It is a big car with a modestly powerful engine.

it should move along ok, but it won't be a sportscar due to the power to weight ratio.

A remap would help.

 

Mine drives pretty much the same as yours, i have an integrale for fun
I did find having the vehicle tracked by Peter Cambridge helped the handling no end, but i just enjoy the car for what it is, an overweight luxury cruiser. I guess what your after is a remap?, i decided against that.

 

I've considered a remap but I'm reluctant to spend a significant amount of money as I'm not convinced that it will really improve the situation.

It doesn't really feel like it's underpowered more that it just runs poorly. It's hard to describe really.

It feels to me like the worst car I've ever owned in terms of flexibility and driveability. Even the Xantia I had before it which was very slow and certainly not powerful was much more pleasant to drive around town than the 159.

 

Sorry i didn't read the runs poorly bit, mine doesn't it revs well, when asked, and touch wood has never missed a beat. I have removed the swirl flaps and blanked them, had the EGR blanked and deleted and i recently had the turbo rebuilt by Turbo Dynamics in Poole, i took the opportunity to replace the solenoid valve at the time.
However like yours it doesn't really like anything below 2000rpm, especially if i change up gear to early, when at 70 in 6th it will fall back on an incline unless i push harder. Sometimes on a motorway your mind wanders, you look down at the speedo and you've dropped back to 60. It runs faultlessly like i said though. My car suffers from the fact it is a 1.9 turbo diesel in a heavy car

 

Perhaps it's just the way they are then.

I think I might get some reconditioned injectors on it though to see how that affects things.

 

Not exactly comparing like for like but I have a 2.0 jtdm SW which has supposedly been remapped from 170bhp to 200bhp. It is certainly punchy in the mid range but I still find it slow away from the lights and pulling out of junctions. I put it down to the weight and turbo lag. I am considering have it remapped by an Alfa specialist instead to see if they can improve the low end.

 

On 2.0JTDm throttle pedal map should be adjusted, as stock map is just too "soft" and lazy. With proper mapping, 2.0JTDm can get quite punchy down low (I've done it) as the GTB1549v turbo spools up rather quickly... just be aware that DMF doesn't like that.

As for 1.9JTDm 16v, it deserves a remap, after all else has been sorted (primarily turbo and injectors), as it can offer really decent power and driveability. Swirl flaps are often debated, I personally find them to improve responsiveness down low by a slight margin, just as advertised.

 

Mine is no racing car but I don’t think it’s as bad as you describe,boost comes in around 1700-1800 rpm and can quite easily build speed in 6th from 70mph.

No swirl flaps,egr blanked and mapped out,injectors checked by Ned so they are good. Recent new turbo and N75.

Sounds like you have some underlying issues to me as it should perform better than it does. Have you put on MES see what injector correction is etc?

 

Thanks I've looked at the injection correction values on MES but to be honest I'm not sure exact what I'm looking for here. I could put it on MES tonight if someone could point me in the right direction....

 

On the correction look to see what figures it is reporting ideally you want them all close to each other and as near to zero as possible. Basically what it is showing is the injector duty per cycle + is adding fuel -is trimming fuel to achieve a smooth idle. If any are higher or lower the ecu is detecting that the cylinder is not firing quite right so attempting to correct it.

 

When I got my 2006 150bhp 1.9JTDm 159SW in 2009 I had the same feeling as the original poster - no urge at low revs, poor running and surprisingly poor fuel economy.

In 2012 I finally got it remapped, specifically asking for better power at low revs, and it was like driving a different car afterwards and as a bonus the fuel economy went up by a few mpg, despite it being far more entertaining to drive. I have worked out that what I saved in fuel over the first three years after the remap actually covered the cost of the remap (€300).

My 159SW is still going strong, with 220,000km on the clock and no transmission issues

 

I rented one in Italy when it came out twelve or so years ago and was pretty disappointed except on the motorway and the steering feel was ok. We drove to stay with friends in Tuscany and he reminded me earlier this year how it just sat unused for several days until it was time to drive back to the airport.

 

speak to turbo dynamics about your VNT settings, sounds to me like you have a late spooling turbo..

it's amazing the scope for variation on the standard garret specs.

you could also..

1) remap
2) fit a decat downpipe
3) remove the antishudder valve

before you do any of that though check that your vnt solenoid actuator is functioning as it should, you may have an intermittent vac leak on the small vac hose to the turbo VNT

I had a 1.9 JTDm in a GT which is absolutely a much lighter car but a re-mapped 1.9 will make 200bhp without breaking a sweat, 210 is possible without doing anything else to the car.

mine ended up at 242 bhp and 600 nm.

if it were me I would do in order..

1) make sure everything is working as it should
2) assuming it is re-map it with egr delete and decat downpipe
3) if this doesn't work ( and I doubt it wouldn't) then remove the turbo, get it on a flow bench and get turbo dynamics to adjust the VNT so the turbo spools earlier.

best of luck with it, the 159 and Brera are very heavy cars though so don't expect miracles ...they need 250bhp+ really in order to be anything other than ponderous.

 

Thanks for the pointers. Some food for thought there.

I've been meaning to fit silicone hoses on the VNT side of things but never quite got round to it. Do you know the size required?

The anti shudder valve. What are the benefits/disadvantages of removing this.

Likewise what are the benefits /disadvantages of removing the Cat?

 

Personally I wouldn’t remove anti shudder as it will help if you end up with a runaway engine to shut it down.

Silicone vac pipes if I remember correctly are 3mm bore.

Removing pre cat will aid in quicker spoil of turbo due to less restriction in exhaust.

 

Here are some performance figures I found for the 150bhp version.

Alfa Romeo 159 1.9 JTDm 150 hp - Specs & Performance


0-100 mph is about 28 seconds.

