Mate should buy a Fiat Coupe?

[StuartFZR400 0]

Dear fellow petrol heads, a friend of mine has decided to ditch his 16v fiesta Si and upgrade to a Coupe; (as his gf is always commenting how nice my C is when she sees it, lol). He doesnt want the same car as me, not even a VR.

 

He has his eyes on the Fiat Coupe; as they are knocking about for £3-4k. I've only ever seen a couple on the road my self and both were driven sedately and looked standard (ie horrid little rims [although probably 15" too]). Never knew much about them until I did a bit of digging. Found they have a couple decent forums too, along with buying guides.

 

Im sure he will be after the Turbo 20v. IMO I am sure you can make them look decent, but standard I much prefer a C any day; each to thier own.

 

Anyone know if these cars are robust? Decent? ... or are they the typical Fiat flimsy tin cans?

 

I quote the specs off thier fccuk forum:

"The Fiat Coupe, based on the Tipo platform, entered production in 1993. Power came from either a 1995cc 16V (142bhp) or a 1995cc 16V turbo (195bhp) engine (both developed from engines taken from the Lancia range, the latter from the Integrale). In 1996 the 1747cc 16V (130bhp) engine from the Barchetta was transplanted into the Coupe, and then in 1997 both 2 litre units were replaced by the new 5 cylinder 1998cc engines, both with (220bhp) and without (147bhp/154bhp) a turbo. "

[gradeAfailure 0]

only thing I've heard is that apparently the engine has to come out for the cambelt change, a la Ferrari...

[vr6storm 0]

can't recall the UK getting the 1.8 130bhp version tho

 

just remember them coming out over here about 95 with the 2.0 16v/2.0 16v Turbo then a cpl of years later they were replaced with the 2.0 20v/2.0 20v turbo

 

 

been in a 20v Turbo by F*** it was fast!!!!

[vr6storm 0]

..........there was a couple of Fiat coupe guys on here a few years back too saying that the timing belt can be done in-situ

[Castro 0]

All I know is that they are damned fine looking and with the right engine fast aswell. Can't comment on running costs/reliability though.

 

20v Turbo gets 5* in Evo's The Knowledge. Can't be a bad thing...

[big_chris1981 0]

the 16v turbo is a detuned lancia delta integrale evo unit.

 

car are a bitch to work on, no matter which model.

 

parts costs are high.

 

build quality isnt amazing....

[gaz the geezer 0]

just my own opinion but i think all fiats are sheeite.. always have been, always will be . period :pukeright:

[vr6storm 0]

there's some exceptions tho.............ive always lusted after the Fiat Strada 130TC Abarth

[StuartFZR400 0]

Mixed reactions there guys; that how I felt.

 

only thing I've heard is that apparently the engine has to come out for the cambelt change, a la Ferrari...

possibly a myth, so says thier forum. Still a pain.

 

MUCH rather buy your VR6 ;)

[peteTDI 0]

cambelts are replaced with engine still in the car on all engines apart from the 5 pot 2.0 20valve turbo and thats an engine and box out job with 14 hrs of labour at every 6 years or 60k

[mattosmond 0]

my uncle had a red turbo...... Wicked car, and he did a 100k in it and it was fine, until he wrote it off :(

like vr6storm says fecking fast :) :)

[4stud 0]

A bloke at work had one and i herd he paid 1500 for a cambelt change!!!!

[craigowl 0]

I believe from years of reading that, overall, Fiats (and Alfas) are dogged with reliability problems, particularly electrical.

 

Dealers/garages also seem to do be among the worst in customer surveys.

 

However, even the most unreliable cars of today are more reliable than those of 2 or 3 decades ago.

 

I would only have a Fiat if I was desperate.

[lukeage 0]

The whole cambelt thing is just the more of an obsession just like you get with the VR's timing chains - it's an important one to check, but there is a lot more nasty things to happen which will cost a whole a lot more. The current price is £500 to get the belt replaced at a Specialist (£1500 if you take it to Tony's).

 

As for speed - they are fast as feck - 220bhp as standard on the 20vt and not a lot of dosh to get them higher. When you tie this up with the light weight of the car you can only imagine the speed it has at its disposal. It will spank a majority of Cars on the road. The only part where they don't shine so much is the handling, but uprated suspension can help a lot.

 

You can make them insanely fast as well;

 

540BHP

 

I am seriously looking out for one at the moment as my next car.

