tokyo gtv purchase

thanks & i appreciate the information. IS IT possible was a made for japan only special ( i do believe 2l. tb's did not go into the UK market.

reason for asking my wife (she's japanese & better at searching on japanese sites than me!!) located another gtv "corse" edition.
seems to have same exhaust, same steering wheel & carbon fibre bits inside, & same branding as 1st one i looked at.
ALSO has same looking limited edition plate next to gearshift lever

wish i could post the link....(takes a lot of time to download dealer pictures) but seems site will not not accept japanese characters.
this one is a 1999, 43,000km priced in same range (jpy 1 million).

BUT most interesting to me are....
front fender scoops (functional??) & were these standard for 1999 tb's?? also seems more alfa names embossed in the fibreglass - would suggest a factory edition?? as difficult to now envision a local importer or tuner doing expensive bits (momo wheels, 1 off spoilers,
carbon fibre bits & dual exhaust set ups).....

Uhm... the first thing that comes to my mind is that this could be some kind of non-official edition for the Japanese market... or something like that.. i.e. not an Alfa Romeo official version, but some local trader/company that made it.. Like Autodelta in UK... those are not official Alfa Romeo models, but are still made in a small series, so it's some sort of halfway between an official one and a tuned, single unit, like in normal personalized tuning.

Also, i noticed in the back of the second GTV you posted the same triangle shaped a-la-cloverleaf triangular badge... i've never seen it before your two photos, so it may be something related to Japan... i've seen something similar here in Italy for Lancia: Miki Biasion, the former rally Lancia driver and rally champion, has (had?) a Lancia dealer shop here where i live, and all the Lancias that come (came?) out of his shop had a badge in the front grille as to show that it was a Lancia bought in the shop of the famous champion.
Nothing related to any official Lancia initiatives, though allowed by Lancia... think you get the commercial point of it



Let's see what Rudy says about it.. about the mods, its really nothing special about the costs.. the Momo wheels is probably cheaper than the original wheel (as original spares are usually overpriced)
I do doubt that Alfa could even be allowed or accept to do such change on the wheel (the momo wheel has no airbag as far as i can see).
Local preparation can be quite intensive.... Autodelta UK had a special version of the 147 GTA with the V6 brought from 3.2 to 3.7 L and over 300 bhp, sith limited slip differential, new suspensions etc etc... some bodykit and internal mods are quite cheap compared to that.
Anyway, the whole point that confuses me is the total lack of documentation... if you look at ANY modified or special version you should at least (and usually do) find at least some reference somewhere.. which does not seem to be the case here..

interesting am starting to search on yahoo.jp (i am somewhat limited because of my nihon-go abilities.....) there are quite a few sites dealing
with this edition

including here (japan) but i note this one does not have fended induction vents! but does have same (cloverleaf'd spoiler & interior bits....plus modified dual exhaust which sounds much like my former 04 cobra!!)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIz6sCDsiw
another site....
http://lussocars.com/lusso_report/2010/02/...v-corse-12.html

when my wife has time we will try & get on japanese alfa blog & see if we can get more info....am touch intrigued.....& i think the induction vents on latest gtv we have sourced look outstanding (not fussy re white wheels...though). this car regretfully is located near kyoto.

Digged a little bit around.. found no news about the car but... you may fn this useful.. seems to be a GTV Japan owners club... i do not want to post their emai to avoid spamming them, but at this link there is an address that maybe can help you..
www.alfagtv.com/info/

thanks for that, & we will search out japanese sites as i think may be best source of info,
whatever comes about the 99 tb with front fender induction vents does really turn me on!
maybe dual out exhausts only a bonus?

Ciao!!!

Scusa se arrivo tardi come sempre,ma mille cose da fare...
Allora dagli interni ti posso dire con certezza che è un esemplare del 95-96 (il My 97 ha le leve clima simili al 155 e non come quello nelle foto che vedi).
La conferma è anche il volante a 4 razze e non a 3 (nel My 97 è a tre razze):pomello NON ORIGINALE.
I cerchi NON SONO originali da 16" ma da 17" da quello che vedo (misura forse 215/45 ZR17) ma non sono sicuro dalle foto:i telai del 95-96 devono calzare quelle misure per EVITARE di toccare i parasale all'anteriore e la lamiera al posteriore (capita questo problema,con questi telai del 95-96 con le misure 225/45 ZR17). Scarico non originale (non esiste "doppio".. di serie)

Il valore non dovrebbe essere,in €,superiore ai 5000€ per le condizioni in cui si trova,per max 90mila KM.

