The Alfa Twinspark Engine

[Darren156]

Gotta say, after having now driven my 'new' 96 GTV Twinny for a few hundred miles or so, most recently on a trip to Cardiff and back from Bristol, I must say how much I've missed the sound of this engine!!!

It sounds BRILLIANT!!! I've had 4 GTV's in the past, 2 Twinny's and 2 V6's, and the noise this little engine makes just makes you want to rev it harder and harder. (With the wife yelling at me to slow down and change gear of course)

I did like the noise of my BMW 330ci's but the noise this engine makes is something completely different, it's like it wants me to change gear at 6000RPM all the time!

Hmm, I'd better go check the oil...

[Oilchange]

I liken the Alfa twinny to an excitable Jack Russel with a firework up its arse!

[benters]

i have always wondered what the benefit was of a twin spark engine, i see a lovely Alfa almost every morning and it does sound cracking, but the twin spark thing whats that all about ?

[trashbat]

benters said:

i have always wondered what the benefit was of a twin spark engine, i see a lovely Alfa almost every morning and it does sound cracking, but the twin spark thing whats that all about ?

From Wiki:

wiki said:

The two sparks plugs on the 8V Alfa Twin Spark engines fire at the same time and are symmetrically placed around the vertical line passing through the intake and exhaust valve centers. The flame front travels less distance which allows less ignition advance to be used. Also, leaner mixtures can also be tolerated for better fuel economy

but:

wiki said:

On the Alfa 16V Twin Spark engines one spark plug is ideally located in the centre of the cylinder, as is common in virtually all multi-valve configuration engines. In order to accommodate a second spark plug in the 4-valve combustion chamber, a smaller diameter spark plug is located the very edge of the combustion chamber between an inlet and an exhaust valve. The location of the additional plug means that its impact on performance and combustion efficiency is at best marginal, and suggests that the fitting of dual plugs to the 16 valve engine was about marketing a 'Twin Spark' in the Alfa Romeo range.

[benters]

cheers trashbat. . .read and understood

[Oilchange]

If you've never driven one, look for a chance. (On my old 146) it seemed to have a character of its own, having an urgency and tug like a dog on a leash that made the bonnet rise amusingly.
Then there was the sound, it growled like a little terrier pulling on the lead.
Made me smile anyway...

[arguti]

The twinspark was originally developed for racing but in today's world it is more about reducing emissions.

How effective it is at doing that, I have no idea But it should be pretty easy to differentiate if one had access to a MOT station testing equipment.

I use a 155 as a daily driver when not carting kids around and I absolutely look forward to every drive. Can's say I feel the same about the Prius+ and VW Touran we also run (although to be fair, the Touran does its fair share of breakdowns)

[.:ian:.]

Love mine, just wish it was as fast as it sounds and feels! Often I rag it the redline in 3rd and then 4th and find some bloke in a TDI hanging off my rear bumper