Fiat Coupe Turbo

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Matt82 said:
makes me pee my pants laughing when i read someone blabber on about "mr2s are dangerous".

they are not, not at all. its all about the tool behind the wheel, whos probably just graduated from a Citroen AX. :D

i had a rev2 with 290 bhp at the wheels mofo
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In my opinion the car has horrible on/over the limit handling characterstics. For example, it's no where near as controllable as a well balanced car like an MX5, 200sx, BMW 328 etc. Once the rear wheels have lost traction it is almost like a pendulum effect.

This is coming from personal experience of owning the car for around a year. You can knock it all you like, and I'll bow down to your superior driving skills...
 
mk1_salami said:
In my opinion the car has horrible on/over the limit handling characterstics. For example, it's no where near as controllable as a well balanced car like an MX5, 200sx, BMW 328 etc. Once the rear wheels have lost traction it is almost like a pendulum effect.

This is coming from personal experience of owning the car for around a year. You can knock it all you like, and I'll bow down to your superior driving skills...
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the turbos do have LSD which does make a lot of difference. i will not deny that the NA cars can be a pain when pushed too far, but thats par for the course for mid engine. the car is not as forgiving, but clearly you know what happens when you breach its very high capabilities.... so therefore dont breach them or expect the consequences. definately a fun car, but not particularly forgiving,hence i found it a right laugh :D
 
Matt82 said:
the turbos do have LSD which does make a lot of difference. i will not deny that the NA cars can be a pain when pushed too far, but thats par for the course for mid engine. the car is not as forgiving, but clearly you know what happens when you breach its very high capabilities.... so therefore dont breach them or expect the consequences. definately a fun car, but not particularly forgiving,hence i found it a right laugh :D
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Id probably crash one then, how do you learn to be able to cope with this kind of car? :confused:
 
willd58 said:
Id probably crash one then, how do you learn to be able to cope with this kind of car? :confused:
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Same as any car, just drive it and be careful until you're used to it, all the MR2 does is highlight bad driving.

If you lift off the throttle half way round a corner in a FWD car you'll be forgiven for being a crap driver whereas the MR2 will chew you up and spit you out. If you put too much power down halfway through a corner in a FWD car, again you'll probably get away with it, the MR2 will want to spin. Basically if you do stupid things when driving you won't get away with them in the MR2 as easily as you would in a FWD car.

The problem is that too many people learn bad driving habits from driving FWD cars and then get in a mid engined RWD car like an MR2 and say that it handles crap. I bet most of our parents learned to drive in RWD cars (without any driver aids) and they seemed to manage alright.
 
correct. the usual 'mistakes' that people make are completely masked by your common or garden car. the mr2 is more sensitive to how it is driven. driven competently it is seriously capable. drive it like a noob and youll be looking at an accident report form lol
 
mk1_salami said:
Also L0rdMike... from another post recently:



*cough
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What has that got to do anything, im hardly going to have a no fear attitude on a damp road while giving passenger lifts.

I used to drive my MK1 with no fear as the rear end never really twitched at all.

Bit different when you have 260bhp Turbo car.
 
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So on the one hand you say the MR2 is not dangerous, but on the other you said you're too afraid to give it any beans on anything less than a bone dry road? :confused:
 
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It frustrates me this sort of topic and i never comment as it has nothing to do with me...

right now theres been like 4 posts that have any relevance to the initial question...

The fiat is a good handler etc, but to be honest it depends if you are after a practical performer, or an all out "drivers car". I found it OK, a friend of mine met it in the middle and bought a Honda Integra Si and has fettled with it a litte so its now more than potent... just an idea. Going from the MR2 to the Fiat tho seems a little backward imo but its not my place to force my opition... :p

GL with your mission mate!
 
There not dangerous but there hardly the easiest car to drive. Most young drivers put them into bushes within a few months :p :)
 
I gave it some on the MM3 meet but its pretty much like any RWD car, if you dont think you will mess up.

