As one of the forum's premier advocates of tuning, I found this a little hard to post.

Today, Motormech purchased a 25,000 mile Electric Blue Plus from its first and only owner. Apart from Toyo tyres and a replacement Clarion head unit, it is utterly standard and completely unmolested.

The drive back to Birmingham was a revelation - smooth, (very) quiet, comfortable.

Over the last decade of gradually modifying my own Coupe, I have made it (much) faster, much noisier, much firmer and being brutally honest, a bit too "edgy". Its great fun when you're in the mood, but a bit tiresome at other times.

I was amazed at just how well the standard car drives - plenty quick enough for 90% of other traffic (although the BMW 640d completely obliterated me in a rolling start duelcomparison). Its was nice to actually hear the engine, instead of intake / exhaust noise

Makes me think that the product engineers at Fiat probably knew what they were doing.....

Discuss....

You're absolutely right. But I think there's a point. My 18 inch alloys, for example are a pain most of the time. But aesthetically there's no comparison to the stock wheel. However my exhaust and air filter are just right IMO.

Would you call it stage 1 tune as a cut off?

Coincidentally, I went through the same. Gave up my modded moonie for a standard electric blue low miler. It is less "tiring" to deal with, and I'm not in a hurry to mod it. Although a rusty exhaust threatens to speed up the process.

I agree with you Nigel.

It illustrates why modified cars frequently end up unsold and subsequently broken for parts as their owners try to recoup some of the money they have spent.

Mine is standard at the mo, having not owned or driven a modded coupe I can't comment on that side but I do love my standard ride. I am tempted to lower it a wee bit but won't be changing the wheels love the OEM ones.

I dare say if I'd had chance to drive this car with a bit of enthusiasm, I would have remembered why I started to mod

It definitely felt very slow compared with my own Plus, the brakes lacked bite and it felt more like a Citroen 2CV going round some of the tighter corners

I'm beginning to remember why I enjoyed having my bog-standard 16v non-turbo - as an everyday city car, its a much nicer drive than a laggy, lumpy, modded 20vt with a juddery clutch.

I need to get my own car out again and remind myself why I've done it (which incidentally was never to increase its value - PeteP is absolutely right - highly modded cars just don't seem to sell - I have a feeling that if this bog-standard 25k mile Plus was up for sale against my very highly (and very well) modded example, the 'leccy blue would sell for more

Well my LE is quite modded. I would not have gone for such a high engine output, 55% over standard, had I done the mods myself. The need for an uprated clutch changes the car for parking and stop start traffic, is not to my taste but I think one would get used to it driven daily.
I don`t know the facts, but I think the car got too heavy at the front and this caused a load of mods which were like medicine - masking symptoms as opposed to removing root causes.
My project is 9 weeks back in effect, but will progress in secret for a while. The purists may not like what I have done. The engine bay concept needs to be seen complete, right now it`s `maniac at work`.
I wouldn`t change the car for the world and when I rebuild another it won`t be standard.

I agree with that statement Nigel but the problem we have is, we like to make things "better"
Its in our blood, our very fibre.

It may not be better for economy,
It might not be quiet or particularly comfortable anymore. But by God does it take mr "ive spent £40,000 on my brand new mercedes" and rubs his big fat nose in the glory of all that is,
The Underdog.

I tend to come at it from the classic car angle. I like my Coupe to be as standard as possible, even down to the piddly 15" wheels. But hey, they are VIS wheels by Speedline. That makes them special.

Ok I have had a remap and a nice exhaust, but that'll do.

I was amazed at how comfortable the car was over 2000 miles to Italy and back. More so than our modern VAG group car. The only thing which was a little tiresome at times was my loud exhaust - and that was my doing !

Like they said. Fiat got it right.

Yes Fiat got it right in standard form. A live map is all thats needed for a very nice road 20vt.It then has everything i want in a car.

But for a dedicated track coupe the modded route is the only way to go.

Absolutely. A track car is a different animal.

Nigel,you dissapoint me and consiquently I have removed you from my ubb budies list.

Many generalise us Fiat owners as the poor soles who closed the doors to the potential of life and can't afford a decent car in our mediocre jobs.

However the standard coupe even in today's standards is a capable ageless feat of engineering which sadly will never be replicated in any marque.

What modifying does is put us in supercar territory on a macdonalds budget.
Doing the impossible with these cars has been proven the world over even to the amazement of editors who drive nothing cheaper than a 150k supercar.
What has been done on this forum,teamwork and a group of friends in oily overalls is achieve something that millions of pounds worth of engineering and technology cannot in today's world,and does so in more comfort and individuality than the supercar.