..per quanto riguarda la produzione NON DI SERIE ORIGINALE MA RIMANEGGIATA,non sono in grado di dare informazioni se non,come Ricky suggerisce,contattare gli amici di www.alfagtv.com/index.html (dove andando di almeno 4 anni indietro nel guestobook c'è anche una mia di firma di saluto!! )

Sinceramente l'alettone mi sembra un Cadamuro (che viene scelto come kit ufficiale after market Alfa Romeo in Malesia -almeno nel 2010 era cosi' -) rimaneggiato col logo ALFA CORSE che nella versione
europea non esiste proprio...

Il doppio scarico sul GTV funziona (cioè sui V6 esce fumo vero anche dall'altra bancata) ma è motivo puramente estetico,non funzionale e non favorisce nessun deflusso di gas:o meglio...non esistono prove scentifiche che ne testimonino l'effettivo miglioramento.
Sui V6TB l'importante è che SUBITO a ridosso della turbina NON VI SIA NULLA:cioè rimuovere il frangifiamme,mettere una catalitica a 200 celle e poi centrale libero.Solo il barilotto di contropressione del finale (o finali se si ha lo scarico a "Y") per non avere "vuoti" se si volessero anche i finali stessi liberi..

Per il resto non saprei proprio dire di che "serie" parallela si tratti..
[/QUOTE]

thanks - please do not apologize, you are never late & i appreciate your information (i think between my weak french & ever diminishing spanish i can understand much of your posting), & appreciate the link - i will pursue there in due course.

i agree with you these "corse" editions are tuner cars....not from the factory, but do have a common theme & their modifications seem well designed (at least to me)....

also agree the wheels are oversize (actually 17" not a bad size - especially considering 16" performance tires are getting rare) & its important that the installation, spacers if installed were done so correctly to prevent tirerub & bumpsteer on turn ins. appreciate the info re exhaust....its does have an appealing look to me.

so have located this alfa tuner site....(they have english pages) & the site is quite interesting. they have a racing heritage since 1994.

www.unicorse.co.jp/

they do have a line of interior parts (including shift knobs, carbon fibre bits) & exterior parts (& i notice from 1 of their pictures ('movie & photo gallery' they do induction vents on front of a gtv).
i am not sure this is the tuner responsible for this car (they do have their own logo)....but may be a starting point & with wife's help (need her language abilities ) to search out alfa tuner market here....will not be as extensive as bmw porsche or "godzilla" (skyline, or gt-r).

some tuner product here does command a premium over stock....such as rauh welt begriff (tuner of aircooled porsche, 911, 964, 993 series)
so well have to have some idea of who put these corse editions together in this market to understand that.

cheers....thanks again

re your link
www.alfagtv.com/news/

only for information - looks like its gone bad, news has not been updated for a long time & guestbook is full of "spam mail".
tried to send a mail to host/administrator's personal contact site & it was returned.

we are continuing to try & source other alfa blogs here.

cheers, gerry

only to update......
have had several responses from brokers here & alfa owner.....nothing documented BUT ....rather than re word here is cut & paste of message ....& below that google translation:



今回ご紹介する車両は通常のGTVではなく限定生産されたGTVアルファコルセです。
アルファロメオの社内レース部門である「アルファコルセ」がチューニングしたモデルです。しかし、この車両は日本でしか販売はされていません。その理由は、日本のある自動車博物館のオーナーがフィアット本社（アルファロメオの親会社）を巻き込んでこの車両のプロジェクトを発起したからです。イタリアの大会社が一人の日本人の熱意に応えたことは特筆すべきことだったようです。

アルファコルセのベースモデルは、2.0リッターV6 ターボモデルです。このエンジンにアルファコルセオリジナルのECUが組み込まれ、排気系を変更し、パワーを少しアップしています。ちなみにスタンダード車は201馬力、コルセのデータでは231馬力となっています。エンジンマウントは強化されたものが装着されています。
TRANSLATION

This is a normal vehicle to introduce a limited edition GTV GTV is Arufakoruse instead.
In-house racing division of Alfa Romeo "Arufakoruse" The model is tuned. However, this vehicle is only sold in Japan are not. The reason is that the owner of the Fiat headquarters of the Japanese Automobile Museum (the parent company of Alfa Romeo) is the suggestion from this project involving the vehicle. It responded to the enthusiasm of Japanese people in an Italian company that seems to have beensignificant .

