Autodelta will be present at the Auto Italia Spring Italian Car Day at Brooklands this Saturday (29th April) with their appearance headlined by the public debut of a new model. This year's event has fallen towards the end of a major transition period for Autodelta which has seen the early part of 2006 spent developing new packages based around the new Alfa Romeo 159, 159 Sportwagon, Brera and Spider models. The first of these exciting options will be a 260bhp supercharged Alfa 159 2.2 JTS (petrol), which is due to be launched in the coming months.

However before the arrival of the supercharged Alfa 159 JTS range comes another 'world first' from Autodelta, their latest full production model: the Autodelta 156 JTS Super. Cementing their position as the world's leading aftermarket Alfa Romeo performance engineering concern, Autodelta introduce the first production version of Alfa Romeo's JTS (Jet Thrust Stoichiometric) direct injection petrol engine. In fact of the major carmakers only the VW/Audi Group currently applies forced induction principles to the new generation of efficient direct injection technology engines.

"We have spend a lot of time developing and applying practical supercharging technology to the direct injection JTS family of engines," comments Autodelta boss Jano Djelalian. "Customer demand for a significant increase in power, from what is a very efficient and economical but somewhat underpowered JTS unit, has been quite strong." Autodelta have fully engineered the new package to remain fully EURO4 compliant, spending significant time re-mapping the power unit, and importantly retaining the positive fuel consumption attributes that are well associated with the JTS engine. Power output is now raised to 220 bhp @ 6,600rpm while peak torque is boosted to 192 lb/ft @ 3,400rpm. In fact the new Autodelta 156 JTS Super produces the same torque at 2,500 rpm as does the Alfa 156 GTA.

The new 'Super' option now immediately available on the 156 JTS will in the coming months be rolled out to the other JTS powered members of the Alfa Romeo family: the GT Coupé, Spider (facelift) and 166 (facelift.) "Developing the Alfa 156 Super has been a very important project for us," says Jano. "Applying supercharging to the JTS engine has allowed our engineers to gain a lot of experience before stepping on to developing a forced induction option range for the new Alfa 159 and Brera which, while using a brand new breed of engines, require similar principles to be applied."

At Brooklands Autodelta will also be represented by two of their highly exclusive bespoke range of dramatic cutting-edge performance models: the GT Super Evo and 147 GTA AM 3.7 Super, the latter being one of the fearsome 400bhp supercharged versions. The most recent addition to the Autodelta stable is the GT Super Evo. First launched late last autumn at the MPH05 Motor Show, customer interest led Autodelta to create an even more extreme version of their refined GT Super with power now hiked up to 340bhp and greater torque levels available. Still a 'grand tourer' it is now one which is equally at home on the race track as the long distance European motorway network. Autodelta will offer a brief preview of another new supercharged model at Brooklands: the 300bhp GTV 3.0 Super, which is scheduled to be officially added to the range next month.
 

"We have had a very been a busy period here," says Jano, "as we finalize a new range of packages for the Alfa 159, 159 Sportwagon, Brera and Spider which will cover all angles from engine performance upgrades and improvements to the chassis, suspension, braking, electronics and styling. However, at the same time we had to satisfy demands with orders for our current bespoke range of cars, and in particular 3.7-litre engine conversions." Autodelta have also recently completed their first 156 Sportwagon GTA AM conversion.

Another important event in the Autodelta diary this year will be the 'European Tour 2006' which will take place from Friday 15th to Thursday 21th September. Last year the inaugural running of the event saw four Autodelta 'factory' cars crossing Europe at speed to end up at Rimini on the Adriatic coast of Italy, where the cars were presented at the 'My Special Car Show'. "It was a huge success," says Jano, "and we have had so many people saying that they would like to take part this year we will be opening the tour up for people to join us with their cars. We are currently finalizing the route and itinerary and we will be making a full announcement during May. We pretty excited by this, it will be something special."

The historic Brooklands complex is one of the few places in the UK where the visitor can see and hear exotic cars in action at close quarters as the short demonstration track which starts at the bottom of the Test Hill is where spectators can enjoy the roar of the cars as they prepare for the short 1 in 4 sprint, while excellent viewing is also available at Members’ Bridge where the cars run at speed on the restored banked track. The combination of car demonstrations, club displays, aviation and motoring exhibitions, and the Italian trade village make the Auto Italia organised event an excellent day for both enthusiasts and families.

For more information visit: www.autodelta.co.uk