RE: Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo Plus(es) | Spotted

[spookly]

I've had 4 Coupes, all 20vt.
At the time, I don't think there was a better looking car which had the same fun to drive feel and was as cheap.
I tried the Alfa GTV a few times, but it just didn't have the silly side that the Fiat had.

[viggyp]

abarth130tc said:

I have a sprint blue Fiat Coupe 1998 20VT and a Fiat Coupe 1995 16v Turbo one of the first sold in this country The 16v turbo has been off the road since 2003 A women owned it and was going to take it to Jamaica but in the end did not so it sat for 15 years off the road . I had to pull the head on it as the balance and timing belts were broken . None of the valve were bent Its got no rust and a solid body Rust is an issue as the early cars are will be 24 years old This is my 8th coupe I love these cars Great vaue for money and i would suggest you grab one now as prices are on the rise . I also have a Strada Abarth 130TC and Fiat Mirafiori Sport . No more cars for me i live in London and dont have any more room

Edited by abarth130tc on Tuesday 4th June 20:26

Nice couple of classics you have there. My 130TC was the best car I ever owned, didn't have any terminal rust and other than a starter motor, was ultra reliable. I'm in N London.

[Karldsmith]

I had a brand new yellow 16v then traded in for a brand new 20V turbo - my father had a new M3 at the time and try as he might he wasn't able to lose me in a straight line , tyres lasted 5 mins though loved mine to bits

[biggbn]

Covered ten's of thousands of miles in 20vt after future proofing mine with a new cambelt and clutch. Loved that wee car, absolute monster at the time, totally reliable, over 30mpg commuting, would love another

[andyps]

I've had a 20VT for 15 years now, it is on 204k miles of which I've done 170k. Still love it and get a buzz from driving it. Mine isn't quite standard now as it is primarily used as a road-modified hillclimb car, it won't win it's class but still competitive against more modern stuff. The original engine went at 198k whilst it was on a run at the hillclimb so pretty good from a reliability perspective.

In terms of the engine being used in other cars, this is possibly the most unusual I've seen - http://www.doityourselfrv.com/new-guinness-world-r... - Fiat Doblo Camper

[FerdiZ28]

Has anyone met the following criteria:

1) Christian name between Robert and Tarqs
2) Owns a Fiat Coupe
3) Car has a Busso engine

As rare as these cars.

[Pereldh]

The 5-cyl 2.0 Turbo was also used in Lancia Kappa, NA in Bravo & Marea, then in altered forms in Fiat Stilo 2.4 Abarth and as 2.4 diesels in both Fiats & Alfas.
So, job well done Fiat

[ToothbrushMan]

erm.....this talk of lag sounds like a bit of ill informed hyperbole to me. yes it had a smidge of lag but some comments make it sound like you had time to bake a cake and read todays news while little old ladies got the jump on you away from the lights. 2 things strike me. first if your intent on beating old ladies in Micras from the lights in a 2.0 litre 20v turbo coop youve got other issues going on in your life and second the lag aint much of a handicap if you learn to drive it in the right way. if you really want to launch off the line in a coop then you can, no worries. maybe those owners were simply not driving them regularly enough to get used to them.....perhaps letting the car drive them rather you driving the car. Good clutch and throttle control sorts you out.

[LordHaveMurci]

My 1st was the only car I've owned that my OH was scared of, mainly due to the lag.
As you say, if you learn to drive around it then it becomes good fun rather than a nuisance

[andyps]

ToothbrushMan said:

erm.....this talk of lag sounds like a bit of ill informed hyperbole to me. yes it had a smidge of lag but some comments make it sound like you had time to bake a cake and read todays news while little old ladies got the jump on you away from the lights. 2 things strike me. first if your intent on beating old ladies in Micras from the lights in a 2.0 litre 20v turbo coop youve got other issues going on in your life and second the lag aint much of a handicap if you learn to drive it in the right way. if you really want to launch off the line in a coop then you can, no worries. maybe those owners were simply not driving them regularly enough to get used to them.....perhaps letting the car drive them rather you driving the car. Good clutch and throttle control sorts you out.

I can agree with you to an extent about getting it off the line - and definitely about lag in general which isn't bad at all. Getting off the line quickly is pretty easy and on the road it can beat any regular car from lights. Getting the absolute best from a standing start isn't easy as I know from hillclimbing mine - the first split time is after 64 ft and my best ever in the Coupe is 2.58 seconds, but it can often be 2.8 or even more - getting the balance between amount of wheelspin and not bogging down off the turbo with inconsistent grip off the startline is not easy at all, I wish I knew how to be consistent! By comparison I did one hillclimb event in my MG TF 160 and was absolutely consistent at 2.55 seconds for the 64ft - dead easy, drop the clutch at 5k revs and off it went. The Coupe doesn't do that

[Pereldh]

Agree on the abscence of lag - for it's time it had a recordbreaking absence of lag. Fiat and Bosch spent a fortune finetuning the manegement to maximum drivability, still using a turbo big enough for 220hp.

Of course if you compare a modern day supercharged/turbocharged engine etc, it will feel laggy in comparison.

[viggyp]

I found it was laggy as the gears were so damn long. Other than that it isn't as bad as some people have made out.

You want lag, drive the first batch of Escort Cosworths.

[Flanners]

Laggy compared to modern small capacity turbo charged units, but not for it's day (just bought an RCZ-R with a twin scroll turbo and it shows the innovation over the last couple of decades) in fact it was touted as having minimal lag, as others have said keep the revs on and the turbo spooling and no worries. May be long geared.....but that magic 3rd is something else, it just keeps on gving.