A remap should take it up just past the level of a standard 2.0 JTDM which does 0-100mph in about 24 seconds.

A standard 2.4 takes around 21 seconds to get to 100mph.

 

Sadly I sold my 159 ('07 plate, had done 140000 miles!) and bought a Giulietta about 4 years ago, but I don't remember any of the issues you describe as being how my 159 drove.

At the time I had it I did upwards of 20000 miles a year, and lots of it on A-roads around Scotland, so I did plenty of overtaking and hill climbing and never had an issue with torque or loss of speed on hills. I absolutely loved my 159, I have to say far more than I love the G that I have now, particularly the low down and cocooned driving position with all the dials angled towards the driver, and also the seats were much nicer in the 159.

 

Funny thing is that since I started this post it seems to have been running better for the last couple of days.....

 

It obviously knows you've got the hump with it!

I have a 2.4, and whilst it's a huge upgrade in power from my old 147 1.6, I used to enjoy the 147 a lot more, (although it is nice in the 159 not having to be up and down the gears constantly) even though, I find my 159 a bit inconsistent, it often feels slow or sluggish, other times it feels pretty nimble and quick.

A couple of weeks into my ownership, my 159 was remapped with an EGR blank by AutoLusso, who advised me that it appeared my DPF had been mapped out, likely by an unscrupulous seller - it made a huge difference, although they agreed that it didn't seem quite as it should be - since then it's had a new deswirled intake, and new cambelt - done properly this time - which has made the world of difference.

As I always claimed with my 147 is that I really think these cars just don't like being driven slowly - everything is just so less clunky and heavy when you give it the beans - sadly the road network and other motorists don't always make it possible...

 

We have a mapped 2.4 which started at 210 HP and is allegedly now 260. This seems to suit the car just fine. IMO it would be underpowered with an unmapped 2.4.

 

As mine was done by Autolusso, I don't have a dyno printout, although Loz was claiming about 280bhp for his if I recall, likely with more mods than mine has.

I'd be interested to see how their map compares to the equivalent from Gus or Adie - they claim 260ish for a 210 with no DPF.

Mine will need the DPF putting back, when I can be bothered, and might treat it to a trip to AHM just out of curiosity.

 

Should not think either of those companies would do a DPF free remap or tube these days.

 

They didn't, when buying the car I asked the trade seller to sort the 'dpf clogged' message and I would buy it - when I picked it up - gone - it was only when it went to AL that they noticed it was reading 1000% clogged on their screen. A conversation with the seller he told me it'd gone to his son in law, who was a 'diesel specialist' and he couldn't tell me what had been done - the DPF is intact, and didn't seem to have been tampered with.

None of the companies mentioned did anything unethical, or illegal, AHM's websits did show a dpf delete, but I never enquired as to whether it is still on offer - it might be 'not for highway use'

I had to buy a cheap DPF bypass tube from Ebay to keep the car running, as I had a trip from Southampton to Durham to make, and didn't need the car conking out - I've just not bothered to get it sorted yet - As I don't see many motorways nowadays, and the volume of people around here makes it nigh on impossible to get a DPF regen on the A & B roads, so I'm not overly keen to have it back tbh - it's a pretty bad solution to a problem that shouldn't exist - along with the EGR.

 

Understood....but you will need one for the MOT....and there's the potential £1000 fine if your get stopped without one too! Much as I know my car would go better without a DPF I'm usually too broke (all my spare cash goes into cars already!) to risk the fine! My asthmatic sister would not be impressed either...lol!

 

Well aware of that particular fact, so it will be going back on before the MOT, a friend of mine who runs his own MOT place is aware that it's running without one, so despite his offers to turn a blind eye - I wouldn't want him to risk his livelihood.

Once I've got the cash together, I'm going to ask AHM for a performance map and have it coded back in... well once I've sorted the brakes out anyway - that's surely more of a priority at this junction...

If stopped, I will act dumb, and show the text exchange from the selling dealer saying the issue with the DPF has been fixed -"sorry officer, I don't know anything about cars" - despite all these threats of VOSA spot checks - anyone actually heard of anyone getting caught? - I do know since my new manifold, I don't seem to get any visible smoke so guessing unlikely to be stopped on that basis.

Anyway, enough thread highjackery.....

 

You are correct about your friends livelihood and respect for that

I have a hybrid turbo on my 2.4 which is over 300 BHP

I have not heard of any VOSE spot checks other than at testing stations and these are to keep an eye on the testing station rather then individual cars

Ned

 

Sure..back on topic.....I drove a couple of 1.9 dervs when I was looking for mine. I found them ok performance wise..although I kind of new what to expect as we have the same engine in a couple of our work vans....but they are a bit lighter than the 159. I bought the
2.0 in the end...no more money (if you hunt around) and bearing in mind that they are only 20 horse more than the 1.9 they feel LOTS more lively. Even more so now wth the tuning box. Of cost a 1.9 will respond well to a box or map too.

 

I see them quite often....because I'm in the caravan trade we get pulled into the HGV checking places you see at the side of the road. That's were VOSA jobsworths work ! Whilst I've been there having weights etc checked along with the truckers I've heard them get radio calls from colleagues down the road that a smokey or otherwise suspicious car is coming and they (or a stationed policeman) pull it in to check. They have all the MOT details and history to hand before it's stopped. The two places I know it happens (so that's where I get stopped) is on the Shoreham flyover near Brighton and the big layby where the M5 and A30 cross in Devon. They are after the dishonest test centres as much as the drivers it would seem.

 

Well fitted silicone hose to the vacuum unit on the slam panel. Didn't manage to get the one to the turbo changed though. How on earth do you access that one!

 

From underneath,with undertray off it’s a simple job.