This won’t be a regular test,
we’ll try to solve the real flaws of this car, not the ones the press
unfairly made us believe at the time.
I’ll show you the modifications I would apply on it, if it was mine.
One of the most beautiful compact cars ever fitted with one of the most
charismatic engines ever: why didn’t the 147 GTA turn
into an undeniable instant classic for driving enthusiasts?
After 10 years of collaboration with Alfa Corse,
Sergio Limone asked for an exhaust system for the 156 GTA evolution, that
should have been called “156 GTAm”, showed in black at the Motor Show
but unfortunately never produced.
The primary tubes of this system were longer
because the pre-catalyzers had been removed and the diameter was raised to 70 mm.
We faced two other challenges: the first was the request of a system
that could be removed without removing the whole engine,
while the second was making the six manifolds of equal length.
Once the system was ready, we tested it and the performance were incredible.
Unfortunately the car never went into production,
so we decided to produce this system as a performance option for the 3.2 GTA.
We’ll install the full system on the car behind me,
previously tested with the stock system,
and we’ll see how the performance changed from the 252 horsepower we measured.
“What are we doing, Anais?”
“It’s Sunday morning and we’re mounting the differential”
Ok, I probably got carried away with this!
It’s unrecognizable...
As we said before, this video was made not just to drive it, but
also to understand the potential of an underrated car like this.
Actually it’s just an excuse to tune a car because we all know
that the greatest thing in the world is tuning a car.
This car has a 3.2 V6 24v with a Supersprint exhaust system,
the throttle body from a Ferrari 430, BMC intake manifold,
tuned ECU and 280 horses under the hood.
The main flaw of the stock car, despite I don't agree too much on this,
was the understeer. I didn’t find a lot of understeer on the stock version,
but one thing is for sure: Alfa made a huge mistake not offering
the Q2 LSD for this car, neither stock nor as an option... and guess what?
We installed it on this one!
It’s also an easy job to do, it’s a relatively fast operation.
Clearly the behavior changes dramatically
and going around the corners is no longer a power-loss moment,
it’s now really enjoyable. Talking about power, there’s plenty even in the stock version,
the GTAs were a step ahead back then.
There was the Focus RS, the Golf R32, more refined under the dynamical point,
but not because the projects were superior,
probably because they paid more attention.
They were more careful about the driving enthusiast’s needs
Great cars, the Focus RS was maybe more track-focused than the R32,
the only one to offer the 4WD system: better lap times for sure,
but this engine was on another planet:
the 3.2, superficially attributed to Eng. Busso, couldn’t be matched in terms of power.
Why “superficially”? Because this sir here shouldn’t be remembered just for
the Alfa Romeo V6: he also worked on the first Ferrari ever made, the 125S,
so he wouldn’t be so happy to be labeled just with this engine.
When we talk about him, we should remember he cooperated in the designing of
many Alfa engines, both racing and street, such as the 1900, the Giulietta, the Giulia and many more...
The fact is that if this engine has so many fans, there has to be a reason.
What we couldn’t understand was why the 156/147 GTAs still weren’t appreciated.
The foreign press is the reason:
they tried to hide the charm of these cars,
a journalist in particular didn’t do justice to this car by driving it... in a odd way,
but still saying he would have chosen it among its rivals anyway.
There are several flaws, we agree on this and we’ll talk about them,
but a hot hatch with an engine like this,
a steering like this (we are now going to talk about it) and a suspension system like this
is no common thing.
So how did we improve the 147 GTA?
The first problem we found on the GTA was the exhaust system
made for the Euro 3 homologation, that suffocated the engine:
this led to very high oil and cockpit temperatures,
we could feel a lot of heat coming from the floor.
The car had four catalyzers, what did we do? We removed them
and put them back on: now we have a full Supersprint system installed,
as the engineer said, with a 100-cells catalyzer
to gain some counter-pressure and help the torque output at low RPM.
We gained 18 horses just by replacing the exhaust
and we also knocked 20 degrees off the oil temperature.
20 degrees are a lot: just think about how bad these engines have to run
to keep up with the emissions. We are still talking about Euro 3...
So we took care of traction, torque...
of how this engine should sing...
The next step was the suspensions:
the 147 shares a refined scheme with the 156, the GT, the 166.
We slightly took the thing to extremes:
we installed the 156 S2000 front brackets, the one that laid down the law
in the Italian/European Tourism Championship and in the World one too;
we adapted the rear ones to make it similar to the ones found on the 147 Cup,
we “filled” them... Little details that makes the difference when you start to push
We got rid of the A/C, we moved the battery to the trunk,
something this car needs since most of the weight is on the front end.
The latter though doesn’t feel heavy while driving: those who think it’s
off balance need to eat their words because it’s not.
And the best thing is that the steering feels communicative and light.
It's a nice lightness though, it’s not too light like the Giulietta QV one:
it’s just right. The power steering is well balanced,
the ratio is basically perfect (until you have to park...)
It feels like a sportier car than it should be because
the steering radius is poor and you need to make “many-point” turns to park.
We put the Cup lower strut bar on the front and
a BC Racing adjustable set-up modified at the front by ORAP.
The car on the road is enjoyable, it doesn’t bounce...
We put some Eibach springs on (8kg/mm at the front, 3.5kg/mm at the back) for street use,
but we also have some 10kg/mm rear springs for the track.
This is our plan, we’ll test it later but we found a good compromise with this setting.
The toe is negative both on the front and the back,
Brembo Sport pads...
There’s a Ferrari 430 throttle body installed, a frequent swap
that makes the owner smile, but the wallet cry.
You can see me happily cuddled by these Sabelt Taurus seats
and my sitting position has moved backwards thanks to
a quick-release deep dish steering wheel.
So it’s not far from me and feels like a racing sitting position.
The pedals are still the stock ones, we didn’t touch a single thing,
it was already great and the heel-and-toe is straight forward.
After all these works, we saved 100 kilos from the car:
we are now at 1200 kilos. Still not a lightweight,
but the big guy at the front plays an important role on this and weighs...
... a bit more than a 4 cylinders engine.
I can truly say, even in its stock form, the 147 GTA carries it with dignity.
Do not open Autoscout now though, the prices has already raised too much
and I still have to buy a black 156 GTA with the manual transmission.
Great, really great...
The car turned into a very amusing object.
The wheels we chose are a bit too wide in my opinion but
it’s gorgeous (I don’t need to tell you that) with them,
but maybe they are not perfect for driving...
Another upgrade needed is the brakes,
where some 330mm front disks could work better: when we’ll take the car on track,
she will probably “tell” us that it’s time to replace them,
despite the system is adequate for a road use.
It’s the first time I drive it like this and I have to say it’s great to drive.
We can definitely squeeze few more horses from it and we’ll do it.
Here’s a bit of understeer finally: I was worried...
Ok, next stop: track.
Written and directed by Davide Cironi
Filmed by Francesco Colantoni
Filmed by Giovanni Sfarra
"We are installing the differential"
The 147 is tuned by our beloved Riccardino
Aerial shots by Mattia Nardis
Translated by Elia Pozzani
For more contents and photos feel free to check out our website WWW.DRIVEEXPERIENCE.IT