 

Reliability I have heard is not to bad when they are cared for - no different to a rado from what i have seen.

[junkie 0]

Also for the people that don't know, the engine is not like the VAG 20v 5 valves per cylinder, its a 5 cylinder 20v so effectively a 16v but with the extra cylinder.

 

Up my way there used to be a Punto with this engine installed, you could pour a bag of rice over the engine and not 1 grain would get through it was that tight.

[MK1Campaign 0]

As everyone says the 20v turbo versions are very fast but come on they must be one of the worst looking cars out there. You never see a straight one. They always look clattered down the sides.

[Guest mudhut]

Can't speak for Fiats but I do have an Alfa...

 

Dealers/garages also seem to do be among the worst in customer surveys.

True, but Alfa are trying to do something about this. There's been some progress too.

 

I believe from years of reading that, overall, Fiats (and Alfas) are dogged with reliability problems, particularly electrical.

Most of the electrical problems are due to German Bosch bits though - the Motronic system can play up really badly, especially AFM's and MAF's

[Cnut 0]

Yes he should, a coupe will probably be my next project after the rado.

[CazzaVR 0]

I'd get a S14A 200SX over the Fiat every day of the week!

[n3p 3]

at the end of the day, it's still a Fiat. Make sure your friend bears that in mind!

[lauraJ 0]

My Parents had a 20v turbo one. And to be honest I thought it was really nice, very quick! Was the bright blue with Tan leather. always caught peoples eyes and sometimes unwanted attention (people cutting us up on purpose). We had ours for about 3 yrs and they sold it for more than they bought it for. Although my step dad did change the wheels and a couple of other things. I'm pretty sure there was a dump valve on there, although not totally sure.

Ours never broke down. I think if you look after it then you'll be ok. If he's going to be ragging it round every day things are bound to break aren't they.

My brother wanted to buy it of my mum but she refused to sell it to either of us, as she was scared we would kill ourselves. I would get one if I wasn't so hell bent on getting myself a G60. lol

[Kevin Bacon 5]

The 20VT Coupe is the one to get as it has a Suretrak LSD as standard, so it was ahead of it's time.

 

I believe the Coupe was made by Bertone, so it's better built than the FIATs of the time.

 

Same story as the Corrado. Low volume, niche car, outsourced to an external coach builder..... which is cheaper than retooling the main factory.

 

I've not heard of any significant issues with the Coupe. It was the FIATs that had rice paper body panels and iffy electrics, not the Coupe.

 

I think it's a safe bet personally and hoiking the engine out every 6K is a small price to pay for what you get in return. No performance car is cheap to buy or maintain and all of them have weaknesses. You just need to decide which ones you can live with / afford.

[coolrado 0]

A mate of mine had the coupe 20VT coupe in ink black with tan leather, and it was a very nice car to drive, very solid feeling and very quick, until recently when it was rear ended by a new audi cabriolet, the audi needed a new bonnet and grill and the coupe was a write off, the rear body panels are horrendously expensive and all the seams on the rear quarters are brazed together to hide the seams.

Two weeks into ownership the cambelt needed changing and although he was told by fiat it was an engine out job a local specialist managed it with the engine in situ and it only took him 4 hours compared to the 8 hours quoted by fiat, he did have plety of problems with sensors, misterious rattling noises that fiat coudnt identify and a leaky turbo manifold which is quite common on them apearently.

 

Oh and it ate front tyres very quickly too :lol:

[Kevin Bacon 5]

he did have plenty of problems with sensors, mysterious rattling noises and a leaky turbo manifold

 

Oh and it ate front tyres very quickly too :lol:

 

Wow, sounds exactly like a VR6 Turbo :lol:

[double-6s 0]

Relaibilty schmeliabilty!

 

Don't make your decision based on reliabilty mate! I'd never have bought my alfa GTA if i listened to all the stories/rumours/whatever about reliabilty or lack thereof.

 

I bought it because it has a stonking great V6 under the bonnet that sounds the absolute muts and goes like a scalded greyhound! I'll live with the reliabilty problem if and when it happens :)

 

For the record, so far the reliabilty thing has indeed reared it's schmugly head a few times, but I bought from a dealer, so FREE new brakes and FREE front wishbones later all is well again :) The fact is I ALWAYS knock the crap out of my car when I drive it, so these things happen whatever make of motor I buy. I proved that with a few golfs and two rados :)

 

Get the coupe - cracking car and fast as fek. What more do ya need?