Ive just got back from a 550mile round trip taking 12 hours in total.

Went to look at Fiat Coupe LE No. 30 and came home with her

Absolutely lovely and great to drive. Been looked after well

Has a stage 2 turbo and Gtec 1 chip. will be getting it live mapped in near for future. Not after huge power just a more responsive car.


http://i930.photobucket.com/albums/ad141/ioksotot1/Fiat%20Coupe%2020v%20turbo%20LE/IMAG0078.jpg

Will be joining club membership now i guess

Well done Dave. Glad to see you've got hold of a nice example.

she looks very nice dave and welcome to the club

Yeah shes a beaut. 60k on the clock so low miles.

I also got 240miles to half a tank. I was very happy with that

must now resist modding

Very nice and well done

Why?? Now the modding starts.

Porn...


Congrats, best colour!

Looks a very nice example

Would like to hear your opinion of the fiat coupe compared to your old Impreza. I think the coop is often slated by the guys on the scooby forums.

Would love a P1 myself to own at somepoint but difficult to try and find a standard one. Not into the engine modding myself, too expensive and too much of a headache when things go wrong.

Looks good mate, the scooby forum members must be jealous of the looks and v.sexy interior :-)

Hey Duncan,

I drove a few Coupes before this one and they were dogs really. This one was faster and smoother.

I love Imprezas. After driving the LE last night i went away to have a think. The wife asked what were the negatives, only thing i could say was "its not an impreza" lol

I had nothing but issues with my old car hence walking away.

I loved the look of the LE, it was near on mint, low mileage, full history, right mods so knew if i changed my mind, i could sell it on easy enough.(the seller didnt have it on the market yet)

On the drive home i realised what the Coupe is, its not a pedal to the metal car. Its a GT, designed for comfort and to relax in. Powers there if needed.

Im guessing the Coupe is around 230-250 with turbo and chip. It doesnt pull as well as the scoob but thats expected as the scoob ran 412/425 but it doesnt feel a million miles off. especially 2nd and 3rd.

The Coupe handles very well, it turns in much better and has great grip. I havent pushed it hard at all really so cant fully comment. Im aiming to do handling on it, i think it will make it feel awesome for twisty roads.

I must admit that brakes feel alot softer on the pedal, not sure if it needs to be bled or if its normal.

In all honesty you cant really compare the 2 as they are 2 different types of car. The scoob made me smile for the raw power the coupe makes me smile just as big for its comfort, looks and noise

Agree with you on the GT, it can eat miles and I think that's what it's best at.

I put Eibachs and Bilsteins recently on mine to 'improve' the handling (I had to replace mine as they were all original and corroding) rather than going with standard fiat originals. I regret it now as the roads around me are so rubbish that it's ruined the comfort of the car (even compared to my knackered old originals). Not the end of the world but in hindsight ...


For 4-pot brembos i'm not that impressed with them either, you really have to stomp on them to get them to bite!

2 very different cars which is why the P1 appeals to me, as does an Evo 8, E46 M3 etc

Beautiful looking car there. Good choice.

The P1 is a nice example but has engine issues sometimes due to mapping errors. Personally for same money i would go for a new 02+ STI due to 6 speed and engine strength.

Drove an evo 6+7 & 8 and enjoyed it but preferred the scoob for running cost and noise.

Thought about a bmw E46 convertable but never drove one. I think i like turbos to much

shame about the suspension. sometimes you have to have a happy medium. uk roads arent great but if you like track thats were it will shine.

eats up road no issues 6 hours went quickly

So you brought a coupé.
Check the arches for rust
check the oil
change the oil cooler pipes and belts
rust prof it
check the rear pininiforina badges

...
Check rear view mirrors
Check for motorcycles
Check for vehicles on the right
Check for testicular lumps
...

Great write up, good luck with it! Hope you'll be as happy as most of us!

I'm jealous, I'm still on the hunt

What a fine example mate. Looks very tidy..
I will give it 6 months (tops) before the mod's come into play .. A trip to see Flea has to be number one....

nice one dave, glad you got what you were looking for, and the long trek to get it was worth it. look forward to having a look at it soon . it will not be long until you are off to Bristol to see leighton . looks great in the pic always liked the LE in that red.

Cheers people. definitely will pop over soon Jamie for a chat on "which direction" to go next

Cheers for list Jef, it is one of Rogers old cars so its pretty well all done.

Its had a respray recently to make paintwork mint again including rear arch work so thats done.

Oil cooler has been rustproofed including pipes from what ive been told

check the rear pininiforina badges.......something i havent done, im guessing water leaks in and courses rust?

Im going to speak to flea in near future about what i need. Money is tight at moment with xmas coming so dont expect 400bhp monster anytime soon lol

Fiat didn't put sealant on the inside of the badges, there is a pin that goes through into the rear quarter of the car, it leaks water in.

you need to remove the rear seats and rear quarter card to get access to them. There is a "how-to" on the forum, considerable work but best to do it before winter.

Mario has just done his ... with pictures

Leaky Badges

bloody hell

Congratulations on purchasing the top of the range Coupe in the very best colour. Enjoy.

Not really hard work to remove the seats and the rear 3/4 panels but worth it.

Has everyone got rust here?

Welcome Dave from another ex-scooby owner (94 classic with major mods & 06 prodrive).

I had a good look around a scrapped sprinty at my local breakers and that was pretty clean. Also my ex-vis was ok from memory.....my 16v was also good.......but I've yet to check my 'new' turbo....and the way this car is hoeing it's sure to be a mess.

Worth the time and effort to sort out no doubt

For me rust is a major now on my '95 16VT, too busy working etc to pay mine much attention and the 'kerpow!' its there, and there and there. My Coops an everyday runner come workhorse.

I'm on a one man mission to fix it. Look what I found underneath the seemingly not three bad under-sealant!

Rust Exposure Stage 1



Wet metal! A Water wheal




Rag out the spare wheel and check in the boot. Whip off the front and rear undertrays, my bumper drop pillars are looking sorry for themselves.

Also get some paint on your gas tank straps.

Not trying to scare you, I don't think the Coop is too bad for it generally, keep it in check, do quality repairs and rust wont be your master.

Not trying to scare me Moosey lol

I just dont have the time at present to be striping the car back. I dont have a garage so all work is done on a street. by the time i finish work its dark.

in all honesty i didnt read up on this rusting before i bought lol. I'll see if i can get it up on a ramp in near future for them to have a look underneath.

The love the last owner gave the car im hoping all is well. The car went for nothing.

Think i need to meet up with some of you lot for some pointers

We all 'forgot' to tell you until you had gone and bought yours

Bar stewards