2.5 liters. V6. All wheel drive. 420HP. Revs to 11,600 rpm. Greatest sounding motor of all time?
▴2 The Alfa 155 V6 Ti was a FIA Class 1Touring homologated race car that participated in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM), and subsequently the ITCC, from 1992 to 1996.
▴3 The FIA Class 1 Touring group was born due to regulations of Group A changing to allow for vehicles to have more modifications and driver aids, such as ABS, all wheel drive, and traction control.
▴4 Rules dictated that the participating cars and their motors had to be production based, motors had to be 6 cylinders or less, motors couldn’t be larger than 2.5L or 4 valves per cylinder, but drivetrain, aero, and everything else was up to each teams interpretations of the rules.
▴5 - ▴8 Believe it or not, this Alfa is the most winningest race car to ever compete in DTM with 38 victories and winning the overall championship in 1993 in the hands of driver Nicola Larini.
The motor on the 1996 Alfa is considered to be one of the greatest sounding motors of all time, due in part to its 90°V-design, and its notable 11,600rpm redline. Sergio Limone, a chief engineer of the heralded 80’s Group B Lancia team and also had a heavy hand in designing the 155 V6 Ti, stated that the 90°V design was something FIAT at the time did not want to develop since DTM was all but finished after Alfa and Opel indicated they were leaving due to the financial inequalities between race teams and the FIA, and also because “they did not want to keep winning.”
▴9 This block of the motor was based on the V6 that was found in the Lancia Thema. Alfa took that motor, increased tolerances, lightened the motor, and what we have is pure aural bliss.
Even though DTM as we knew it ended in 1996, luckily, Alfa Romeo continued developing the 90°V design, resulting in one of the greatest sounding motors of all time.
📸Sources: | @alfa155italia | wikipedia |