Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo, bargain or money pit?

There are various buttons and dials which are obviously aftermarket and the boost guage itself has various 'modes' so I'm sure there's something techy I can play with.
That sounds more like an electronic boost controller.

It means the stock boost control from the ECU is bypassed and now controlled by the little computer with the buttons and modes on it.

Does it say what make and model it is?
 
Fiat Forum is worth joining up to. The Couple group are pretty close and don't mind helping each other out. Most of them know the real ins and outs of the engine and should be able to answer any tough questions you have.

I think like any car of this age and power it could become a money pit. The problem is people see the word 'Fiat' and think "ah great, Punto running costs with the odd electrical issue - I can put up with that" when really they should be putting the running costs inline with any other European 6second to 60mpg turbo car.
 
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That sounds more like an electronic boost controller.

It means the stock boost control from the ECU is bypassed and now controlled by the little computer with the buttons and modes on it.

Does it say what make and model it is?

What I thought was a boost controller... wasn't. Neither was the other dial. I think we'll leave it at that to save my embarassment ;).

I am only peaking at 17psi (and like Telescopi said it tails off at high revs) but presumably something is fitted to adjust the boost otherwise why the guage?

The clever viscous diff arrangement means there's very little 'scrabbling' like you get with most front wheel drive cars despite it not having traction control as far as I can tell.

This one won't be a money pit because it's being run with my normal philosophy of not getting attached. If anything potentially expensive goes wrong it goes on eBay and is sold to someone with the time and patience to tinker with it.

So far I'm having fantastic fun. I had no idea a Fiat could be so good.
 
17psi sounds about right for standard boost from what I remember when I had mine. FCCUK is your answer to everything, but I havent been on there for about 3 years so have no idea what the current crowd is like.
 
What I thought was a boost controller... wasn't. Neither was the other dial. I think we'll leave it at that to save my embarassment ;)
Ha ha. So - it has buttons to press and different modes?

When you turn it on does the car start making strange sounds and you start to hear voices?

;) :p
 
surely thats 200sx money, and 200sx handle/perform as well as a Fiat no problem? probably easier to tune as well?

Also, with regards the Fiat, who would just spend out on the most expensive service for a car and then sell it? imo thats a strange sign...like they thought they'd have to to sell it and just want shut ASAP...

otherwise if i was spending £300+ on a service on a 100% reliable car, id re consider decision to sell?
 
Also, with regards the Fiat, who would just spend out on the most expensive service for a car and then sell it? imo thats a strange sign...like they thought they'd have to to sell it and just want shut ASAP...

18 months before we moved into our current house the entire house was re-carpetted, had new curtains all throughout and a rather big kitchen extension.

Guy decided he didn't like it and sold it to us.
 
Ok 2 questions...

1) How good does this look for a 'cheap' car? I must admit the shape has grown on me a lot now.

fixitagain.jpg


2) (Edit, nevermind, I've RTFM :p) Does anyone know anything about boost guages? It seems to have 4 modes. The first gives the PSI. The second is a number (currently 5.50) which increases by .1 when you press the button. Is this some sort of calibration? The third alternates between 'pof' and 'pon'. The 4th reads 'br'. Once in the 4th mode you can't leave it without switching the engine off.

boost.jpg
 
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That A3 is way overpriced I paid £1800 for mine which is a 51 plate, 66k mileage and 1.8 SE too.

Go for the 1.8T, allow fiat too unreliable. Or go for seat leon cupra, nice cars.
 
Classic Impreza tbh - very reliable (if serviced) fast, fun and they sound great. Could pick a decent one up with your budget. Have had no trouble what so ever with mine in the 4 years I have owned it and its 10 years ols now.
 
I got the 0 -60 time measured at york dragway at a drag day and it was certified at 5.51 seconds and a gps recorded 168mph. There are no other cars you can buy at that money that can do that sort of 0 - 60 and top speed and go round corners.

You can pick up an ST205 Celica GT4 for about 3-4K nowadays, 255hp stock, 4 wheel drive and a hatchback too.

Bit uglier thou.
 
You can pick up an ST205 Celica GT4 for about 3-4K nowadays, 255hp stock, 4 wheel drive and a hatchback too.

Bit uglier thou.

Sorry for the bump.

Another one is the Mitsubishi 3000GT although even with it being 320BHP and very heavy it is still very quick.

I want a Coupe LE :(
 
I've discovered an interesting side effect to Fiat Coupe ownership. It seems that on purchasing one you are automatically inducted into some kind of Fiat Coupe cult. Every time you pass another Coupe the driver will inevitably flash his lights, beep his horn, wave like a mad man or race you. You would think I'm exaggerating but I'm really not. I've not experienced this with any other car.
 
I've discovered an interesting side effect to Fiat Coupe ownership. It seems that on purchasing one you are automatically inducted into some kind of Fiat Coupe cult. Every time you pass another Coupe the driver will inevitably flash his lights, beep his horn, wave like a mad man or race you. You would think I'm exaggerating but I'm really not. I've not experienced this with any other car.

Haha, yea, I got it a lot as well, my girlfriend at the time suddenly started telling me if she ever noticed one while she was out and about as well.
 
I've discovered an interesting side effect to Fiat Coupe ownership. It seems that on purchasing one you are automatically inducted into some kind of Fiat Coupe cult. Every time you pass another Coupe the driver will inevitably flash his lights, beep his horn, wave like a mad man or race you. You would think I'm exaggerating but I'm really not. I've not experienced this with any other car.


Lots of other car owners do this, e.g. MG's, classic Minis etc. The coupe is an increasingly rare car, and there weren't that many sold from new so you nearly always get a wave of flash of the lights from other owners.
 
I really like it when other mini drivers wave or flash lights... makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I hope I own more cars where the owners do this :p
 
LOL, I occasionally get that in the Alfa, was messing about with a 156 derv on the M40/A34 not so long back. The majority of newer Alfas ignore you though.
 
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