the 183t was basically an updated version of the teams car, the 182. gone however was alfa's 1260 v12 which had served the team since . in its place was the 890t, a 1.5-liter turbocharged v8 engine (the 1260 engine was still used at the time by the osella team). the change in engine gave the 183t a significant boost in power. the 1260 v12 was rated at while the turbocharged 890t was rated at . however, this still fell short of the power figures quoted for the turbocharged bmw, renault and ferrari engines. during the year the 890t's fuel consumption wasn't a factor as stops for fuel were permitted. from however, when the fia imposed a 220-liter fuel limit on the cars and banned stops for fuel, the v8 engine's fuel consumption, plus its shortage of power would see alfa wane as a formula one front runner.