Fiat Coupe..... Opinions?
Discussion
I have purely anecdotal evidence.
My uncle had a 20 valve turbo a few years ago because he just loved the styling and it was bloody good fun. As I remember it had only one problem which was a failed sump gasket which recurred, but only because of an initial bodge. The cambelt change was also expensive, I think.
It was a great car for him though with his lead foot it liked a drink. With his girlfriend driving it managed 35mpg
I wouldn't recommend one due to horror stories I've heard, but we had serious fun with it. And the belt shriek under acceleration was glorious
My uncle had a 20 valve turbo a few years ago because he just loved the styling and it was bloody good fun. As I remember it had only one problem which was a failed sump gasket which recurred, but only because of an initial bodge. The cambelt change was also expensive, I think.
It was a great car for him though with his lead foot it liked a drink. With his girlfriend driving it managed 35mpg
I wouldn't recommend one due to horror stories I've heard, but we had serious fun with it. And the belt shriek under acceleration was glorious
Never owned one but friend sand family have.
Buddy had a 20VT from new, he drove the balls off it and it disintegrated in 40k miles, was quick though.
Brother in law had a 20v NA, was a nice car, only went in it a couple of time, but nice noise and nice interior.
He replaced it with a mint (looking) 20VT low miler with FSH and the cambelt snapped within a week, took it back to the dealer who refused to fix it under the warranty (or sale of goods act) eventually they agreed to fix it (after many months), they took it somewhere and I s
t you not, it disappeared into thin air.
The dealer became un-contactable, court action ensued.......not a great experience for my Brother in law!
Buddy had a 20VT from new, he drove the balls off it and it disintegrated in 40k miles, was quick though.
Brother in law had a 20v NA, was a nice car, only went in it a couple of time, but nice noise and nice interior.
He replaced it with a mint (looking) 20VT low miler with FSH and the cambelt snapped within a week, took it back to the dealer who refused to fix it under the warranty (or sale of goods act) eventually they agreed to fix it (after many months), they took it somewhere and I s
t you not, it disappeared into thin air.The dealer became un-contactable, court action ensued.......not a great experience for my Brother in law!
GTV V6?
Coupe has more room, has a proper boot, handles better, is faster, more economical and doesn't have the troublesome farmeless door glass of the GTV, see the adverts with the door glass standing proud from the side of the car. Spring pans and many bushes at the back of the Alfa. The Coupe came with Viscodrive as standard, many Alfisti pay big bucks get a Q2 or Quaiffe diff retro fitted.
I'm not sure which rusts most between the two. I think it may be the Coupe.
Cambelt, cracked exhaust manifolds which is a PITA to fix, the aux. belt taking out the cambelt and a coolant hose at the back of the engine that dumps all of the coolant if it goes. Specialists can do the cambelt in situ.
Coupe has more room, has a proper boot, handles better, is faster, more economical and doesn't have the troublesome farmeless door glass of the GTV, see the adverts with the door glass standing proud from the side of the car. Spring pans and many bushes at the back of the Alfa. The Coupe came with Viscodrive as standard, many Alfisti pay big bucks get a Q2 or Quaiffe diff retro fitted.
I'm not sure which rusts most between the two. I think it may be the Coupe.
Cambelt, cracked exhaust manifolds which is a PITA to fix, the aux. belt taking out the cambelt and a coolant hose at the back of the engine that dumps all of the coolant if it goes. Specialists can do the cambelt in situ.
carinaman said:
GTV V6?
Coupe has more room, has a proper boot, handles better, is faster,
Agreed.Coupe has more room, has a proper boot, handles better, is faster,
Several years ago I was in the market for a reasonably priced coupe and tried the Corrado VR6, Fiat Coupe 20V, Alfa GTV6, 406 Coupe V6 and a Mitsi FTO V6.
It quickly became a flip of the coin choice between the Corrado and Fiat as I liked them both a lot.
I believe the Fiat was hand made by Bertone (or maybe Pininfarina) so it doesn't feel as crumbly as other Fiats of the same vintage. The Bangle slashes divide opinion but overall I liked it. Felt planted and steered well. Engine a bit laggy but sounds brilliant being a 5 cyl. Lots of stories about the cambelt being an engine out job, so do your research.
