Now ready for a tune up

I proudly own a V reg 156 V6 sp3......black and black leather.
I love it.
I was recently offered a 05 scooby and to be fair i did consider it as the price was right.
I came to my senses though thank god.
So now is the time to get them hps up.
I am a novice at this but learn quickly so here goes (and before you all say search etc I want to hear it them the horses mouth so that there is no mistakes made .)

I was thinking (in the order of doing things )

1. bmc filter
2. new cat back exhaust (not sure which yet)
3. red dote remap.
4. Gta inlet runners (they are the chome pipes yes?)

Am I on the right track here?

What can I expect in power gains?
Would a top engine brace help?
Would a larger fuel pump help?

Any ideas, advice and help most welcome .........
I live in Staffordshire so pretty central to things.


Many thanks

1 - i would estmate around 215-230bhp
2 - On a v6? Definately
3 - No, no need unless you are looking to find massive amounts of BHP

finally, Q2, Q2, Q2!!!!

im pretty much going down the same route as you fluffybunny
but out of intrest does anyone know what the benefits are to fitting
a plenum from a 3.0 or a gta just wondered

If it´s bigger there should be a gain, wouldn´t expect much hp´s though.
on the other hand, join that with a set of sports camshafts..... mammma miaa

so am on the right track thats good to know.
the bigger inlet runners just bolt on yes???
what is a Q2??? (thinking it is a diff yes or no)
What is a plenum?

many thanks

Originally Posted by fluffybunny

so am on the right track thats good to know.
the bigger inlet runners just bolt on yes???
what is a Q2??? (thinking it is a diff yes or no)
What is a plenum?

many thanks

The plenum is the intake manifold, with V6 written on it or GTA...metal thing where all the chrome pipes in the v6 come out from..

Originally Posted by fluffybunny

so am on the right track thats good to know.
the bigger inlet runners just bolt on yes???
what is a Q2??? (thinking it is a diff yes or no)
What is a plenum?

many thanks

here's a pic for you...

The GTA logo's most probably the only difference. 2.5, 3.0 & 3.2 plenums are same.

You'd need plates and gaskets to go with the runners.

so the plates just go straight on then......

id leave the remap until last. that way the tuners will get the absolute best out of the earlier mods.

yes, your on the right track... perhaps consider also a sports cat or bypass pipe?

dont get to hung up chasing peak bhp figures. i would much prefer to sacrifice top end in favor of a shed load of low/mid torque where it really counts on the road. you could gain nothing top end but a good gain across the revs would be so much more noticable and much more usable.

as mentioned, hot cams can give good gains on the V6. then again, so can a supercharger conversion

okay now ready to do the upgrades......just need to clarify what the best way would be to do it, and the that I am getting the right items.
1. new airfilter..........which one, where from
2. engine brace .....where from
3. cat back exhaust .....where from, which one
4. remap angel tuning or reddot.
5. inlet runners.............where do I get these from?


and anything else you guys recommend.


Many thanks

please guys tell me where toget these items from........

many thanks

1. new airfilter..........which one, where from
Ebay or alfisti.net

2. engine brace .....where from
Not sure

3. cat back exhaust .....where from, which one
Alfa Romeo Parts and Alfa Romeo Spares from EB Spares - Specialist Alfa Parts Dealers

4. remap angel tuning or reddot.
Red-dot, club members get discount on remaps.

5. inlet runners.............where do I get these from?
Ebay, scrappy or wanted ad on the forum.

thanks for that.....
reddot says they would have to rechip the car due to its age (Vreg 1999) so no club discount (will be joining at some point this week).
Angel tuning have said they dont do rechipping so put me in touch with someone closer to home.....Jason is his name and his web site is

MORE-BHP.COM - MOBILE CHIPTUNING NORTHWEST ENGLAND.

Will rechipp for £300 which was cheaper than reddot.

just sourced a lower strut brace from a member here so hoping that will make a difference, but will probally get a upper one aswell when I come across one.
airfilter BMC CDA angel tuning can supply one for £180.

will put a wanted add in a moment.

thanks for the help guys

Decat. 3-4 %
Raggazzon Exhaust. 5%
Bmc Air Box. 2-3%
Inlets.... no idea.
Remap. with above 20bhp.
225/230 BHP.
like said above low down torque is best. not top speed.
id like to get my mine pulling 0-60 around 6-6.5 secs.

