The Alfa Romeo GTV and the Alfa Romeo Spider (Type 916) are sports cars produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1993 to 2004. The GTV is a 2+2 coupé, while the Spider is a two-seater roadster. Production totaled 38,891 units for the Spider and 42,937 units for the GTV.
The GTV's name (Gran Turismo Veloce–) placed it as the successor to the long-discontinued Alfetta GTV coupé, whereas the Spider was effectively the replacement for the then 30-year-old 105-series Giulia Spider. The GTV was available until the launch of the Brera in 2005, while the Spider lasted another year until the launch of its Brera-based successor in 2006.
The Alfa Romeo GTV was described as "one of the best sports cars of its time" by motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson in 1998 and was listed at number 29 in Top 100 Cars in 2001.
Design
The GTV and Spider were designed by Enrico Fumia at Pininfarina. The GTV was planned to re-establish Alfa Romeo's sports coupe tradition during the 1990s. The design dates back to initial renderings in September 1987; the first 1:1 scale clay models were completed in July 1988. Fiat's then CEO, Vittorio Ghidella, rejected Pininfarina's interior design proposal created by Giuseppe Randazzo, after which the Centro Stile Alfa Romeo under Walter de Silva was assigned the responsibility for the completion of the exterior design details and a completely new design of the interior. The Drag coefficient of the final design was 0.33 for the GTV and 0.38 for the Spider. The Chief Engineer for the project was Bruno Carela. The Spider and GTV are based on the then current Fiat Group compact car platform, called "Tipo Due" (or Type 2) – in this case a heavily modified version with an all new multilink rear suspension. The front suspension and drivetrain are shared with the 1992 Alfa 155 saloon.
The Alfa Romeo grille with dual round headlights was a motif later used on the Proteo concept car. The car has a wedge-shaped design with a low nose. The back of the car is "cut-off" with a "Kamm tail" resulting in improved aerodynamics. The Spider shares these traits with the GTV except that the rear is rounded in order to fit the retractable roof. The Spider features a folding soft-top with a five-hoop frame, which folds under a flush fitting cover behind the seats. An electric folding mechanism was also an option.
Other design details included a rear lamp/fog lamp/indicator strip across the rear of the body and instruments in the centre console being angled towards the driver. At the car's launch, many journalists remarked that Alfa had improved its overall build quality considerably as compared to past models and that it came very close to equaling its German rivals.
Awards
1995: Autocar Magazine: "1995 Car of the Year". 1995: Car Magazine: "Best Designed Car". 1995: Car Magazine: Best Design Detail in production. 1995: "The World's most Beautiful Automobile" award. 1995: Bild: "Goldenes Lenkrad". 1995: Automobilia: "Auto più bella del mondo". 1995: Autocar Magazine: "Best Sport Car". 1995: Auto Zeitung: "Best car to drive". 1995: "Engineer of the Year" for chief Alfa Romeo engineer, Bruno Cena. 1995: Trofeu do Automovel Categoria "Deportivo di Ano" (Sports Car of the Year)
History GTV/Spider production figures Engine Body Totals3.0 12VSpider3,8643.0 12VGTV52.0 TSSpider28,0132.0 TSGTV24,5792.0 V6 TBSpider1702.0 V6 TBGTV7,2843.0 24VSpider1,3223.0 24VGTV6,5021.8 TSSpider2,8511.8 TSGTV2,8733.2 24VSpider5513.2 24VGTV5122.0 JTSSpider2,1202.0 JTSGTV1,182
Pininfarina production figures Body 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 TotalsGTV7792,8531,0201,5215896,762Spider7103,2071,8962,0941,1199,026Totals1,4896,0602,9163,6151,70815,788
Engine choices included the 2.0-litre Twin Spark 4-cylinder engine or the 2.0-litre turbocharged V6 engine for the GTV, with the engine choices for the Spider being the 2.0-litre Twin Spark engine or a naturally aspirated 3.0-litre 12V V6 engine.