I settled on the Corrado in the end as it felt a bit better screwed together, quieter, more refined and a little better looking imo.
This was 7 or 8 years ago and I'd have a Coupe now if I could find one that isn't a shed.
carinaman said:
I'm not sure which rusts most between the two. I think it may be the Coupe.
The Coupes rust around the inside of the transmission housing and the rear spring hangers. By comparison, the Type 916 GTV rusts like a fish.The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
I was 2nd owner of one for 7 years.
Fantastic car, with a great online club. Hand built so felt special, and mine was truthfully my longest owned and most reliable car.
Ongoing maintenance is the key. Everything seemed to cost £500:
New clutch? £500
New oil cooler and pipes? £500
Belts at specialist? £500
Set of tyres? £500
Front wishbones and droplinks fitted? £500
Turbo re-furb? £500
Set of Bilsteins? £500
Set of Eibachs, fitting and fitting of above Billys? £500
You get the picture...
Tuning ruins them though in my experience.
Fantastic car, with a great online club. Hand built so felt special, and mine was truthfully my longest owned and most reliable car.
Ongoing maintenance is the key. Everything seemed to cost £500:
New clutch? £500
New oil cooler and pipes? £500
Belts at specialist? £500
Set of tyres? £500
Front wishbones and droplinks fitted? £500
Turbo re-furb? £500
Set of Bilsteins? £500
Set of Eibachs, fitting and fitting of above Billys? £500
You get the picture...
Tuning ruins them though in my experience.
Twincam16 said:
carinaman said:
I'm not sure which rusts most between the two. I think it may be the Coupe.
The Coupes rust around the inside of the transmission housing and the rear spring hangers. By comparison, the Type 916 GTV rusts like a fish.The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
I always find the boot in my GTV more than ample however a couple of months back I figured out why....it hasnt got a spare wheel!
I've got a can of tyre gunk,an inflater and multiple breakdown policies though so no spare and a workable boot size is fine by me.
Twincam16 said:
The Coupes rust around the inside of the transmission housing and the rear spring hangers. By comparison, the Type 916 GTV rusts like a fish.
The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
'Rusts like a fish'? Please explain? Are you saying 916s rust less? I've not heard of that many rusty 916s but when they have rusted it seems significant.The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
GTs? What's the deal with water getting into the cabins and sloshing around the front footwells?
A collage of Fiat Coupe dents? Sadly the Coupe and GTV are similar in that they look so stunning dents really detract from.
Twincam16 said:
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
There's an epidemic of GTA ECU failures and the underbonnet catalytic converters kick out Scorchio amounts of heat to wreak havoc under that spectacular bonnet. 
The ability to use a roof rack would be useful too, or have I seen photos of a GT with a canoe on the roof? Perhaps it was a Brera.
Twincam16 said:
The Coupes rust around the inside of the transmission housing and the rear spring hangers. By comparison, the Type 916 GTV rusts like a fish.
The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
The other drawback is the 22mpg quoted by Alfa, but in reality one of my friends was getting under 20 in his. Sounded lovely though and was a comfy car. Also it's front wheel drive with a heavy engine up front.The drawback of the GTV is the near-total lack of usable room in the back. However, there is a potential compromise:
Four full-size seats, rear hatch even though it doesn't look like a hatchback, 3.2-litre V6 straight out of a 147 GTA, double-wishbone front and multilink rear suspension derived from the 156 rather than the Fiat Coupe's Tipo origins, six-speed three-pedal manual, deeply stylish interior, 240bhp, 0-60 in 6.3 seconds and on to 150mph.
The only real drawbacks I can think of are the lack of Q2 diff (possible to retro-fit) and the high tax bracket.
RenOHH said:
The other drawback is the 22mpg quoted by Alfa, but in reality one of my friends was getting under 20 in his. Sounded lovely though and was a comfy car. Also it's front wheel drive with a heavy engine up front.
Not much different from the Fiat Coupé then in that respect? GT also sounds like a good candidate to LPG (spoils the look of the rather pretty V6 though).Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff