It was a re-engineered car that shared body panels with the Alfetta GT to save on production costs. The entire chassis had been revamped to handle the extra torque and power of the new 2.5 liter, 60 degree V-6. The instrument panel was redesigned and leather interior, extra sound proof carpeting, power windows, and air conditioning were included as standard. There were several special editions such as, the Balocco, the Martona, and the Calloway. With the exeption of the twin-turno Calloway, these were basicaly trim packages.
The single overhead cams driven by a toothed belt was rather surprising to those expecting a chain-driven twin-cam. Each cam puched directly on the intake valves but the exhaust valves were opperated by a lifter and rocker-arm setup. It was good for This design worked particularly well and created a most glorious exhaust note that makes the driver want to keep the car moving in a lower gear than necessary just to hear the engine sing.
The fuel system was provided by Bosch electronic fuel injection. It provided a great approach to the usually conflicting emissions requirements, power output, and driveability. The layout was so good that it was better than the setup in Europe, the carburated setup without our emissions drag.
Handling included some understeer that could easily be replaced by a more neutral balance by adding a slightly stiffer rear sway bar. 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) was in the 8-second range and the GTV-6 could easily keep up with faster, more powerful cars just because of its excellent handling characteristics. (Like the picture to the left might suggest.)
As with just about every Alfa, there was a regrettable downside. The dealer network was rather skimpy and there were post production problems like the tensioner belt was to tight for the engine and snapped timing belts causing extensive damage to the engine. This was later remedied for free under waranty but the customers had to go through the hastle of updating the engine to the new tensioner belt. Just about every V-6 Alfa now has either been updated to the new tensioner or was sold with it. There are also a few drive-train issues across the entire Alfetta chassis design (this includes the Alfetta GT, Alfetta Sedan, GTV-6, Milano/75) invloving the rubber doughnuts used to lessen drive-train shock. These simple rubber doughnuts will expire around 80k miles and require many expensive hours of labor to take the drive shaft out and replace them with three $80 doughnuts. Also, there are electrical issues here and there. I've had electric windows not roll up and lights burn out prematurely. And don't forget that the airconditioning unit is weak on GTV-6s.
That may look like a rather large list of problems but Alfisti know that this can't taint the incredible driving experience that any Alfa has to offer! |