FluffyBunny contacted me via PM but then I found this thread of his so thought I'd post what I said to him so that anyone else who is thinking about doing some mods can read it as well:

Originally Posted by Pud237

Hi mate, right I hope this lot helps:

1) Air filter - I've got a BMC CDA and I do think it is worth the money - about £180, which is a lot, but the CDA is probably the best induction set-up you can get.. I've also got an AutoDelta Carbon Intake pipe which also costs £180 new. It didn't make a blind bit of difference after I fitted it. I'm still ****ed off as I paid £50 on eBay for it, but glad I didn't pay £180 like some have..

2) Cat back exhaust - yes, you could get your local to do it. But they might not be able to replicate the 'Alfa sound' like you get with a Ragga or Supersprint.

I don't know if you know, but SuperSprint are designed for power as much as anything else - it's why they are so expensive - Not that a backbox makes a massive amount of difference anyway.. I think a full system for a GTA (inc manifolds) costs about £3,500.. I kid you not! There has been a thread on it recently..

I think most power gains from the exhaust would come from a decat tbh. Its in the pipeline for me once I get it through its MOT at the end of the month.

3) For the bigger inlet runners and plates, ring around the Alfa breakers. I would suggest trying AutoLusso first off - 01525 221921, ask for Ned, tell him Dan with the 3.0 156 recommended you

Other than that, eBay, but look for someone breaking a 166 3.0 or gtv 3.0.. You could find a GTA but they are the same and aren't broke often.

4) Red Dot is best for the remap, if your car is an early 2.5 then Red Dot I think are the only place in the country that can actually map it. Its not mappable through the ODB diagnostics port, the ECU actually has to be physically removed and connected to their system.

You could chip it with something like the Dastek Unichip like mine, but that would be a lot more expensive. The previous owner fitted that on my car, if it was me I would have gone to Red Dot. Augusto knows his stuff, you could ring him on 0870 300 2354 for a chat. He will probably recommend GSR Engineerings silicone induction pipe - it is good but costs around £300. Then you have to still sort out a filter to go on the end of it. I think he recommends using a 3.0 GTV airbox, smoothing the internals and fitting a cotton filter. Now it probably would be better than a BMC CDA, but not by a massive amount, and would cost a lot more. At the end of the day, that extra could well be spent on brakes and suspension, as that is something the car really does need.

5) No idea about a strut brace I'm afraid, but I will be looking into it at some point myself so watch out for my thread on it in the future.

Hope this helps,

As a few people mentioned some other things I'll also throw in my 2p worth:

GTA plenum - same size as the 2.5 and 3.0 - so no gain to be made there (I have one fitted). However, the 3.0 and 3.2 share the same runners, the 2.5 has smaller ones. Fitting the larger ones would make a decent top end gain.

To add to this, fitting GTA cams and timing it as a GTA should give you a fair whack more power to. Hopefully I'll be doing this soon once the car is back on the road.

Q2: Get it - makes such a difference putting the power down. This would probably be the best £500 spent compared to any other mod IMO, only a decent suspension set-up could compare in terms of value for money, or maybe a remap if it was a JTD.

Angel Tuning are correct in what they say about the car needing rechipping. I would recommend Red Dot do it, even though they are more expensive they have massive experience with Alfas, I would prefer to use them over an unknown guy. I've used Angel twice and while I was very happy with the remaps and the way the car drove, the car turned out to not have as much power as I was told.. So take from that what you will. Personally I wouldn't rule out using them again, but I would definitely see first-hand what Red Dot are like first.

cheers dan.

Thanks for that dan
makes me feel a bit more confident.
Found a supplier who will supply me a BMc airfilter kit for £162 all in
here is his web address

Welcome to Regal's Motorsport - Home

as to the chip I did speak to Jason at more BHP and he told me he does and has done alfa, and I liked the way he new is stuff ,plus he is only 45 mins away and not 2 1/4. I do understand what you are saying though.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Matt

are the inlet runners off a 3.ol 164 the same as the ones off the 3.0 l 166 or gtv etc?

If they're off the 210bhp, no, more info here.

ok so now it begins.......
picking up the airfilter on saturday.
Monday going down to my custom exhaust man to sort out the decat.
Got a lower omp strut coming from carter off here.
Still undecided about the remap.
Still looking for the larger inlet runners.
Wife not happy about the Q2 I want - got to work on her

What sort of difference will I notice (if any) with just the above 3 mods.......
1. bmc airfilter
2. decat
3. lower engine strut

Many thanks