Production began in late 1993 with four cars, all being 3.0 V6 Spider models, assembled at the Alfa Romeo Arese Plant in Milan. In early 1994, the first GTV was produced, with the 2.0-litre Twin Spark engine. The production models debuted at the 1994 Paris Motor Show. The GTV and Spider were officially launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1995 and sales began in the same year. The GTV V6 Turbo has two air intakes on the lower lip, one for the oil cooler and the other for the intercooler. Early models of the V6 Spider lacked any additional air intakes as the oil cooler was mounted in front of the radiator. The car was produced in three distinct phases. The Phase 1 cars have a black plastic grille located in the nose of the bonnet, without the chrome details and black-painted sills all round.
1997 changes For the 1997 model year GTV, a new engine, a 24-valve 3.0-litre V6, was available. GTV models equipped with this new engine also had a new 16-inch 5 hole 'teledial' wheel design to provide extra clearance for the larger, brakes and red four-piston calipers from Brembo. Further exterior changes included new rear badging (V6 24) denoting the fitment of the new engine, and V6 Turbo-sourced front bumper lip with just one intake on the right side to allow for air flow to the front mounted oil cooler. Some models had a different front bumper mesh to bring the wind noise down to 74 dBA.
On the interior, pleated leather seats from MOMO were offered in White, Red or Tan colours. These seats came with their respective matching coloured carpets, pleated leather door card inserts as well as optional colour coded stitching for the hand brake, gear lever and for an all new three-spoke steering wheel. The Right-hand drive cars for 1997, however, retained the original, four-spoke steering wheel.
1998 facelift In May 1998, the GTV and Spider underwent a facelift (called Phase 2). The main changes included an updated interior with a new center console, a different control layout and switch arrangement along with a different instrument cluster and painted letters on the skirt seals. The main changes on the exterior included a chrome frame around the grille fitted in the bonnet and color-coded side skirts and bumpers. A new engine was also introduced, the 1.8-litre Twin Spark while the existing engines received some updates: the 2.0 Twin Spark was updated with a modular intake manifold with different length intakes and a different plastic cover. The power output of the 2.0-litre TS was raised to . Engines with the updated engine management units and have a nomenclature of CF2. The dashboard was available in two new colours styles in addition to the standard black: Red Style and Blue Style, and with it new colour-coded upholstery and carpets. The 3.0 24V model got a 6-speed manual gearbox as an optional extra. While the 2.0 V6 TB engine also became available for the Spider. From this year on, every V6-engined car had additional air intakes on the lower lip.
2000 engine revamp In August 2000, the engines were revamped to comply with the new Euro3 emission standards. All engines were slightly detuned and now had a new identification code "CF3". The 3.0-litre V6 12V engine was discontinued for the Spider and was replaced with the 24V version from the GTV, now equipped only with a 6-speed manual gearbox. The 2.0 V6 Turbo and 1.8 T.Spark engines were also discontinued, and, for the 2001 mode year, the engine range comprised only the 2.0 T.Spark and 3.0 V6 24V, until the "Phase 3" engine range was introduced. The GTV/Spider were the last Alfa Romeo automobiles made at the Arese plant, which was decommissioned with production moving to Pininfarina, at its Giorgio Canavese plant in Turin, in October 2000.
2003 facelift In 2003, a new and last refresh arrived (called Phase 3) with the exterior design changes performed by Pininfarina without the involvement of Enrico Fumia. The main design changes are focused on the front of the car with a new 147-style grille along with a redesigned front bumper with an offset license plate holder. Changes made to the interior of the car were minimal with a different center console, upholstery pattern and colours available. The instrument illumination colour was changed from green to red. An ASR traction control was introduced, which was not available for the 2.0 TS Base model. A series of new engines were also introduced: a 2.0-litre JTS engine with direct petrol injection and a 3.2-litre 24V V6 allowing for a top speed of .