The platform offers such potential for improvement and you can guarantee that when you beat half a million pounds worth of supercar around a curcuit that the coupe owner is the only one who will look back in admiration at there car in the pits .
And the satisfying part is its half Italian and half owner who have created such a weapon.

And yet, and yet... not everything in life is a competition. If I cared what others thought, I would have a damn sight less respect for myself.

Nothing but respect for those who have cranked two or three times the designed power out of these engines - hell, the Quanturbo isn't exactly sane - but I've said many times that the coupe wasn't designed as a racing car. It's a grand tourer, and a bloody good one *irrespective* of the engine.

I am glad you are so forgiving Neil, because I removed the widget in my quest for weight saving and originality.

What I do: slap on a hybrid turbo, visit Flea for a remap and leave her the alone. A standard car but with enough to stay with the latest hot hatches. This was Taffy's sage advice: hybrid, remap and enjoy her.

I can see Johnny Bravo and at the same time Gripped's points here.

I think, if you are immersed in the Coupe world and know a few people with them, the pressure to have something with an edge and that pushes the available performance envelope must be high. And the opportunity to build on the potential for great results is very appealing.

People used to ask me about them- knowing I'd had them in the past- and I would remark that for less than a £1K, you were getting GENUINE 150mph ability, which not alot for that money offers.

But, if you are faced with the modern automotive world (nothing from FIAT appeals to me at the moment) and then you turn round and see one of these cars somewhere- the aesthetic impact alone is of great weight before you even see the variant.

And so I stepped back from even the standard "tuned" turbo version and am very happy with the VIS also.

I would keep the dampers and springs original as that is the best ride quality. As for engine mods I do enjoy being able to push brand new Porsches along and fly past the older ones :-).

It would seem most of us need 2, a modified one and a standard one - of any engine type. One to remind why we loved the coupe and one to remind others that the styling isnt just show.

The installation, you will have noted, was carefully designed so that this could be done with no trace of its presence.

I still have mine in, though.

Jbt has a great point. My old nissan s14 cost me very little to get 430 bhp from.
And on a track day at Donnington I went proper supercar bashing.

Chris if I had the money id have a supercar. But I don't so I now have the next best thing in the coupe.

*if I could afford a supercar. Id be making that faster too

Who are we kidding here, the majority of us wanted a fast car with style, For the unitiated that would be a ferrari or porsche, BMW M, Audi r8, TT or even an RS variant. etc.

Well the majority of us are not going to be able to afford or be patient enough to wait the 25 odd years to of saved up for one.

But hey there is an alternative the Fiat Coupe! style, looks sounds great fast and cheap compared to list above.
So you get in one and its fast nippy round town etc. but lacks top end power and these cars are so cheap to make faster its a no brainer!
Now of course there are some very good conversions out there and some not so good!
We all at some point wanted to go fast i must admit im just as happy cruising but knowing i have decent acceleration just makes it perfect for me

I believe it is only the fast approaching rarity that is skewing peoples opinions if we were discussing a Subaru for example nobody would be the slightest bit bothered about originality at the moment, perhaps in a few years but not yet

So enjoy the car in whatever guise its in! it Doesn't really matter! what people see is a Fiat Coupe! they don't know what's under the bonnet unless you tell them and some don't even know what a Fiat Coupe is so who cars just enjoy

That just about covers my thoughts on the matter too.
I too, if I had the space, would have one for show and one for go, but the insurance and upkeep of 2 coupes would be verging on other car territory. So I have a hybrid between both of the aforementioned. I believe that we don't modify, we personalise our coupes as to how WE want them to be. Life would be so dull if we all had the same
My plan is to wait until the Coupe appreciates enough to make the transition to the next classic on my list, a Maserati GT without too much financial input.

Can flea map the 3200gt?
Mmmm two turbos

I believe flea maps a wide variety of cars these days so would probably take on the Maserati.

I have one standard and one modified. They are both great for everyday driving, but modified is a much harder ride so on a long journey can get a bit tiresome.

I love both cars and it is nice to go for a blast in the modified car.

As others have said the standard car is still quick by modern standards really so not a bad grand tourer at all.

Costs of running both cars are still substantially cheaper than a newer car with the same kind of power / handling. The problem with more modern machinery is that they have very little style and not many interesting colours either.

Either standard or modified puts a smile on your face every drive. Not many cars really do that.

totally agree with you there Ross .

