2006 Alfa Romeo GT turn signal

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
152
VDC SYSTEM
(Vehicle Dynamics Control)
(upon request for
versions/markets where
provided)
The VDC is an electronic system that con-
trols vehicle stability, intervening on the dri-
ving torque and braking the wheels in a dif-
ferentiated manner, in the lack of grip, it
helps to bring the car back to the correct
direction.
When travelling the car is subjected to lat-
eral and longitudinal forces which can be
controlled by the driver as long as the tyres
offer adequate roadholding; when this falls
below the minimum level, the car begins
to divert from the course required by the dri-
ver.
Especially when travelling on an uneven
surface (such as paving, or due to the pres-
ence of water, ice or soil), changes in speed
(acceleration or braking) and/or course
(bends or the need to avoid obstacles) may
cause the tyres to lose grip.When the sensors detect the conditions
that would lead to skidding, the VDC system
intervenes on the engine and on the brakes
producing a stabilising torque.
HOW THE VDC
SYSTEM WORKS
The VDC system is engaged automatical-
ly when the car is started and cannot be
switched off.
The basic components of the VDC system
are:
– an electronic control unit that process-
es the signals received from the various sen-
sors and brings about the most appropriate
strategy;
– a sensor that detects the position of the
steering wheels;
– four sensors that detect the turning
speed of each wheel;
– a sensor that detects rotation of the car
around its vertical axis;
– a sensor that detects lateral acceleration
(centrifugal force).
The heart of the VDC system is the VDC
control unit, which with the data supplied
by the sensors installed on the car calculates
the centrifugal forces generated when the
car is cornering. The yawing sensor, which
originates from the aeronautical industry, de-
tects the rotations of the car around its own
vertical axis. The centrifugal forces gener-
ated when the car is cornering are detect- The performance of the
system, in terms of active
safety should not induce
the driver to take pointless and un-
necessary risks. The style of dri-
ving must in any case always be
adapted to the conditions of the
road surface, visibility and traffic.
The responsibility for road safety
is always and in any case the dri-
ver’s.
The VDC system helps the driver to keep
the car under control in the event of a loss
of tyre grip.
The forces induced by the VDC system to
control the loss of vehicle stability always
depend on the grip between the tyre and
the road surface.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
153
ed by a highly sensitive lateral acceleration
sensor.
The stabilising action of the VDC system is
based on the calculations of the system elec-
tronic control unit, which processes the sig-
nals received from the steering wheel rota-
tion sensor, acceleration sensor and rotation
speed sensor of each wheel. These signals
allow the control unit to recognise the ma-
noeuvre the driver intends to do when the
steering wheel is turned.
The control unit processes the information
received from the sensors and therefore is
able to know the position of the car instant
by instant and compares it with the course
the driver would like to follow. In the event
of a discrepancy, in a fraction of a second
the control unit chooses and commands the
most suitable intervention to bring the car
immediately back to the required course:
braking one or more wheels at different in-
tensity and, if necessary, reducing the pow-
er transmitted by the engine.
The corrective actions are modified and
controlled continuously in seeking the course
required by the driver.
The action of VDC system considerably en-
hances the active safety of the car in very
critical situations and it is particularly help-
ful when the grip conditions of the road sur-
face change.For the VDC system to
work correctly, the tyres
must be of the same brand
and type on all wheels, in perfect
conditions and above all of the
specified type, brand and size.CUTTING IN
OF THE VDC SYSTEM
The cutting in of the VDC system is indi-
cated by the flashing of the
áwarning light
on the instrument cluster, to inform the dri-
ver that the car is in critical conditions of sta-
bility and grip.
VDC system
failure warning
In the event of a failure the VDC system
disengages automatically and the
áwarn-
ing light on the instrument cluster turns on
glowing steadily, together with the message
on the reconfigurable multifunction display.