By the end of 2004, production of the GTV and Spider came to an end, although some cars were still available for purchase until 2006. Overall, the TS model was the best-selling model of the range.
Characteristics
Engines
The engine range included of the GTV and Spider included the following range of the Inline-4 engine: 1.8-litre 16-valve () 2.0-litre 16-valve Twin Spark ()
The V6 engine range included: 2.0-litre 12-valve turbocharged () 3.0-litre 12-valve () 3.0-litre 24-valve () 3.2-litre 24-valve ().
The turbocharged 2.0-litre V6, called V6 TB, was developed due to Italy's fiscal policy imposing a higher sales tax on cars powered by engines with a capacity of more than 2.0-litres. It is essentially a sleeved-down version of the 3.0-litre V6 engine. The turbocharger helped maintain a higher power-output for the smaller displacement engine while avoiding the higher tax. Both variants of the 12-valve V6 engines have a redline of about 6,500 rpm, while 16 and 24-valve engines have a redline of 7,000 rpm.
The 2.0-litre 16-valve Twin Spark engine of the 2.0 TS model was based on the Fiat SuperFIRE-family block, featuring an Alfa Romeo-developed cylinder head with two spark plugs per cylinder. Variable inlet cam timing, which allowed for 25 degrees of variation, was designed to improve torque and provide a more linear power delivery. In addition, the engine has two belt driven balance camshafts rotating at twice the engine's speed in order to eliminate vibrations from the engine. The base 1.8-litre engine did not feature the balance shafts. CF2 and CF3 engines have plastic valve cover and variable-length intake manifold.
The 3.2 V6 24V GTV model was the fastest road going Alfa Romeo at the time, capable of accelerating from 0–100 km/h in just over six seconds and attaining a top speed of .
The last restyle of the GTV in 2003 saw the introduction of new 4-cylinder engines, in the form of the 2.0-litre JTS, with a power output of and featuring direct fuel injection, similar to systems used on diesel engines. The JTS engine uses only one spark plug per cylinder but retained variable-length inlet manifold and variable valve timing on the intake camshaft.
Specifications
Model Engine Displacement Max. power output Peak torque 0–100 km/h,s0-62 mph,s Top speed CO2 emissions Years Note Engine code1.8 TSI4 at 6,500 rpm at 3,500 rpm9.2210 g/km05/1998–08/2000Euro2AR 322012.0 TSI4 at 6,200 rpm at 4,000 rpm8.4225 g/km1995–05/1998Euro1AR 162012.0 TSI4 at 6,400 rpm at 3,500 rpm8.4220 g/km05/1998–08/2000Euro2AR 323012.0 TSI4 at 6,300 rpm at 3,800 rpm8.5220 g/km08/2000–2006Euro3AR 323102.0 JTSI4 at 6,400 rpm at 3,250 rpm8.4220 g/km04/2003–2006Euro 4937A10002.0 V6 TBV6 at 6,000 rpm at 2,400 rpm ( with overboost)7.4260 g/km1995–08/2000Euro1/E2AR 162023.0 V6 12VV6 at 5,600 rpm at 4,400 rpm7.3265 g/km1995–08/2000Spider Euro1/E2AR 161013.0 V6 24VV6 at 6,300 rpm at 5,000 rpm6.7278 g/km1997–08/2000GTV Euro1/E2AR 161023.0 V6 24VV6 at 6,300 rpm at 5,000 rpm6.8 278 g/km08/2000–04/2003Euro3AR 161053.2 V6 24VV6 at 6,200 rpm at 4,800 rpm6.3**315 g/km04/2003–2006Euro3936A6000 *performance values for GTV, unless otherwise stated **top speed with aerokit + for all, + for 3.0 V6 24V
Fuel economy EngineCombinedUrbanExtra-urban1.8 TS2.0 TS2.0 JTS2.0 V6 TB3.0 V6 12V3.0 V6 24V3.2 V6 24V *factory data
Equipment