17.01.2005 One of the star Italian attractions at the Autosport International Show this weekend is the new Autodelta GT Super, which has proudly taken its place in EVO magazine's 'Road & Track Gallery'

Autodelta GT Super

One of the star Italian attractions at the Autosport International Show this weekend is the new Autodelta GT Super, which has proudly taken its place in EVO magazine's 'Road & Track Gallery'.

This very latest appearance follows hard on the heels of the supercharged 3.2-lire V6-engined car's much anticipated 'world premiere' at the MPH04 Motor Show at Earls Court, London back in mid-November.

The Autosport International event proudly bills itself as the world's leading showcase for all aspects of motorsport, and the vast halls of the National Exhibition Centre are, for these four days bursting, with the cream and cutting edge of modern-day performance engineering.

Into this heady mix, which is embellished with sheer glitz and razzmatazz, comes the new Autodelta GT Super, and in the words of company boss, Jano Djelian, the car is 'more appropriately dressed for the occasion', boasting as it does a new, and much more prominent, boot spoiler. It is a new feature that works extremely well, giving the GT Super's smooth, Bertone-penned curves, a slightly more aggressive edge, that hints at the car's pent-up power increase.

On the spacious stand of EVO magazine, the Autodelta GT Super is in truly excellent company. The Italian beauty sits next to the brand new GBP325,000 V8-engined 'Ascari' supercar, which is making its 'world debut' at this show, while it is flanked on the other side by the Ultima GTR, the extreme track day car, which is also a 'racer for the road'.

Joining this illustrious trio is the ESMotorsport-built, Ferrari-based, 550 LM, a ultra-performance version of this car inspired by the Le Mans GT-class winning, Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello sportcars.

Based, as the Autodelta GT Super is, on the very successful Alfa Romeo GT, a recent and justifiable winner of the 'world's most beautiful car' award, the name 'Super' hints at the technology that has been applied by Autodelta, namely a specially developed Rotrex supercharger that sucks enough air to provide the 3.2 V6 engine with a total of 320bhp at 6,300 rpm.

To put this into perspective, this is 80bhp more over the standard 240bhp 3.2 V6 and the results in performance are equally as impressive. The Autodelta GT Super does the 0-60 mph (0-97 km/h) sprint in 5.4 seconds, shaving the original time by 1.3 seconds.

When fitted with the optional longer 6th gear (not an overdrive), the GT Super is able to reach a top speed of 175 mph (284 km/h). These figures become even more astounding when considering that the performance comes with the leather-clad, dual-zone, air-conditioned, luxury of Alfa Romeo’s true 4-seater, flagship coupe.

This is quite simply a phenomenal car; an Alfa Romeo which comes without Fiat’s ‘bean-counters’ attached. This is a car created by skilled engineers, steeped in Alfa Romeo tradition, who have no concept of the word 'compromise'.

Autodelta’s attention to engineering excellence is second to none, and this becomes overly apparent when regarding the GT Super. The centrifugal supercharger is space-efficient, running its own electric oil pump and additional oil cooler independent from the engine, with an intercooler.

Choosing to adopt the Rotrex supercharger is the result of two and a half years of durability and reliability testing of the unit in a wide range of Autodelta Alfa Romeo models. In order to match fuelling and ignition timing, the factory ECU has been remapped, and the installation has inbuilt safety features to control boost levels.

Like the Autodelta 156 3.7 GTA AM, and its smaller sister Autodelta 147 3.7 GTA AM, the newcomer has been fitted with a limited slip differential, to rein in the extra power, and sports suspension with coil over dampers. Large Brembo brakes at the front with 330 mm ventilated cross-drilled discs and 4 pot calipers ensure that the braking is up to the additional power increase.

Autodelta’s own styling and manufacturing arm Creativestudio, based in Oxford, is responsible for the distinctive, overt sporty look of the GT Super. The sharp, no-nonsense image of the GT Coupe has been enhanced by new front and rear bumpers, a discreet rear boot spoiler and a redesigned dual exhaust pipe with a touch of retro feel, which contributes to the GT Super’s unique screaming engine sound.

The sense of sheer power is abundant in the exhaust note alone, something however that can unfortunately not be witnessed in the NEC, yet it sounds like no other car. The GT Super simply screams and breathes; a living testament to Alfa Romeo’s epic history in supercharging.

Supercharging and the Alfa Romeo marque have a mythological status in motoring history, which grew after their successful P2 racing car won the Milanese factory their first World Championship title in 1925. Alfa Romeo’s supercharging technology soon trickled down to Alfa Romeo exclusive road-going models, and in the 1930s they offered the world’s fastest production cars. The most famous of these was the sublime 8C 2900 series, a series which also brought Alfa Romeo their most Mille Miglia wins ever.

Now, exactly 80 years after the start of Alfa Romeo's supercharging success, Autodelta have re-engineering the glory days of the 'Compressore' for an exciting new chapter in modern-day Alfa Romeo motoring.

What makes the GT Super truly special, Autodelta believe, is the customers’ ability to specify precisely what they want. The complete package costs £38,925.00, which considering what you get in terms of performance, luxury and exclusivity is good value for money. Autodelta’s GT Super, like all Autodelta models, is strictly customer-built, with its own plaque carrying the serial number.

By Edd Ellison & James Granger

Source: www.italiaspeed.com