Ideal Race is driven by a relentless desire to unlock the true potential and power of Alfa Romeo. While the QV gets much of the spotlight, the 2.0L is largely overlooked in terms of what’s available for aftermarket parts and tunes. Our steadfast and detailed development process is a testament to our passion for finding hidden performance and enhancing the driving experience. There is still more to come, but we are excited to share with you our progress. Let’s dive into what we’ve been working on for the 2.0L Alfa platform this past year!

Ideal Race Development Car Specs

• 2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Sport
• RWD
• Glass Roof
• Competition Red
• ALL dyno power figures: Measured on our in-house AWD Dynapack Chassis Dyno

Ideal Race ECU Tune Dyno Numbers

Stock tune on 93 octane- 242whp@5200rpm, 293wtq@2450rpm

E85 tune- 313whp@5300rpm, 393wtq@2500rpm

93 octane tune- 275whp@5200, 355wtq@2600rpm

91 octane tune-263whp@5200, 338wtq@2600rpm

MS109 tune- 304whp@5300rpm, 382wtq@2500rpm

In effort to stay clear and transparent we rate all numbers at the wheels instead of inflating them by using BHP or crank horsepower numbers.

Suspension Upgrades

The car was lowered with H&R lowering springs. We added a set of ASPIRA Forged 19” wheels wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires for best dry and wet spirited driving. While we were here, we installed our Front Camber Kit and Billet Rear Upper Control Arms for an easily adjustable camber setup. 

Factory Upgrades

We installed a factory Limited Slip Differential for better stability and consistent reliable grip. This was done in an afternoon – nothing too crazy to accomplish, but a HUGE jump in the performance category. Because we gained such better traction we decided to offer the Factory Limited Slip Differential as a kit that includes all hardware necessary for anyone wanting to maximize grip.

Alfa Romeo 2.0L ECU Tuning

The Alfa’s Magneti Marelli (MM) Engine Control Unit (ECU) generated several roadblocks to develop the tune. We had to develop several tools prior to calibrating the vehicle. In 2018 we developed our own high-speed RAM logger. This tool permits us to break down and analyze every calibration change to better understand how the factory ECU operates.  It took considerable time tuning the MM ECU,  learning each MM control strategy with countless dyno sessions. We cannot stress the amount of energy and effort it took to develop this calibration, including tool development and dyno time. IdealRace is the only company in the marketplace that developed the required tools to correctly calibrate this platform. We’ve done it and we’re going to keep doing it.

We are able to adjust and optimize the ignition for specific octane/fuel types. You can run full E85 without modifying your fuel system hardware. We have optimized the 2.0L Multi-Air’s variable valve system. We gained a more in depth understanding of the calibration from developing our hybrid turbo and implemented it into the original tune.  With this tune along with our hardware the Giulia promises a dramatic improvement from current market offerings. The full potential of your Alfa’s stock turbocharger and Multi-Air valve system is harnessed through using the IdealRace ECU tune specific to your fuel – 91 Octane, 93 Octane, VP MS109, and E85 fuel.  

Alfa Romeo 2.0L Carbon Fiber Cold Air Intake

Making our 2.0L carbon fiber intake system has been a true pleasure. We spent weeks modeling in CAD,  designing a properly fitted 3.5 inch carbon fiber intake system that is fully serviceable and compatible with the factory MAF housing and turbo inlet. It offers a stunning look and airflow gain to compliment this engine.

Our multi-piece CNC Venturi System is nearly an exact replica of the factory setup, but also serviceable and built to last. The PCV connection is a CNC’d Aluminum piece that integrates seamlessly with the carbon intake assembly using Viton O-rings and stainless-steel hardware. Our in-house TIG welded CNC’d stainless-steel intake mounting bracket is sure to withstand misuse and provide support where needed. It is beefy and rust resistant. The formed silicone turbo inlet adapter is sure to draw some attention. It was designed to have the smoothest transition to the factory turbocharger for a turbulent-free velocity stack design. To top it all off, our intake is complemented with our very own Ideal air filters. We designed it to have a smooth transition from the filter media by creating a velocity stack for dyno/flow bench proven flow improvements.

Alfa Romeo 2.0L Stainless Steel Downpipe

Our stainless-steel 2.0L downpipes are meticulously TIG welded in-house using high quality Rath Gibson 304L Stainless Steel CNC bent tubing. The flanges are CNC machined from 303 Stainless steel with an incredible surface finish. The turbine discharge flange is contoured to seamlessly transition to the 3” tube only having one weld joint in the multi-radius tube design. This effectively reduces the number of potential failure modes . These downpipes were intentionally built to have a long-lasting design. They also feature a CNC-machined turbine housing flange for optimized flow, a CNC-machined EGR flange, and a CNC-machined exhaust outlet flange. These are all constructed very thick to reduce any potential warpage. Factory locations for oxygen sensors make the install “easy-breezy”.

Alfa Romeo 2.0L Performance

Using our carbon fiber intake and stainless-steel downpipe, can generate 400 ft-lbs of torque and nearly 330 wheel horsepower on pump E85. The additional flow of the intake and downpipe allow the turbocharger to create the same boost pressure at a lower wastegate duty cycle. This makes it easier for the turbo to work at that specific duty cycle. With the wastegate duty cycle now optimized, we have maxed out what the factory turbine wheel was designed to handle. With these simple hardware upgrades and tune, we boast a 12.32 second quarter mile at 111mph.

Alfa Romeo 2.0L Hybrid Turbo Upgrade

Most people in the market bolt on a hybrid turbo, “tune” it, and only run a 12.4 second quarter mile at 111mph. We achieve this (and do it a tenth faster) using just the stock turbo with our tune. We opted to use the “MuchBoost FCA GME-T4 430” hybrid turbocharger for our hybrid turbo program. It seems to be the largest one on the market so far. This turbocharger in conjunction with using our Ideal Race hybrid turbo tune, we accomplish a 12.03 second quarter mile at 118mph (with more room to go!). This time was achieved with a 2.0 second 60ft time. Once we land a better launch of 1.7 or 1.8 seconds, we should easily see a sub 12 second ¼ mile time!

We cap the torque at 400 ft-lbs to the ground so the connecting rods stay happy and healthy. With this setup, we make 375 wheel horsepower on pump E85. The factory fuel system is capable of full E85 even with the bigger turbo, despite some false claims online. The factory liquid-to-air intercooler system is also happy and will maintain temperatures 40 to 50 degrees Celsius.

Alfa Romeo 2.0L Disassembly/Inspection 

After achieving the record-breaking run and making 400ft-lbs of torque, we opened the engine to inspect the connecting rods. We wanted to verify they would not be affected by 100ft-lbs of torque per rod. Our inspection yielded positive results.