Dark Blue Mark

Jacey,

Do a search in sales, there's a chap called Crofty selling a real nice one. I bought my MY99 off him and he really knows how to look after his cars.

http://www.scoobynet.co.uk/bbs/thread.asp?ThreadID=119067&Page=1

MB

[Edited by Dark Blue Mark - 11/4/2002 7:57:54 PM]

Jacey Boy

I am maybe thinking of getting one and have driven one once when they first came out.

They are 220BHP standard but how easy are they to chip?.

I do remember 1st & 2nd gear was rapid but boost ran out in 3rd

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Had a 16v turbo, looked nice & went well, but build quality was poor & was quite boring to drive as they've got non switchable traction control.

LG John

Strange that you should think that?? Most people on here will tell a story of how they wasted one in 1st and 2nd grear and then how it roared past above 70mph (less transmission losses and drag).

Too much power and torque for a FWD in my opinion.

Jacey Boy

Boost def ran out in 3rd, they need chipping IMO

323GTR

In Autocars 0 - 100 - 0 test a few years back, it beat the scooby... They did say they thought the scooby was off colout though!

My brother had a 20VT. Great looks, good handling and power, interior looks good, but all the good stuff is optional unless you get the later one. Be warned though, the car spent nearly as much time off the road as on it, and cost him thousands in just over a year. Front brakes were replaced 3 times by the dealer under warranty, mainly as they didn't know what they were doing IMO. He had a problem with it over boosting, the garage had it for a week and replaced loads of bits on it which didn't cure it. I offered to have a look for him, and it took me 30 seconds to realise the wastgate hose was disconnected...

It's a shame, as they would be a cracking motor otherwise. Shoddy delaers let them down. Would be nice if you lived near a specialist who could look after it properly.

Jacey Boy

Ta matey, think there is a specialist near by, trouble is I only have about £7K so that will get me a 1997 one with 31K on it.

simon_prickett

I had a 97 20v turbo and really loved it... swapped for a Scooby wagon when we got a dog. Not running either any more unfortunately.

Simon.

carl

But they do have a TorSen diff on the front

ScoobyJawa

so does my missus Rover 200 BRM with 145bhp and it still doesn't help a huge amount - its good but its not a miracle worker

LG John

Diff - smiff It's still a FWD

dsmith

Look lovely and quick - but dont get Powder Blue (fabs you lurking ? )

Deano

Dark Blue Mark

He's sold it now...

MB

RON

It ain't an STI!!!!!!!!!

Jacey Boy

Ron,

Cant really afford an STi mate, unless its a complete bag of sh*te!!

Mark Jackson

A mate bought one new and lost shed loads on it, lovely to drive though, Scoob quicker from standstill but the Fiat keeps on accelerating after 70 and would catch out some expensive stuff, reliability was ok but the discs needed replacing after a period of non use, 800 quid for all 4 disc, ouch.

Get a good inspection done!

Beware the cam belt change, engine out, Fiat charge over a grand, specialists nearer 700, think its about 60/70 k so lots for sale on 59,999 miles !

Jacey Boy

Thanks mate, good comments

skiddus_markus

I quite like the looks.The 20v is the one to go for with lovely Brembo brakes(alloy bells should sort any problems with the discs).A few owners seem to unichip them for around 270bhp and this is enough to see off most things due to low drivetrain losses and good aerodynamics.I think they suffer from cracked exhaust manifolds over time.
Try this site here for more info.
http://forum.fiatcoupe.net/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

stu_allen

Nice looks, understated, but a lot of torque steer.

akshay67

do not mess with these at speeds over 60mph in a striaght line (if u have a UK turbo)!

Ralf

Don't they have the old Integrale engine? So they shouldbe chipable and thirsty.

simon_prickett

16v turbo = integrale engine, 20v turbo has its own engine that's more reliable.

fivepint

m8 has one, its a beautiful car and for a FWD puts the power down well, not too thirst y as its a 6 speed so on motorways the thing is barely ticking over

20v will crack manifold on early cars, there is a fix though... as usual fiat elerctrical gremlins are rife...

EATS tyres though!!!

check out

http://forum.fiatcoupe.net/cgi-bin/

http://www.coupe-sport.co.uk/

http://www.dtcoupele.mcmail.com/

http://homepages.tesco.net/~kaswalker/howto.htm

cheers

julesm

I own a Fiat Coupe 20VT, lets get rid of a few myths, firstly, the 72k cambelt change can now be done with the engine in and there are quite a few Specialists who will do this for around £450 all in. It doesn't shread tyres any quicker than a normal powerful front wheel drive car. It doesn't drastically loose boost in 3rd gear?? From a standing start most scooby's would have an advantage, but from around 45-50mph onwards the Fiat would reel them in (depending on mods!!). They are chippable, most common are Unichip, some owners are running inxs of 300bhp, which is more than enough for a front wheel drive car. Most owners just do light mods such as PRV's (pressure relief valve), airbox/filters etc. Front Disc etc are as expensive as you want to pay, from Fiat you can pay around £150-£190 for front discs, you can get them cheaper elsewhere, alternatively you can go for Black Diamond, Pagid, EBC etc for around the same price.

Owners buy them for different reasons than a Scooby owner would, The Fiat is alot more at home on Motorways and A roads, but is still great fun on B roads, probably wouldn't out handle a Scooby, but thats not what they are brought for. I brought mine because it was very fast, had very different styling and was amazingly affordable, they can be picked up from as little as £5k for a high mileage 20VT up to around £13k for a last of the line 20VT Plus.

Mmmmm

Wife had 16v Turbo, suffered from a bit of lag, had great traction off the line but you had to gun it to prevent it getting bogged down off the line to aviod embarrasment from lesser cars. On turbo acceleration in 3rd and 4th was good could really surprise some drivers.

I am 6ft and found it difficult to get comfortable particularly because we had the sunroof as an option. It was also surprisingly difficult to keep straight on the motorway at speed needing constant steering correction. The car would grip and grip whilst cornering fast but didn't give a lot of feedback through the steering or chassis, sometimes making it and act of blind faith. The car broke down 3 times when we had it (just under 2 years) and needed two new sumps and a spark plug drilled out ? Luckily this was all under warranty. My wife called it Penelope after Penelope Pitstop.

Our down stairs neighbour had a non turbo 16v at the sametime, which needed a new engine after just over a year I don't know why. His looked great in Metallic Black.

Jacey Boy

Thank god I am after the 20v Turbo then, although I am 6ft 3!!

simon_prickett

I am 6 foot 2 1/2 and had the 20v turbo with no sunroof... very comfortable, never had any problems on frequent 3+ hour motorway trips.

fivepint

hehe im 6'4" and have driven my friends 20v turbo numerous times with no probs, his is an LE with no sunroof, they are a beautiful car, but the electrics are troublesome, and fiat dealers are CRAP... other than that its 150mph for no money

Cheers

simon_prickett

I never used a Fiat dealer, went to a specialist who did a top job with it:

JCS Kegworth

They're also in Loughborough.

The Kegworth branch supplied my 20v turbo which was ex-Fiat press fleet

Simon.

[Edited by simon_prickett - 11/13/2002 5:01:01 PM]

NICEBLOKE35

Had a fiat coupe turbo 20 valve few years ago lovely looker, lovely cabin, 60000 to 70000 mile service is a **** about £1000 approx for cam belt change...if that goes its bye bye engine, parts were very expensive, pads ..disks etc, not much choice of pattern parts, so i got rid of mine !!!