RE: SOTW: Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
Discussion
Nigel_O said:
krispe said:
Nigel... Hope you don't mind me posting a link to your car http://www.torquestats.com/modified/index.php?car_...
Hmmm - really must update that with the new car....Is you new car a rather fetching pale metallic blue? If so I;ve long admired the racket made by your coupes as you blast our control tower, on the side of the A51 by-pass in Rugeley.
I was lucky enough to drive a 'cooking' coupe. A fringe benefit of TVR owenership was that friends assumed you were a safe pair of hands and were actually very keen to get your verdict on their wheels. Ocassionally I;d decline invitations, but the Fiat I am grateful to have driven. IMHO it sort of picked up on the mantle of the original 80's Audi coupe.
Digga said:
It's you! Isn't it?
Is you new car a rather fetching pale metallic blue? If so I;ve long admired the racket made by your coupes as you blast our control tower, on the side of the A51 by-pass in Rugeley.
oooer....Is you new car a rather fetching pale metallic blue? If so I;ve long admired the racket made by your coupes as you blast our control tower, on the side of the A51 by-pass in Rugeley.
Whereabouts is your "control tower"? - I may have been known to press the loud pedal along there every now and then (like twice a day...) The exhaust is subtle at town-trundling speeds, but it can be a bit loud if the revs are above 5k - it's 3" all the way from turbo to tailpipe, with very little inside any of it. I've just had a new turbo fitted and it's MUCH freer-revving now, right up to the new 7,500 rev limiter, but the noise is glorious now that the turbine housing isn't giving backpressure.
The current one is a Moon Grey (read light silver) Plus model, running anthracite 17" multi-spoke wheels.
Best SOTW for ages. Nearly bought one these when they were new but decided I couldn't live with the fuel consumption on my then high mileage commute. Always regretted it, cant believe a seemingly sound one can be had so cheaply now. Nigel_O said:
Whereabouts is your "control tower"?
It's a secret (for tax purposes) location 'somewhere' on the A51.FWIW, there's a lot of exotica blasts its way up and down the bypass over the years, but not much that sounds better that than, other than Mr Zipvit's old car; an Enzo. There's a blue Audi RS8 V10 at the moment and even that doesn't sound as good as the Fiat's straight five.
Is yours a sort of very light blue/silver then?
Snodwee said:
I've owned three coupes. The first was an early 16v in red that got stolen (parked outside a friends house, went out on the pop, returned to burgaled house, tv and hi-fi missing, as well as my car keys and car. Gutted!). This was replaced with a Portofino blue 20vt, the only mods i ever did were a stainless exhaust and induction kit. Neither ever missed a beat.
I replaced the 20vt with a 4.2 TVR Cerbera. Loved it to bits but it definately cost me more to run than the Fiat, especially as i was using it as an everyday car.
After three or so years i decided to sell up and save some money towards a house. I wanted something cheap but still pretty quick. Looked at other things but in the end it boiled down to how much bang you get for your buck, so another coupe it was to be then.
I've had my third 20vt just over three years now, and it has cost me quite a lot more to keep going than either of the previous ones, although I did expect this as it is a 14 year old car.
Touch wood nothing big has gone pop, the biggest being the turbo needing a rebuild. Apart from that it's had the cam belt (doesn't require engine out) and clutch done and various minor things, radiator etc.
It's now had some light mods (wheels, induction kit, lowered a touch and chipped a little, approx 260bhp) and i had it resprayed last year due to fading paint.
It all adds up to much more than it cost, or is worth, but it's great fun and will still show a clean pair of heels to most things.
Regards the handling, i found that on the standard wheels it was very much influenced by tyre choice. When i bought my 1st 20vt it was on Goodyears. When they wore out i fitted the correct spec Pirelli P-Zero's and it transformed it, becoming much sharper. This being due to them having much stiffer sidewalls, at that time at least. I've got a set of aftermarket 17" wheels on mine now and it makes it a far 'pointier' car.
All in all, i'd prefer it if it was RWD but it is what it is, and i love it!
By the way mine's Red with tan leather, sunroof and air-con, bit of a rarity i think.
For a few hundred quid you can't go wrong!
First post in 73 months. I replaced the 20vt with a 4.2 TVR Cerbera. Loved it to bits but it definately cost me more to run than the Fiat, especially as i was using it as an everyday car.
After three or so years i decided to sell up and save some money towards a house. I wanted something cheap but still pretty quick. Looked at other things but in the end it boiled down to how much bang you get for your buck, so another coupe it was to be then.
I've had my third 20vt just over three years now, and it has cost me quite a lot more to keep going than either of the previous ones, although I did expect this as it is a 14 year old car.
Touch wood nothing big has gone pop, the biggest being the turbo needing a rebuild. Apart from that it's had the cam belt (doesn't require engine out) and clutch done and various minor things, radiator etc.