In the event of an VDC system failure the
car behaves like a vehicle not fitted with this
system: in any case it is advisable to con-
tact Alfa Romeo Authorised Services as soon
as possible.During use of the compact
spare wheel, the VDC sys-
tem continues working. It
should be borne in mind that the
spare wheel is smaller than a nor-
mal tyre, therefore its grip is low-
er than that of the other tyres of
the car.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
162
RDS (Radio Data System)
This is a radiophonic information system
which uses the 57 kHz subcarrier of normal
FM broadcasts.
With this function it is possible to receive
different types of information such as traf-
fic bulletins and station names and to au-
tomatically tune to a station with the
strongest signal that is broadcasting the
same programme.
REG (Regional transmission
reception function)
Function with which it is possible to tune
only to local (regional) stations.
Repeat (Track repetition)
Function with which it is possible to con-
tinuously listen to the last track played on
the Compact Disc.
Scan
Function with which it is possible to listen
for a few seconds to all the radio stations
stored, or the beginning of all the tracks con-
tained on the Compact Disc.Scrolling
Function with which it is possible to receive
different programmes in the same network
(in the FM band only).
PLL tuning
Digital tuning with Phase Lock Loop circuit
to obtain the best radio channel tuning.
Soft Mute
Function that gradually highers and low-
ers the volume when Mute is turned on or
off.
Sound Flavour
A function that sets the best equalizing pos-
sible depending on the type of music se-
lected (Classic, Jazz, Rock, etc).
SVC
Function that automatically adjusts the lev-
el of the volume to the speed of the car to
maintain the ratio with the noise level in the
passenger compartment.TA (Traffic information)
Function with which it is possible to receive
the traffic information broadcast by the sta-
tions enabled, also when tuned to another
station or listening to a cassette, CD, or dur-
ing a phone call.
TPM (Track Program Memory)
Function with which it is possible to store
the sequence for playing the tracks of a CD,
to be able to play them later in the sequence
set.
Treble
This adjusts the treble tones.

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170
Station scanning (Scan function)
Keeping the “SRC” button pressed (14)
until the hearing the “beep” starts the sta-
tion scan in the selected frequency band
(FM, MW,LW). Each station found will be
heard for a few seconds and the name and
frequency will flash on the display. While
searching, the display will show “FM-
SCAN”, “AM-SCAN” or “PTY-SCAN”
for a few seconds.
If the TA function is on (traffic information),
the system will search only the stations that
broadcast traffic bulletins. If the PTY func-
tion is on, the system will only search PTY
stations.
When the scan function is on, all the oth-
er functions are cancelled.
When wanting to continue listening to a
station selected during scanning, press
“SRC” (14) again.The Scan function is interrupted in the fol-
lowing cases:
– turning the set off
– pressing “SRC” (14)
– pressing “
▲” (6) or “▼” (8) (starts
manual or automatic tuning)
– pressing a preset button
– turning Autostore on
– turning PTY on/off
– changing the chosen frequency band
– pressing “AUD” (18)
– pressing “MENU” (9)
– when a station is found that is broad-
casting a traffic bulletin, if the TA function
is on
– inserting a Compact Disc.
In any case the search function will be
turned off after scanning the frequency
band, even if no station is selected.Scanning preset stations
Press the “MENU” button (9) to start
scanning the preset stations in the present
frequency band:
–FM: FMI 1, FMI 2, ..., FMI 6, FMII 1,
FMII 2, ... FMII 6, FMT 1, FMT 2, ..., FMT 6
–MW: MW 1, MW 2, ..., MW 6
–LW: LW 1, LW 2, ..., LW 6.
Each preset station will be heard for a few
seconds and its name or frequency will flash
on the display, if the signal intensity is suf-
ficient. In passing from one presetting to an-
other the display will show the word
“SCAN” for about 2 seconds.
In the first 2 seconds in which the new pre-
set station is heard, the display shows the
current frequency band and the number of
the pre-select button.
If the TA function is on (traffic information),
the system will only search stations that
broadcast traffic bulletins.

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171
The preset station Scan is interrupted in
the following cases:
– turning the set off
– pressing “BN” (13)
– pressing “
▲” (6) or “▼” (8) (starts
manual or automatic tuning)
– pressing a preset button
– turning Autostore on
– turning PTY on/off
– changing the sound source (CD, CD-
Changer)
– changing the FM level or frequency band
selected
– pressing “AUD” (18)
– pressing “MENU” (9)
– when a station is found that is broad-
casting a traffic bulletin, if the TA function
is on
– inserting a Compact Disc.
