How Alfa Romeo (briefly) Dominated DTM

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Its 1992. The beastly Mercedes 190E Evo 2 has just won the DTM championship after 8 years of trying, failing, and trying again to grab hold of the crown. The championship’s Group A regulations had given rise to some of the most famous battles, between some of the most famous cars in the world, cars that you and I might even see out on the street (if you’re very lucky that is). But times were changing. DTM was looking to the future, and the future they saw didn’t include the Group A formula that had enraptured fans for nearly a decade. They sought to free manufacturers from the shackles of true road homologation. The sun rose on a new era: class 1.

Written by: Fred Knight
Edited by: JD Minny ( @jdminny )

[automobilistic]

If this video feels familiar, its not deja vu. Just over a year ago I published a video about this car, however the information in it was flawed, and it has since been unlisted. This video uses parts of the original script, but large sections have been re-written to fix inaccuracies and better tell the story of this legendary machine!

[Rypsolisti]

Alfa did brilliantly with 155, winning DTM and BTCC a year later.

[lukyluky]

Best ERA of Touring Cars....love yours

[MilfordHeavenMercadoPach-imjk]

'It was good time the 90s seeing best manufacturer duel it out in dtm'.

[evo]

I'm sorry but Alfa Romeo made 2 iconic race cars: 155 and 156. Who else did that ?
Also, that 12.000 rpm engine in the 155 is one of a kind in this racing kind.

[Kandimitsu]

Mercedes dropped the ball in 93, Alfa deserved the title. Good to see coverage up to 96. The 96 season was my favourite by far, the teams, drivers and liveries were epic I have many of them as model cars.

Also the 96 season with the high costs was an arms race destined to fail, due to the TV rights money and lack of crowds at the races like interlargos and Mangy Cours.

The 97 zakspeed calibra is a weapon!

[PLACEonPLATE]

Dude your channel is pure bliss... from the subject, to the format, even the consistent look of the thumbnails. Professional level, brother!

[TenorCantusFirmus]

The road-going 155 underneath was basically a FIAT Tipo with a trunk... Top-of-the-line was the Q4 with engine and all-wheel-drive system from the Lancia Delta Integrale, but the rest of the range was quite underwhelming, expecially after two decades of Alfetta-based family and executive sedans.
The V6 TI was clearly a clever way to "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" which was made possible by the switch to a new ruleset: under Group E, maybe not even the Q4 would have saved the day. Also unfortunate not even an attempt at a (even limited edition) road-going versiont of the V6 TI was made: the combination of the Busso with AWD and an injection of power would probably have boosted the image of the car for good; nowadays, despite its racing successes (apart from 1993 DTM, also worth remembering its wins in 1994 BTCC and 1992 Italian "Superturismo" Championship), still ranks among the lowest-regarded ALFAs ever, which isn't a fully deserved reputation. I think its biggest problem actually was a public used to the sophisticated, exquisitely-designed Alfetta-based sedans of the 1970s and '80s, which skewed the expectations way far high.

[TheVeenmeister]

The 155 has a special place in my heart. They say that you're a real enthousiast when you ever owned an Alfa. The 155 was my first car.

[mik]

To be saying "Alfa only won because they were the only ones having a class 1 car that year" means one could say.."Audi Quattro won only because no one else had 4WD that year". Right?

[Ottobon]

I need to argue something, and this is my minor point not my major one that follows, but Alfa Romeo "Soulfulness" is often incorrectly decoded as a being unreliable, but the meaning is the actual atmosphere, connection, sound, visuals (interior and view out) that a Alfa puts you in. I don't think Alfaheads mind this but just to be clear. They are often Full Experience cars to drive more then anything outside of exotics and a few classics which share this, cars designed as a whole competently for the drivers enjoyment, but alas this is my minor gripe, no Alfahead minds the jokes regarding "Soulfulness"

But here is my main dispute, so far as Reliability if you look into it i promise, and i only know of this because i've done cheapskate racing, Alfa Romeos ARE NOT unreliable, they are high maintenance. If you want a anonology compare it kinda but even more complex in nature to Rotory cars like the RX7. What i mean by this is if you want a car to finish a race a Alfa Romeo is one of the top choices, above Honda (which surprisingly break on track a lot when parts are derived mostly from production models) but behind Mazda and Toyota for production cars turned racers, however that is it, they are THAT high up in regards to on-track reliability. However try to live with one as a Daily and every new heat cycle can become a battle, especially if you don't follow the insanely small window of multiple overlapping maintenance timelines that all Alfas of that era have. Properly maintained as a Daily you are doing something comparably major every other oil change or so, just how they are built, but this does nothing to deter actual on track endurance (12-24 hour etc) related reliability.

If you don't trust me ask the guys who run "24 Hours of Lemons" or "Chumpcar" in the states. I'm not claiming Alfas aren't a nightmare to own and drive as a daily compared to other cars, but surprisingly when you just beat on a car for hours and hours at full tilt they compare far closer to Mazdas and Toyotas which otherwise are at the top with everything else usually markedly below. Start to stop one of the most reliable, but next heat cycle of the engine and drivetrain look out 🤣

[RichUK]

I like the M3. I f*cking LOVE the 190 EVO 2!

[thegreasybandit]

honestly it’s a mystery to me how this channel hasn’t blow up yet. this is at least 5-600k sub content imo.

[tonychavez]

lets not forget about Alfa's excellent 93 season for BTTC (British series) with the 2.0L formula

[borninpennsylvania]

you should make a video about opel, just opel in general. calibra, astra, kadett, manta, ascona, omega

[MrLolxu]

Yea but the power of the 155 isn't from the V6 nor the TI itself but the sheer stupidity Alfa did to it just to make the 155 competitive and... It worked.. Flawlessly.

The 155 was working in both TI and GTA where the GTA form alone, with FWD, conquered the European Touring Car Championship multiple times from 1992-1997, slammed BTCC to bits with Gabriele Tarquini, the Spanish Touring Car Championship and the Italian Superturisimo Championship. These alone proved how solid of a platform the 155 was even before they took the Q4 variant, turned it into the V6 TI and raced in DTM.

Thus, the 155 needs a whole workout, not just the V6 TI variant

[richardk]

Love these videos, very professional! The scripts are always on point and well delivered. Great footage too.

[havenwisner]

These videos are so good bro definitely needs more subs

[ruddgrandprix-speedrunraci]

After the the silver arrows' dominance. The Italian red fog looms. A new Challenger has approached. And truly the alpha of racers. They call themselves Alfa Racers. Enter Alfa Romeo, and the 155 (and TI) DTM and BTCC. This car briefly dominated both series. Just like other cars in Gran Turismo. People grew up with it. And mourn how much they like the '90s era of Motorsports so much. It was truly peak super touring era. An era as Aiden Millward put it "The SmackDown Sunday versus Monday Night Raw" of of touring car racing.

[madphilip]

Listening to you after watching that "last" episode of GT is warming, thank you