It all started several months back when i was at Fleas and Barbz showed up.
He threw the keys to his 2.4 monster at me and i took it for a spin.
I was so impressed with this that not only did i consider doing the same myself but we spoke about a way of further improving such a tried and tested engine.

Yes the stories are true,during the winter months namely December i cut my holidays short and decided that i would make a few days to tidy things up under the bonnet.

During that time i also decided to nip down to London and pick up a never before tried engine.
Whilst we had a nice cup of lemonade in Castle de Barbz he told me what he had done and how he had built it and all his secrets with the head and bottom end.

These were as follows :-

(Classified Classified Classified Classified)


3 weeks later LE119 emerges from the workshops with the first 2.5 20vt in Britain.

Running in the engine went very well and it was clear it was difficult to hold back the power.

I then decided to strengthen the gearbox.
Namely a differential i had designed and built.
This was no easy task fitting as there was lots of issues i ran into but nevertheless its now in and working well.

Off to Flea for some mapping on what is currently a breakthrough in the coupe for the highest yet spec engine from Barbz,.

I will let him report on how he found the car but lets just say he called Barbz and said he was worried about my safety as im apparently a lunatic .

Drove the car today in anger for the first time at 1.5 bar and my word it is blisteringly quick.

The difference between 2.0 and the 2.4/5 is night and day.

The off boost torque is similar to driving a V6 off boost and even on the motorway at 1200 rpm theres no need to shift out of 6th gear.
The progression from off boost torque to power and boost is very linear and smooth whilst giving you one hell of a kick in the seat.

115 bhp per cylinder,very drivable and great on fuel.

The car is so quick that your almost waiting for the gearbox or driveshafts to let go.

My old setup was quick,but this is beyond dangerous even giving me the shakes in a straight line
The most unbelievable thing is that the power is tractable after 1st gear.

The fueling leaned off at higher boost with the intank pump so Flea fitted a inline pump as well but unfortunately we didnt get chance to sling it on the rollers for some ''Pub figures'' as he calls them.

This now is the end of the line for me,tuning goes no further for this car other than little tweaks here and there.
The setup is brilliant,thanks again to Barbz for all the help on the phone and for getting hold of alot of parts i needed for the conversion.
The quality of the service he provides and the time he gives you is second to non.
Nothings too much trouble,and he makes sure you get exactly what you ask for and more.

Also to Flea for the mapping,and Crazylegs for the help all those nights spannering,even if you did drop my front bumper on the floor scratching the new paint.

Guessing on 98ron fuel? Well done just dont crash it.
Look forward to seeing this overtaking the lambos at spa

Fantastic results John. Also congrats too Barbz and Flea.

That was you fat head you turned and hit it with your wallet so you are bound to hit it. And it was on the roof of your car on that cloth. Any way its nice to see her all good and after all them hours and blisters do not bend her!!! Am popping over in the week dude as i what a pass ride in her, oh please.

Nice one John. Took a little longer for the phone call from Flea then

You got any pics up of your nice new engine bay as it looks so clean and tidy..

Paul, you better get that wedding arranged soon or you'll be looking for a new best man

Great results guys, this is truly astounding and shows that the little old Fiat Coupé is far from being an obsolete piece of junk

Yes paul you best as you know that jbt will use all 557bhp as much as possible at spa etc....

Flea says he can get 600 bhp and 500 ibsft on racefuel map

might have too get the stag do in before Spa then?

do it soon as possible realy paul

Just like to say well JBT and well done Barbzs what a car the coupes can be with you chaps ere.

Sheep get the hell off your iphone and back onto the pc

Lol i phones are great

Congrats dude. I've been following this from the beginning and knew it would make some serious power!

Amazing, this is going to be some mean Coupe - looking forward to seeing her vanish towards the horizon soon !

must be an absolute monster

At the current prices, I'll give you £2k and your bus fare home if you deliver it to me?

Seriously, nice work from all here. Can't wait to see it fly at Spa

JBT - Can I join the queue for a drive?!?!

Congrats!

Just proves again that the 5 cyl platform is one of the best engines around.

It'll be nice to get some feedback at 1.8bar. .

Well done Flea.

Ah, finally all done then!
Nice results and great work everyone!

Well done all - let's not see any gearbox cogs outside East Midlands Airport this Saturday....

Yonkers. Another mental coupe

Well done to Flea, Barbz and JBT

Well done JBT & Barbz!!
and not forgetting Flea!

Good grief - 550+ bhp - must be truly mental on the road, but at the same time it will be easy to drive at 5/10 with the extra capacity

All we need now is to resolve a decent 4WD solution and we'll have a car that's almost unbeatable in just about any circumstances.

Will be interesting to see how it performs at Curborough in June

Well done for persevering with it - when my finances are a little more stable, I might come and talk to you....

Great to see people still pushing the boundaries with the Coupe. Excellent results and congratuations to all involved

question remains.

Where do we go next with the coupe?

2L engines seem to be at the limit and going further than ever before..

Now the 2.4L engines are going EVEN further than people expected.

JohnS made 616bhp on pump fuel...

how long (if we keep going this way) will it be till we see the 1st 600bhp 20vt on pump fuel??

Great work, looking forward to seeing this at Spa.

JohnS was 616 on race fuel Marco

John, what is happening with the 4WD??

Well there is no stopping John, he wanted 500 horses and now we find that a further 83 have bolted from the stable and tucked themselves into his five pot monster! Yes, 500 + 83 equals 583bhp, that was the result from today's dyno session up John's way (just to reiterate, this was not on my dyno!). I think he put a few Porsche noses out of joint, nobody else was even close to the 583bhp & 492lbs/ft @ 1.9bar, all on Tesco fuel

It's a truly crazy ride, enough to get the adrenaline coursing through my veins for a good few hours. He's been hankering after the top spot for a while, but I duly crown JBT as having the most powerful and fastest Coupe in this land!

Will get it down to you after Spa to see how it does on your rollers.

Was speaking to Barbz today and hes come up with a way to beat the 600bhp On tesco fuel.
this was at 1.95 bar btw