If no presetting has been selected, hear-
ing the station chosen previously will be re-
sumed.Manual station storage
The station being heard can be stored in
the range selected with buttons (17),
(16), (15), (12), (11), (10) numbered
from 1 to 6.
Keep one of these buttons pressed (from
1 to 6) until receiving the confirmation
“beep”. After storage, the display shows the
number of the button with which the station
has been stored.
Autostore function
To turn on the Autostore function keep the
“BN” button (13) pressed until hearing
the confirmation “beep”. With this function
the radio automatically stores the stations
with the strongest signal in decreasing order
of intensity of the FMT frequency band.
IMPORTANTActivating the Autostore
function cancels the stations stored previ-
ously in the FMT band.
If the TA function is on (traffic information),
only the stations that send traffic informa-
tion will be stored. This function may also
be turned on when listening to a Compact
Disc or the CD-Changer.During automatic storage the display will
show the wording “A-STORE”. To inter-
rupt the storage process press the “BN”
(13) button again: the radio will automat-
ically tune to the station heard before acti-
vation of the Autostore function.
At the end of the Autostore function the ra-
dio automatically tunes on the first preset
station in the FM1 band.
On buttons (17), (16), (15), (12),
(11), (10) numbered from 1 to 6, the sta-
tions are automatically stored that give a
strong signal in that moment in the preset
band.
After storage the radio automatically tunes
on the frequency stored on button 1 (17).
Every station is stored only once, except
in the case of regional programmes which
in certain cases might be stored twice.
During the automatic storage process the
display shows the wording “A-STORE”.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
172
The behaviour of the set during Autostore
is as follows:
– at the beginning of the Autostore func-
tion all the other functions are disabled
– any change in volume is not shown on
the display
– pressing one of the radio function but-
tons, for example “PTY” (2), “
˙˙” (7),
“
¯¯” (4), (17), (16), (15), (12),
(11), (10) the automatic storage process
is interrupted, the last station heard before
Autostore was turned on is tuned and the
function associated with the button pressed
is run
– pressing “AF-TA” (1) during auto-
matic storage will interrupt it, the TA func-
tion (traffic information) will be turned
on/off and a new automatic storage process
will be started
– changing the sound source (Radio, Com-
pact Disc, CD-Changer) during automatic
storage, Autostore is not interrupted.
IMPORTANTSometimes the Autostore
function is unable to find 6 stations with a
strong signal. In this case, the free presetting
buttons will be shown on the display, for
about 2 seconds, by 4 dashes and the last
station heard will be returned.Listening to stored stations
Proceed as follows:
– select the required frequency band (FM,
MW, LW)
– briefly press one of the six station stor-
age buttons.
The display will show the number that cor-
responds to the button.
In bands FM1, FM2 and FMT, if reception
is poor and the AF alternative frequency
search function is active, the station with the
strongest signal that is broadcasting the
same programme will be sought automati-
cally. AF function (alternative
frequency search)
Within the RDS system the radio can work
in two different modes:
AF ON: alternative frequency search on
AF OFF: alternative frequency search off.
When the signal of the RDS station tuned
weakens, the following two cases may oc-
cur:
– With AF ONthe RDS system activates
automatic tuning of the optimum frequency
of the station chosen, with the stations en-
abled, therefore the radio is automatically
tuned to the station with the strongest sig-
nal that is broadcasting the same pro-
gramme. During the journey it will thus be
possible to continue listening to the station
chosen without having to change the fre-
quency when changing area. Of course, the
station being listened to must be receivable
in the area the car is crossing.
– With AF OFFthe radio will not tune
the strongest station automatically and it
will have to be found manually using the
tuner buttons.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
176
Controlling the station type of
PTY programme
To know the type of PTY programme of
the station heard keep the “PTY” button
(2) pressed until a “beep” is heard. After
the “beep” the display will show the type
of programme (see previous paragraph) of-
fered by the station tuned. If the station has
no PTY code the display will show the word-
ing “NO-PTY”. After about 5 seconds the
display will again show the RDS name or
frequency of the station tuned.
