Driving Style; Conditions Of Use; Top Speed; Stopping In The Traffic - Alfa Romeo GT Owner's Manual

DRIVING STYLE

Starting
Do not warm the engine with the car at a
standstill or at idle or high speed: under
these conditions the engine warms up much
more slowly, increasing electrical consump-
tion and emissions. It is therefore advisable
to move off immediately, slowly, avoiding
high speeds. This way the engine will warm
faster.
Pointless manoeuvres
Avoid accelerating when waiting at traffic
lights or before switching off the engine. This
and also double declutching is absolutely
pointless on modern cars and also increase
consumption and pollution.
Gearshifting
As soon as the conditions of the traffic and
road allow, use a higher gear.
Using a low gear to obtain brilliant per-
formance increases consumption.
In the same way improper use of a high
gear increases consumption, emissions and
engine wear.

Top speed

Fuel consumption considerably increases
with speed. Maintain an even as possible
speed, avoiding superfluous braking and ac-
celerating, which cost in terms of both fuel
and emissions.
Acceleration
Accelerating heavily taking the engine to
a high speed has a considerably adverse ef-
fect on consumption and emission levels;
it is wise to accelerate gradually and not ex-
ceed the maximum torque.

CONDITIONS OF USE

Cold starting
Short journeys and frequent cold starts do
not allow the engine to reach optimum op-
erating temperature. This results in a sig-
nificant increase in consumption levels (from
+15 to +30% on the urban cycle) and emis-
sion of harmful substances.
Traffic situations and road
conditions
Rather high consumption levels are tied to
situations with heavy traffic, for example
in queues with frequent use of the lower
gears or in cities with many traffic lights. Al-
so winding mounting roads and rough road
surfaces adversely affect consumption.

Stopping in the traffic

During prolonged stops (e.g. level cross-
ings) it is advisable to switch the engine off.
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