In the early 1990s the DTM ran under regulations that permitted teams to enter radically modified versions of production models, with relatively few restrictions on aerodynamics, electronics, and drivetrain systems. A new rule introduced for the 1993 D1 class limited engines to a maximum of six cylinders and 2.5 litres capacity. Alfa Corse, under the stewardship of Giorgio Pianta, designed a competition thoroughbred based around the production Alfa Romeo 155's 2.5-litre V6 engine block, using its monobloc construction and aluminium cylinder head as the sole mandated production carry-over components. Everything else was engineered from scratch.
The 155 V6 TI was built around a tubular chassis with an intricate trellis frame construction. The 2.5-litre, 60-degree V6 engine was turned to a longitudinal orientation to accommodate a four-wheel drive system, a decisive technical choice that gave the car a significant advantage in wet conditions. Drive torque was distributed 33 percent to the front and 67 percent to the rear via a central epicyclic differential and front differential housed within a magnesium crankcase that also contained the six-speed gearbox. The engine featured titanium inlet valves, dry-sump lubrication, four valves per cylinder, and electronic ignition with one coil per cylinder, producing 420 hp at 11,800 rpm while weighing only 110 kg. The car's extensive use of carbon fibre bodywork — wafer-thin panels covering a wider, lower body than the production car — kept overall weight to approximately 1,040–1,100 kg. Top speed ranged between 260 and 300 km/h depending on final drive selection. The car accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds.
The driving position was centrally located within the cockpit, a configuration more associated with prototypes than touring cars of the period, and the car's aerodynamic features — an aggressive underbody, biplane rear wing, and extensively vented carbon body panels — were unlike anything previously seen in production-based touring car competition.
Alfa Corse entered two 155 V6 TIs for works drivers Nicola Larini and Alessandro Nannini. Larini won the opening round at Zolder in the rain — the four-wheel drive system proving immediately superior to the rear-wheel-drive Mercedes 190E competition — and Danner in a second Schübel-team 155 followed him home. Round 2 produced a 1-2-3 finish for Larini, Danner, and Nannini.
Larini went on to win at the Nürburgring three times, at the Norisring twice, at Wunstorf, Diepholz, and Singen among others. Nannini won the two final rounds at Hockenheim. In total the 155 V6 TI won 12 of 20 races in the 1993 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Larini finished the season with 261 points, well ahead of Roland Asch on 206 driving an AMG-Mercedes 190E. The car's debut season remains one of the most dominant in DTM history.
The 155 V6 TI continued to race in the DTM through 1995 and then in the ITC (International Touring Car Championship) in 1996. For the 1996 season a new engine based on the PRV (Peugeot/Renault/Volvo) V6 architecture replaced the Busso-derived unit, producing 490 hp at 11,900 rpm. From 1995 onwards the cars ran in Martini Racing livery under a new sponsorship arrangement. The 1994 season saw Alfa win a further eleven races, though by that point Mercedes had developed responses to the 155's advantages. Victories across the car's total competition life were shared among seven different drivers, with Larini accounting for 17 and Nannini 13 of the overall total.
The 155 V6 TI is widely regarded as one of the most technically radical touring cars ever constructed, blurring the boundary between touring car and prototype in ways that influenced the trajectory of the entire DTM. Its combination of four-wheel drive, central driving position, carbon fibre construction, and Formula One-derived engine technology had no precedent in the series and remains distinctive even among the extreme machinery of the Class 1 era. Only two examples of the original 1993 car were produced.
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