EON function
(Enhanced Other Network)
Some countries have circuits which group
together several stations enabled to broad-
cast traffic information. In this case the pro-
gramme of the station being heard will be
interrupted temporarily to receive traffic in-
formation (only with the TA function on),
every time these bulletins are given by one
of the stations of the same circuit. Scrolling transmissions
It is possible to receive different pro-
grammes in the same network and scroll
them (in FM band only) - e.g.: NDR1,
NDR2, NDR3, NDR4, N-JOY...
To turn on this function, briefly press the
“AF-TA” button (1) to turn on the AF func-
tion. The user can then start scrolling press-
ing “
˙˙” (7) or “¯¯” (4).
IMPORTANTThe station must have
been received previously at least once.
Stereophonic stations
If the signal received is weak, the device
switches automatically from Stereo to Mono.
MENU(fig. 154)
Functions of “MENU” button (9)
To turn on the Menu function briefly press
(less than 1 second) the “MENU” button
(9). The display will show the word
“MENU”.
To scroll the Menu functions use “
▲” (6)
or “
▼” (8). To turn on/off the function se-
lected use “
˙˙” (7) or “¯¯” (4).
The display will show the current status
of the function selected.
The functions controlled by the menu are
the following:
–EQ SET(Equalizer settings, only if the
equalizer is on)
–PRESET/USER/CLASSIC/
ROCK/JAZZ(Turning on/off and choos-
ing predefined equalizer adjustments)
–HICUT(Treble reduction)
–PHONE(Volume of phone, if installed)
–CD NAME(Allocation of CD names,
only with CD inserted)
–SVC(Automatic volume control in re-
lation to speed) (excluding versions with
HI-FI BOSE sound system)

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
177
–SENS DX/LO(Tuning sensitivity)
–CD(CD display setting)
–CDC(CD-Changer display setting, if in-
stalled)
–REG(Regional programmes).
To exit the Menu function, press the
“MENU” button again (9).
IGN TIME function (switching off
mode)
This function enables to set radio switch-
ing off in two different modes. To turn this
function on/off, use buttons 4 (
˜) or 7
(
÷).
The display will show the selected mode:
– “00 MIN”: deactivation dependent of
ignition key. The radio will switch off auto-
matically as soon as the ignition key is
turned to STOP;
– “20 MIN”: deactivation independent of
ignition key. The radio will stay on for max.
20 minutes after turning the ignition key
toSTOP.IMPORTANTShould the radio turn off
automatically after turning the ignition key
toSTOP(for the immediate or 20-minute
delayed deactivation), it will turn on auto-
matically turning the ignition key to MAR.
If the radio is turned off by pressing the
knob/button20(VOLUME ON/OFF),
when turning the key toMARthe radio will
stay off.
Turning the equalizer on/off
(excluding versions with HI-FI
BOSE sound system)
The integrated equalizer can be turned on
or off. With the equalizer off, it is possible
to change the sound settings only adjust-
ing the bass (“BASS”) and treble tones
(“TREBLE”), while activating the function
makes it possible to adjust the sound curves.
To turn the equalizer off, select “PRE-
SET” with “
▲” (6) or “▼” (8).To turn the equalizer on, select one of the
following with “
▲” (6) o “▼” (8):
– “USER” (adjustment of the 7 equal-
izer bands that can be changed by the user)
– “CLASSIC” (predefined equalizer ad-
justment)
– “ROCK” (predefined equalizer adjust-
ment)
– “JAZZ” (predefined equalizer adjust-
ment).
After selecting the last adjustment set in
the Menu using “
▲” (6) or “▼” (8), use
“
˙˙” (7) or “¯¯” (4) to change it.
When one of the equalizer settings in on,
the display shows “EQ”.
On versions with BOSE HI-FI system, ana-
logue equalizing in amplitude and phase of
the signal is done automatically by the am-
plifier.