Arufakoruse base models, the 2.0-liter V6 turbo model. The engine's ECU includes Arufakoruseorijinaru to change the exhaust system, power is up slightly. Standard 201 hp car the way, the data in Corse and has 231 horsepower. The engine mounts have been installed have been strengthened.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

in any event these cars were not modified in japan.
perhaps modified in italy....but they all carry a limited edition plate (numbered), identical exhaust & carbon fibre bits inside along with the spoiler. some have front induction vents.

they all tend to carry a premium over normal gtv market.

there are several japanese who have published their cars on you tube & we are trying to make contact.
this one does pay attention to limited edition plate next to shift lever

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGL_cR_UEx0


reports on planned numbers for the edition from 1 source were 200, but somewhere in the range of 100 produced....only for japanese market.

mmmmmmmmmm...... in house Alfa racing division is NOT Alfa Corse... doesn't sound right to me...

Also, for most of its histore Alfa racing division was not in-house..

Alfa cars raced from 29 to 38 mostly with S.A. Scuderia Ferrari by Enzo Ferrari in 38 Alfa decided to race officialy, founded
Alfa Corse, which until 39 was managed by Enzo Ferrari... in the 60's all racing activities were delegated to Autodelta, by Ing. Carlo Chiti, which was an external company, in 1966 Autodelta (as an external company) was closed, and the activities came back to the Alfa Corse department, which though retained the name Autodelta.
It eventually changed name again, in 2000 to Team Autodelta, which was managed by an external team, the N-Technology Team.
So, in 1997 the "Alfa Corse" departments was Autodelta.. and it really sounds strange to me that this is an officialy tuned version from the Italian factory... it would be very nice to understand more

would be nice to understand for me to!
there are about 100 plus of these TB's made only for japan. what seems consistent is they all had (new) dual out exhausts, were remapped & all had a limited edition numbered plate mounted next to gear shift lever....& 3 reports we received so far indicate were made outside of japan.
my wife is japanese (my language skills are weak) so we might find an original owner or a dealer that will provide specific purchase when new details.

i have spent the better part of past 2 wks searching out 'alfacorse gtv' 1st of all i would report the broker's documentation re car & yr. of registry is perfect.

now re alfacorse edition....there are approx + 100 of these in japan. they were not upgraded by aftermarket performance companies in japan & they were all imported as that special model.

all were plated (limited edition sterling silver plate left of gear shift lever ) & all specially badged "alfacorse" ... these were original badges & in most cases the enamel color has now cracked & chipped

there are some blogs/websites here that discuss them - i can post those.

there is a spec sheet that details enhancements made to stock GTV TB basically

front suspension
spring rate 17n/mm → 23n/mm, 35mm height down
rear suspension
spring rate 30n/mm 26 → ~ 53n/mm, 10mm height down, lowered on Bilsteins

Engine:
-intakes under bumper larger
-larger intercooler
-intercooler pipejoints switched to aluminum from rubber
-engine remapped (more turbo boost, fuel, air) resulting in published specifications:
.bhp 235 @ 6360 rpm versus stock 201 @ 6000 and torque increased 27.6kgm/2750 → 31.0kgm / 3,000 rpm.
-dual (alfacorse) exhaust

other
-special alfacorse spoiler
-carbon fibre interior parts
-alfacorse bumper for dual exhaust


there are 4 on the market now....& so now in my opinion looks like this edition does exist. still trying to locate original owner from japanese blogs

seems like a very nice gtv,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

interesting... would be very nice to understand who officialy made that version... it's rather amazing that no official information can be found from Alfa Romeo, so i guess it's not a special version made from Alfa Romeo (they actually DO have informations and details on special versions for foreign markets)... maybe it's some official agreement between the italian home and the japanese division...

assume it was managed/directed by alfa romeo japan but can get no info from them.

in any event ....can anyone comment on above modifications that went into the TB....(remapping for increased turbo boost, suspension adjustments, etc)?

thanks, gerry

Gerry, i asked for more informations on other forums... i got just one answer, from a guy who has a japanese friend..
it seems that the whole name is ALFA ROMEO GTV V6TB Tuned by "ALFA CORSE".
It's a Japan sale only, a semi-official project developed by a Japanese (or at least a living in Japan) Alfa owner who also has an automobile museum in Japan.
It's not an official alda project, but was developed by this guy and FIAT together.
The ECU and the exhaust system has been tuned and the engine has 235PS,
Bilshtein shock absorber, Eibach coil spring and lower arm have been mounted.
The number of manufactured vehicles should be almost 50 to 100 vehicles and their colour was totally red.

He pointed me to three videos, of which just the first one seems to display and original GTV Alfa Corse


www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGL_cR_UEx0&feature=share
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KIz6sCDsiw&feature=share
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZqYZJqYN-8&feature=share