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No more poppin' sounds...

2K views 25 replies 13 participants last post by  Robocop305 
#1 ·
I took my 4C spider out today and usually one of the things I like to do is take her through a tunnel, suddenly punch the throttle and let go, and hear that glorious "pop..pop...pop...pop...pop". Previously, I have been able to do this quite consistently, and that's driving her in All-Weather.

Today, however, I was not able to get any sort of "pops" out of her. And I tried really hard and failed each and every time. Does this mean something is wrong with her?

One a side note, my brakes are making this "whistling" sound when I press it. This has happened before, but I notice it more frequently now. The Alfa dealership looked her over last week and said everything was fine....

Any owners have had these issues?
 
#2 ·
I took my 4C spider out today and usually one of the things I like to do is take her through a tunnel, suddenly punch the throttle and let go, and hear that glorious "pop..pop...pop...pop...pop". Previously, I have been able to do this quite consistently, and that's driving her in All-Weather.

Today, however, I was not able to get any sort of "pops" out of her. And I tried really hard and failed each and every time. Does this mean something is wrong with her?

One a side note, my brakes are making this "whistling" sound when I press it. This has happened before, but I notice it more frequently now. The Alfa dealership looked her over last week and said everything was fine....

Any owners have had these issues?
My spider is similar.. Goes through a hella farting period then other times nothing!
 
#7 ·
Your brakes are making noises because you aren't cleaning them. You have a glaze on the rotors. Drive harder. Actually, posting that you blast through tunnels in All-Weather mode is supporting evidence.

100% must do to eliminate variable #1: From abut 60mph/100kph, you're going to do several hard stops..... not quite where the ABS is needed, but really hard. This will clean the rotors and clean up the pads. Might need to go faster to do this right. 2-3 tries should do it.

If you can't figure out how to do that, then around 35-45 MPH, stop hard and short... and be firm about it. Do this safely, of course. Half a dozen should do it.

And stop driving in all-weather mode. And climate can/will affect what you hear from your engine/intake/exhaust. Cold and dry creates a raspy-ness. Tunes drift from perfection as it gets cooler/colder, so the pops and bangs are more prevalent. And.... light driving allows carbon to build up in the exhaust, making it an even better muffler/silencer.

Drive harder. What a world we live in with such a car that has ailments cured by driving harder.
 
#14 ·
When it did it before were you driving in cooler weather or when the engine was still in the cold start mode....in either it will be more likely to give some pops and bangs....and also when the brakes are cold they will "scream" more. As others mentioned....some harder stops will warm them up and clean the disks and reduce or eliminate the squeal. If you have different brake pads than stock you can get more or less squeal also....more aggressive track compounds will squeal all the time except on track when really heated up. I was out with my friend in his Porsche 935 clone with full boat race setup and track pads.....when driving around town everyone will hear his brakes way before they see him ;-)
 
#15 ·
I took my 4C spider out today and usually one of the things I like to do is take her through a tunnel, suddenly punch the throttle and let go, and hear that glorious "pop..pop...pop...pop...pop". Previously, I have been able to do this quite consistently, and that's driving her in All-Weather.

Today, however, I was not able to get any sort of "pops" out of her. And I tried really hard and failed each and every time. Does this mean something is wrong with her?

One a side note, my brakes are making this "whistling" sound when I press it. This has happened before, but I notice it more frequently now. The Alfa dealership looked her over last week and said everything was fine....

Any owners have had these issues?
Do you miss the snap, crackle, pop? I’m sure you’re aware they can be tuned in.
 
#19 ·
.... The Alfa dealership looked her over last week and said everything was fine....

Any owners have had these issues?
Hi Future 4C Owner,

I have two questions for you:
1. Were you the original owner?
2. Did your ECU used to have an aftermarket tune?

The reason I ask is that there is no way you would ever be able to get the car to do a pop pop pop overrun in all-weather mode if it had a factory tune. The standard tuned ECU will not usually do a pop pop pop overrun in any mode. You can sometimes get a few pops if the exhaust is glowing after a good thrashing and you brush the throttle lightly on the overrun in Dynamic or Race modes. That leads me to the conclusion that your ECU must have had a non-standard tune.

If the dealer has had a look over your car and everything is fine, I am willing to bet that they overwrote your ECU tune and restored factory settings.

This is why a lot of guys have two ECU's, one with the factory settings (which they put in the car for Alfa workshop visits) and their tuned ECU (which has the pops and bangs generator software installed If requested), is put back in the car as soon as the car comes back from the workshop. The factory tuned ECU then sleeps on the shelf for a year or next Alfa workshop visit.

Tunnels will never be as much fun for you again my friend. Unless you pay for another aftermarket tune that is. Better still get another tuned ECU and swap them over for Alfa workshop visits.

Cheers,

Alf.
 
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