Alfa Pages

[rich t]

Good news - my 33 should get through the MOT without too much work and should be back with me at the weekend.

Now to start playing with it

Its biggest problem seems to be torque steer. Have any of you guys had any success reducing it? In a general attempt to sort the handling, I was thinking along the lines of strut braces front and back, stiffer (maybe lower) springs and wider wheels / tyres. Will that make a noticable difference to the torque steer too?

On the subject of wide tyres, how fat can you go before the tyres start rubbing on the car on 14 and 15 inch wheels?

Also - one for all you series 3 people - how much difference will taking the cat off make? and... Has anyone found that a cone filter will f8ck up the MAF sensor or am I safe on that one?


Ta

Rich T

[tvatavuk]

Hi,

You have problem with torque, buy a 4x4 33, like P4
Front strut should help.
I think that with wider wheels/tyres you will only get more of it, or at least it will be stronger when it starts.
185 are OK, 195 sometimes rubs depending on many factors real wheel/rubber width and offset, state/softnes of shocks.
There is allways chance to damage MAF, but it's rare on 33s if you don't let cone soaking in oil bath.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[LDA]

ym 33 perm 4 doesnt even have a cat. no torque steer and i have a cone filter.

the filter helped free up the revs a little but didnt really make much difference to the performance.

never had a 33 with a cat and this is my second p4. 1.7 16v 137bhp. the cat takes around 5bhp off the power.
so with a de cat pipe and filter you could see 9bhp?
i've not had a problem with my cone filter on my maf. this is the 3rd injected 33 that i've had a filter on. never had a prob.

also poly/solid suspension bushes seem to help with the torque steer. but i had them put in at the same time as a strut brace.

you could get an LSD for the gearbox. that would rid you of the torque steer once and for all. not a cheap option tho.

good luck.

L.
_________________
A good workman allways blames his sh*t tools.

[rich t]

cheers guys- that's a lot of help. Yes, I could buy a p4 but they cost a bit more than I paid for this 33.

i KNOW the decat makes sense - having driven cat and non-cat 33s the ones without definitely go much much better. The filter also seems to make sense as there is such a good cold air feed as standard - it's wasted on the stock filter!

I think I'll keep the wheels as stock - it seems that wider tyres will just accentuate the torque steer problem and the tyres will cost me more!

I can spend the money that would have gone on wheels on poly bushes- that's a good idea.

First priority has to be strut brace though - not to expensive and easy to fit. I can get away with lowering too I think - the sump isn't as silly low as it is on my 145!

[LDA]

watch the exhaust. i had a lowered 1.5ti (s2) and i managed to rip the exhaust studs out of the block just going over a hump backed bridge. doh!

it was only lowered -35mm too. not good at all.
took me nearly a week to put new studs in myself after filling the holes left by puling the old ones out with the exhaust
i think that my shocks had seen better days tho.

the handling of my car was much better after it had been lowered. but i had to have a new exhaust manifold fitted after destroying the old one.
i had the vertical parts of the pipes shortened a little to give me a bit more room. and then wrapped the car round a sign post on some ice about 2 months later

i'm never going to have a grey car ever again. i swear they are bad luck!

L.
_________________
A good workman allways blames his sh*t tools.

[tvatavuk]

those with CAT have also different exhaust? cams, which also makes difference, so removing cat will not give back 137-129=8hp? .
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[Eddie W]

Personally I reckon 195/50/15s are the bees knees on a 33. Around a 34 offset and I have not noticed any increase in torque steer but a definite lift in grip. No rubbing either. I don't seem to notice the understeer that others complain of except occasionally on low speed roundabouts and even a rear driver will often be the same unless you get fairly wild ( and have a fairy godmother who owns a tyre shop) and have a lot of horsepower. On the winding roads and high speed cornering that they were designed for, I find the 33 fairly impressive.
Regards Eddie
_________________
A LITTLE FURTHER A LITTLE FASTER

[rich t]

Eddie - That would be standard 145 alloy size then, although IIRC i think the offset on those is 36. Right, time to go forth and find a set of 145 QV wheels. Bravo/Brava/Marea ones will be OK too.

Tino - my cat / non cat experience is actaully with a 1.7 series 2 and a 16v series 3 with cat. The series 2 just seemed more willing - hardly exactly anything measurable I know

[Guest]

I have 145 QV rims on my P4 - no rubbing and a definite improvement on the standard 185/60 14s on my last P4!

Now if I can only get teh 4x4 working again! Doh!

[tvatavuk]

RichT I had CAt on my, but I removed it
It goes a bit better then without but not as non cat version originaly, and less changes to back box because of less water
If you think s3 is less willing, try P4 to see a real pig.
_________________
Tino Vatavuk
Little black dress which replaced Alfa Romeo 33 S 16v Permanent 4 GMo

[Guest]

I have several sets of struts in my workshop for the 33 & all of them have 1 thing in common. The rubber surround for the strut top bearing is breaking up, in the short term this allows the strut top to move around at will & in the worst case it allows the struts to fall out!

I am working on a replacement insert using Polyurethane bushes.

[sportston]

I've just fitted a set of AVO lowering springs and superflex bushes front and rear. Make sure you get the 4 wheel alignment checked afterwards!! It has made a great difference to the handling, but I now find the chassis is let down by lack of grip. I'm thinking of getting 15" rims and 205 tyres....We'll see what I can afford! Let me know if you have any success. Next I need to uprate the brakes before I fit a supercharger. Anyone got a set of Brembos?

[Guest]

Hi,

Yep got a set of Brembos - not finally fitted yet but not far off. Just trying to get the front hubs changed to studs - with studs coming from behind the mounting plates.

Also, the supercharger is in the box under the desk, I need to get around to fitting that shortly.