Maybe you just lack skill to drive one, I drive mine to my ability, im not the best of driver but I know how to handle my car.

I spun my car once, it was tipping down and I accelerated on a round about.

Besides who wants to really push a rear wheel drive car really hard on a public road anyway?

I once mess about in my Fiesta when it was raining, went round a bend big understeer and I went from the 1st lane to the 3rd lane just missing the barrier.

The fact I did something stupid doesnt make any difference as a Fiesta aint RWD so it must have safe handling.
 
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My original comment on the MR2s handling indicates towards its unfriendly-ness on the limit. Particularly in the rain. I appreciate the MR2 is a capable car in the right hands, but for the majority of road users - they will be far safer and less in danger on the limit in a FWD car.

I personally found the MR2 boring, stodgy, little feedback and generally dodgy on the limit. It's an opinion. I appreciate you may think differently.

Anyway - the Fiat Coupe... It's just ideas floating around right now. It wouldn't be a backward move, because I'm driving a 205 GTI at the moment, and not the MR2.

Thanks for the info on it.
 
Interesting that you comment on the balance of the MX, 200SX and BMW in a positive manner, shortly after suggesting a turbo charged FWD car.
If you rate the 3 cars in question, why not buy one of them?
The FIAT always struck me as being the kind of car that impresses people with it's stats, but won't be that amazing to drive. Note however that this is completely supposition, I've never driven one and it could be amazing. My thoughts are only based on the fact that I'm not convinced that very powerful fwd cars make great performance cars (though I've also yet to drive an ITR, which is meant to be the dogs nuts).
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Interesting that you comment on the balance of the MX, 200SX and BMW in a positive manner, shortly after suggesting a turbo charged FWD car.
If you rate the 3 cars in question, why not buy one of them?
The FIAT always struck me as being the kind of car that impresses people with it's stats, but won't be that amazing to drive. Note however that this is completely supposition, I've never driven one and it could be amazing. My thoughts are only based on the fact that I'm not convinced that very powerful fwd cars make great performance cars (though I've also yet to drive an ITR, which is meant to be the dogs nuts).
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I have to agree.

RWD is were the poswer is needed. try putting 600 hp through a FWD car, and see what happens ;)

thnot sure what an ITR ,s but i hear the FTO is highy rated as a a great FWD car, better than the fiat ?
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The FIAT always struck me as being the kind of car that impresses people with it's stats, but won't be that amazing to drive. Note however that this is completely supposition, I've never driven one and it could be amazing.
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I'll let you know soon what I think :D
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The FIAT always struck me as being the kind of car that impresses people with it's stats, but won't be that amazing to drive. Note however that this is completely supposition, I've never driven one and it could be amazing.
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I think one thing you can say about the Italians is they make some nice driver cars. They may not perform up to the standard of some of their rivals and usually suffer the so so build quality. However get behind the wheel and you get the ear to ear smile driving experience.

I think the must with running a perfomance Fiat or Alfa is not to kid yourself you can do it on a small budget. Their build quality has come along in leaps and bounds over the last ten years but still can fall far short of their rivals. Lovely cars though my friend has had a Turbo for 3 years and its going strong despite having 130k on it.
 
Well I've had my Coupe since 1998 (New on a S plate) and I'm still driving it!

I never planned on keeping her for so long but they really do get under you skin, they are a lovely car with real character and they are a pleasure to drive. You would think I would be bored to death of it by now (I know I thought I would be) but I'm not and every time I get in to drive it puts a little smile on my face.

Maybe I've been lucky I've never really had any real problems to speak of the with the car, just normal stuff like tyres, exhaust, break pads, discs etc. but nothing above and beyond everyday car stuff.

As they say a picture speaks a thousand words here she is:-

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HEADRAT
 
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...has an LSD
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If you don't know what your doing, don't like the way the car handles, this can actually make a car a hell of a lot more tricky to drive as once the LSD locks up you're gonna have a whole lotta trouble keeping the thing on the straight and narrow!
 
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