| The
106 bhp Alfasud ti 1.5 special edition
When Alfisti read "106 bhp" many think that this must be
a mistake. Most people only know the Alfa-made 105 bhp version of the 1.5
litre Boxer engine which was used in the Ti 1.5 QV. But nethertheless there
was a 106 bhp version. The Alfasud ti 1.5 106 PS Sondermodell was
a special edition which was exclusively produced for the German market
in 1979. After many potential buyers opted for a Volkswagen Golf GTI (offering
110 bhp) because they believed the 83 bhp of the ti 1.5 to be too few,
Dieter Gleich was asked by Alfa Romeo Germany to power-tune the usual 1979
Alfasud ti 1.5. Dieter Gleich is and was a well known Alfa-tuner in Germany
who started his own business in Mönchengladbach / Reydt in 1969. So
Gleich gave the boxer the classical tuning treatment: larger air inlets,
special camshafts and a new pair of Weber IDF 40 twin-choke downdraft carburators
were enough to give the engine up to 110 bhp. 106 bhp at
6300 rpm were garantied. The torque was increased to 130 Nm (13,3 kpm)
at 4400 rpm. So the ti could reach more than 185 kph - some say it was
able to do 192 kph. To keep the costs low, the serial gear ratio remained untouched. On German "Autobahnen" (motorways) where you
could drive as fast as you wanted to (in the 1970s), this was a real problem
because one always risked to over-rev the engine. Due to that, a revolution
limiter was on board, too to assure a longer life of the engine. The car
itself stayed unchanged. Neither the serial equipment nor technical
details
were touched. Only the tyres were changed: Gleich-ti buyers got 160/70
13 HR tyres. There was also an Alfasud Sprint Gleich special editon sold
by German Alfa Romeo dealers. This Alfasud Sprint was tested by the popular
German car magazine auto-motor und sport in their 13/1979 edition.
During their tests they measured an average fuel consumption of 13,2 litres
on 100 km (the serial ti 1.5 had consumed 11,5 litres
| |
Alfasud Sprint
1.5 (83 bhp) |
Alfasud Sprint
(106 bhp) |
| 0 - 60 kph |
4,8 sec |
4,3 sec |
| 0 - 80 kph |
7,6 sec |
6,5 sec |
| 0 - 100 kph |
11,4 sec |
9,4 sec |
| 0 - 120 kph |
16,7 sec |
13,1 sec |
| 0 - 140 kph |
24,7 sec |
18,8 sec |
| 0 - 160 kph |
42,7 sec |
27,3 sec |
| 1km from rest |
33,1 sec |
30,8 sec |
in the auto- motor
und sport test). Other sources spoke of a consumption between 11,5
and 12,6 litres. The acceleration tests showed the following results:During the test, auto-motor und sport found out that the Gleich
Sprint with its increased power reached the limits of the serial
suspension. The ti was at 16.300 DM, the Sprint costed 18.900 DM. A Volkswagen
Scirocco GTI with 110 bhp costed 18.110 DM. When auto-motor und sport
tested the Sprint, Alfa Romeo Germany planned to sell a total number of
500 units. In May 1979 the Alfasud Sprint 1.5 Veloce (1410 DM cheaper than
a Gleich Sprint) appeared on the German market so that the Gleich version
became less demanded and finally had to disappear.
Last Update: May, 28th 2004
Created: February, 20th 2001
© Layout and text by Tim Rauen. The photos of this
page are published with the permission of Alfa Romeo S.p.A. |