It's now had some light mods (wheels, induction kit, lowered a touch and chipped a little, approx 260bhp) and i had it resprayed last year due to fading paint.
It all adds up to much more than it cost, or is worth, but it's great fun and will still show a clean pair of heels to most things.
Regards the handling, i found that on the standard wheels it was very much influenced by tyre choice. When i bought my 1st 20vt it was on Goodyears. When they wore out i fitted the correct spec Pirelli P-Zero's and it transformed it, becoming much sharper. This being due to them having much stiffer sidewalls, at that time at least. I've got a set of aftermarket 17" wheels on mine now and it makes it a far 'pointier' car.
All in all, i'd prefer it if it was RWD but it is what it is, and i love it!
By the way mine's Red with tan leather, sunroof and air-con, bit of a rarity i think.
For a few hundred quid you can't go wrong!
Digga said:
Is yours a sort of very light blue/silver then?
It's a very light silver with a slightly pearl finish in the right light. If you're where I think you may be, a bit of sky reflection will make it have a blue hue.Would your forum name and your knowledge of Mr Zipvit's Enzo be a slight clue to the location of your control tower? If it's where I think it is, it would certainly explain how you get to hear me stretching the Coupe's legs especially in the evenings at around 6:00 - 6:30pm. If that stretch is clear (which is increasingly rare nowadays), I can run it to the rev limiter in the first three gears.
Had mine 4 and a bit years in (girly-but-I-like-it-so-much-I-had-it-reprayed-the-same-colour) Portofino blue. It's fun to read the horror stories and the nay-sayers anecdotes. I reckon that and badge snobbery is what makes these such a bargain now. It's a shame there's so many tatty, unmaintained ones around to give the rest a bad name... but they'll die before long and leave the good ones.
Mine's chipped to 250 bhp and serviced by a specialist and in 4 years and 40,000 miles - now on 120,000 (including a few track days) all that it's really needed is a new oil cooler, a replacement suspension spring and a thermostat - not bad for a 12 year old car. At 120k it's on its original turbo and its second clutch.
It's not just a straight-line brute though, it might not handle like an MX5 but it's far better than modern non-sporty cars... but it needs decent premium tyres to handle and grip properly (and some new dampers if you really want to sharpen it up, they are probably getting on a bit). It's a car you can drive everyday and still have a lot of fun when the sun comes out. Most of all they do have that 'special' feeling that a lot of good cars lack (for me that's generally anything German.
Also, just to set the record straight, Impreza turbos, GTV V6s, Boxster's, E46 330cis and all the other cars people have drag raced a 20VT in, I'm really sorry to shatter your illusion... but they weren't trying as hard as you! :-0
Mine's chipped to 250 bhp and serviced by a specialist and in 4 years and 40,000 miles - now on 120,000 (including a few track days) all that it's really needed is a new oil cooler, a replacement suspension spring and a thermostat - not bad for a 12 year old car. At 120k it's on its original turbo and its second clutch.
It's not just a straight-line brute though, it might not handle like an MX5 but it's far better than modern non-sporty cars... but it needs decent premium tyres to handle and grip properly (and some new dampers if you really want to sharpen it up, they are probably getting on a bit). It's a car you can drive everyday and still have a lot of fun when the sun comes out. Most of all they do have that 'special' feeling that a lot of good cars lack (for me that's generally anything German.
Also, just to set the record straight, Impreza turbos, GTV V6s, Boxster's, E46 330cis and all the other cars people have drag raced a 20VT in, I'm really sorry to shatter your illusion... but they weren't trying as hard as you! :-0
Nigel_O said:
Digga said:
Is yours a sort of very light blue/silver then?
It's a very light silver with a slightly pearl finish in the right light. If you're where I think you may be, a bit of sky reflection will make it have a blue hue.Would your forum name and your knowledge of Mr Zipvit's Enzo be a slight clue to the location of your control tower? If it's where I think it is, it would certainly explain how you get to hear me stretching the Coupe's legs especially in the evenings at around 6:00 - 6:30pm. If that stretch is clear (which is increasingly rare nowadays), I can run it to the rev limiter in the first three gears.
I remember that by-pass just after it was all fields. I reckon some cars went down close to 150. As you say, now it's sadly not so conducive to hooning, so the same stuff comes past - Gallardos, XKRs, GT£s - but just at lower throttle openings generally. Shame.
Nice motor anyway!
I sold my Sprint Blue with Tan interior Coupe about 3 years ago now
It is without a doubt the car I most regret not still owning - what on earth did I need the £2000 I sold it for so badly?
Unique looks, fast, and just pretty special and everyone loved it
apart from when filling it up at a garage once, when someone called me a "Rich tosser" which I thought was nice
It is without a doubt the car I most regret not still owning - what on earth did I need the £2000 I sold it for so badly?
Unique looks, fast, and just pretty special and everyone loved it
apart from when filling it up at a garage once, when someone called me a "Rich tosser" which I thought was nice
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