Not been on here for ages but kind of agree with Nigel here. Loved my Fiat Coupe and when I sold after 6 years, (after a brief stint in a Clio 197), the only car that could replace the coupe was a B5 RS4. I've always been an advocate of standard cars and my 20VT was completely standard.

My RS4 is the first car I've ever modified. It already came with a Stage 1 MRC remap taking power from 380bhp to around 425bhp and I've since added an uprated rear ARB to make the handling balance much more neutral, and curing the biggest critisism of the B5 RS4 that it understeers to easily. The twin turbo V6 is so tuneable and there's plenty of guys on the RS4 forum pushing an easy and reliable 5-600bhp.

But I'm going to leave mine where its at now though - why?

The RS4 has nearly double the power of my 20VT, it really is an animal, but it's amazing how quickly you get used to the power. Sometimes it doesn't even feel that fast any more and it's only when you look at the speedometer you realise that you ought to back off.

I love the RS4 (the rarity, the potential, the looks, the fact that to those 'not in the know' it's just an old Audi estate car) but at times it can be frustrating. There's so much slow traffic on UK roads these days and precious few opportunities where you can ever use the car to anything approaching it's true potential. I love driving it but I can honestly say that I loved driving the standard 20VT Coupe just as much. 220bhp seemed to be just the ideal amount of power for UK roads. Fast enough to make overtaking easy yet not too fast that you couldn't drive it with enthusiasm most of the time.

So you could argue that sometimes the RS4 is just too capable, wet or dry. The Fiat was not quite as capable but because of that, on UK roads, there were many more opportunities to have a fun drive in the Coupe than there is in the RS4.

Sometimes by modifying a car too much in a quest for power and handling (making it more capable) then perhaps there is also a danger that some of the fun could be lost?

I think a few guys have said here about the perfect compromise being a hybrid and remap for driving on UK roads.
I have to agree - this is how I had my LE set up and it had just the right amount of power, but not enough where I felt I had to lower the ride quality.
Why? Because I want to be driving around in comfort on poor quality UK roads, or in stop start traffic, but knowing I have power (and a wonderful sound) on tap when I need it! Couple that with an effortless clutch and decent brakes, it really does make a great GT car
Not once have I felt unsure on the road due to having standard springs and shocks, and that's because it's a public road, not a track.

They are only my views, we are all different and strive for different things, whether it be comfort, power, a really hard but confident ride or something incredibly loud! This reflects in our coupes and makes them all individual to us.
I guess this is why modified coupes are harder to sell, as they have been moulded around its owner, and may not suit someone else.

The Coupe in standard form is certainly very capable and this attracts a wider audience.

There isn't a single post in here I disagree with, and that's because we are all right in our own way

Nigel - back to your original post.
I remember when you spent the day at mine detailing my Sprinty coupe. You arrived in your modified plus and pretty much jumped straight in mine to move it. When you drove it down the curb you commented on the great job the original shocks did to soften the ride and make the drop from the curb much more pleasant!
I know this was a few years ago, but maybe a part of you prefers this comfort now. Modifying a coupe is a gradual thing, you probably barely noticed the small changes to the ride over time, until you go back to standard and realise what you're missing

As many of you have said, a standard coupe is the ideal commuter, tourer or everyday car.
A modified coupe is a track weapon or a weekend fun car.

Or...they are just whatever we want them to be

Remember when we were starting out our motoring lives. My first car was a fiat strada 85 super.

Back then there was little grip, not much power and the brakes weren't great.
But it was fun.
As were all the small fiats I owned.
The little 850 panda was such a laugh.
Driving on the limit of its performance wouldn't see you losing your license!

The uno 60 was also fun. But I ended up doing a turbo ie conversion.

I think for me now, I'll build my coupe into a nice mint quick Road car.
And build myself a mental track car to vent off my power hungry on the limit alter ego.

All boils down to what you want from your car doesn't it? Nigel, you've put a lot of effort and money into making yours a track legend - a genuinely capable coop for racing. Says quite a lot to me that you can still use it on the road at all and I'm guessing you're not about to undo all of your changes!?
Definitely standard cars are fantastic, otherwise most of us wouldn't be here. [It's sad that so many people berate our cars simply because of the badge but you have to drive one to know better...]
Then there's the happy medium. A bit more performance, slightly firmer ride or an epic ICE install - it's all individual taste. For me, the best feature of my car is the GT28RS. My plus is sedate, comfortable and not too noisy anywhere below 3,000rpm. Right foot pinned to the floor and it's a different animal. Love it, love it, love it!!!