sizes only, not 15 inch.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6
>
> later
> - -- brett
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