Alfa Home | Engine Rebuild | Engine Mods | HPV-1 | Dyno | Suspension | Interior | Track Time | Repairs
Centerline springs - In its stock configuration, the car was far too soft for my taste. I knew immediately that the shocks and springs would give way to more performance oriented items, but I was not clear whose springs to purchase. Although I like a stiff car, I didn't wish to go overboard and exacerbate ride problems caused by the heavy live axle out back After speaking with the folks at Centerline, International Auto Parts and Alfa Ricambi, I decided to take a chance on the Centerlines. I am definitely happy with the choice and have no regrets. The ride is still acceptable, but the car now feels far more controllable in turns. The understeer and body roll are still a little too much for my taste, but I plan to add bigger sway bars in the future to fine tune the handling.
Adjustable front upper arms - The stock Alfa has too much positive camber up front and consequently understeers a little too much. The adjustable upper arms allow you to add a healthy dose of negative camber and enable the front end to generate more bite in corners.
Koni Sport shocks - Every Alfa person I spoke with tried to convince me that the Koni Sport shocks (a.k.a. yellow) were too stiff for the road and that I should buy the standard shocks (a.k.a. orange) instead. I have the yellows on the Porsche and I love them and I have had the orange units on two other cars and never thought they were remotely stiff. Since performance was paramount to me with the Alfa, I decided to flout convention and put on the Koni yellows. The interesting thing is that everyone who told me that the yellows were too stiff and has actually driven my car, has recanted that statement. The Sport shocks are great and should be standard equipment on a modified Alfa.
Stiffer upper-front inner bushings - When I bought the car, the "rebuilt" suspension was pretty loose and the car
wandered a great deal on the straights. I proceeded to replace the bushings with stock units, with the sole exception of the front upper arm inner bushing. The lower arm bushing is a straight swap and the latter is substantially stiffer, so
in they went.
Early rear trailing arms- The earlier 105-series cars use a rear trailing arm with a smaller front bushing than the later cars. This changeover from 36mm to 50mm bushings occurred with the introduction of the 1750-series cars and was done as an attempt to improve the car's ride. Unfortunately the increased compliance resulting from the larger
rubber cross section hurt the Alfa's handling precision. Since the Alfa's live axle is my least favorite part of the car (I'm an IRS kind of guy) I am trying everything in my power to improve it. Prior to installing these arms on the car, I had them sandblasted and powder coated and then installed new bushings. The front bushings are stock Alfa Romeo parts, but the rears are polyurethane for additional stiffness.
SuperPro rear bushings- The SuperPro bushings from Australia have a good reputation for improved control, thanks to less deflection than the stock rubber parts, and unlike other brands of polyurethane bushings, they reportedly last a long time. Evidently these bushings got their start in mining equipment used in Australia's Outback, so they should be more than up to the task of surviving the hardships they'll encounter at the rear end of my car. I stuck with stock rubber bushings in the front of the arms because: 1) SuperPro didn't make a replacement; 2) I have heard that the arms do need to be able to twist a little bit -- which the rubber bushing at one end will allow -- so that they do not fatigue; and 3) the rubber cross section of the 36mm bushings is very small, so there is very little compliance to eliminate.
Limited Slip Differential - GTVs from '72 on were all fitted with a LSD. My car was updated by a previous owner and this mod really helps get the traction down in tight turns. It also makes it really fun to take a tight corner in the wet J
Panasport rims - Okay, not necessarily suspension items, but these 14x6 rims fitted with 205/60-14 tires are substantially lighter than the stock wheel& tire combo and therefore dramatically reduce unsprung weight -- and there certainly is enough of that out back already. Besides, these particular wheels also look really cool! In hindsight, I wish I had bought the 15" version since performance rubber in the 205/60-14 size is becoming increasingly hard to find, however, at the time I thought that the weight savings of the 14" wheel was worth the tradeoff. I am toying with correcting this mistake next year, or I may find a suitable compromise by installing Yokohama A-032Rs in 195/60-14. Given how I drive the car, these R-compound tires should give me the performance I am looking for without the expense of buying larger wheels.
Adjustable front upper arms - The stock Alfa has too much positive camber up front and consequently understeers a little too much. The adjustable upper arms allow you to add a healthy dose of negative camber and enable the front end to generate more bite in corners.
Koni Sport shocks - Every Alfa person I spoke with tried to convince me that the Koni Sport shocks (a.k.a. yellow) were too stiff for the road and that I should buy the standard shocks (a.k.a. orange) instead. I have the yellows on the Porsche and I love them and I have had the orange units on two other cars and never thought they were remotely stiff. Since performance was paramount to me with the Alfa, I decided to flout convention and put on the Koni yellows. The interesting thing is that everyone who told me that the yellows were too stiff and has actually driven my car, has recanted that statement. The Sport shocks are great and should be standard equipment on a modified Alfa.
Stiffer upper-front inner bushings - When I bought the car, the "rebuilt" suspension was pretty loose and the car
wandered a great deal on the straights. I proceeded to replace the bushings with stock units, with the sole exception of the front upper arm inner bushing. The lower arm bushing is a straight swap and the latter is substantially stiffer, so
in they went.
Early rear trailing arms- The earlier 105-series cars use a rear trailing arm with a smaller front bushing than the later cars. This changeover from 36mm to 50mm bushings occurred with the introduction of the 1750-series cars and was done as an attempt to improve the car's ride. Unfortunately the increased compliance resulting from the larger
rubber cross section hurt the Alfa's handling precision. Since the Alfa's live axle is my least favorite part of the car (I'm an IRS kind of guy) I am trying everything in my power to improve it. Prior to installing these arms on the car, I had them sandblasted and powder coated and then installed new bushings. The front bushings are stock Alfa Romeo parts, but the rears are polyurethane for additional stiffness.
SuperPro rear bushings- The SuperPro bushings from Australia have a good reputation for improved control, thanks to less deflection than the stock rubber parts, and unlike other brands of polyurethane bushings, they reportedly last a long time. Evidently these bushings got their start in mining equipment used in Australia's Outback, so they should be more than up to the task of surviving the hardships they'll encounter at the rear end of my car. I stuck with stock rubber bushings in the front of the arms because: 1) SuperPro didn't make a replacement; 2) I have heard that the arms do need to be able to twist a little bit -- which the rubber bushing at one end will allow -- so that they do not fatigue; and 3) the rubber cross section of the 36mm bushings is very small, so there is very little compliance to eliminate.
Limited Slip Differential - GTVs from '72 on were all fitted with a LSD. My car was updated by a previous owner and this mod really helps get the traction down in tight turns. It also makes it really fun to take a tight corner in the wet J
Panasport rims - Okay, not necessarily suspension items, but these 14x6 rims fitted with 205/60-14 tires are substantially lighter than the stock wheel& tire combo and therefore dramatically reduce unsprung weight -- and there certainly is enough of that out back already. Besides, these particular wheels also look really cool! In hindsight, I wish I had bought the 15" version since performance rubber in the 205/60-14 size is becoming increasingly hard to find, however, at the time I thought that the weight savings of the 14" wheel was worth the tradeoff. I am toying with correcting this mistake next year, or I may find a suitable compromise by installing Yokohama A-032Rs in 195/60-14. Given how I drive the car, these R-compound tires should give me the performance I am looking for without the expense of buying larger wheels.