Yesterday,

I had the somewhat unique opportunity to drive my car on an unadulterated long-distance run.

Or long-distance for me. Kirkwall to Edinburgh; 265 miles on the mainland, not withstanding the 15 miles before getting the ferry from Stromness to Scrabster.

Set off was 05:15 to get across for the ferry at 06:30, and it was 7 degrees but dry. The Coupe fired up enthusiastically, and settled into its high revs initial warm up stage as usual, before settling to an even idle.
I rolled out of a sleepy Kirkwall and saw only two other cars on my way across the island. A huge pink disc hung against the horizon in the East- enough light already to need only sidelights.
Whilst in the ferry queue, I did my final checks on tyre pressures and oil level. Somewhat against initial maintenance whilst in my care, the car has all but stopped using vast amounts of oil on high speed runs- Which is fine.

On the other side, I rolled off of the ferry, eager as usual to see what vehicles I had shared the car deck with, which would 'get in the way' on the first stages of the route South. Oddly enough, the roads cleared, with everyone stopping or deferring to petrol stations, and I was soon alone, travelling East from Thurso to Wick.

The car at this point, as always, reveals its fairly high gearing through engine note. I have noticed a popular mistake from less experienced 'guest' drivers of the VIS, that they attempt to change up into 5th, when the car is already in 5th. The engine note and torque denotes that there must be a higher gear to reach- but there isn't.

The route down to Latheron, cutting off Wick and the top North East of the country, before the A9 (East Coast) starts, was a bit misty, but still dry. the road offers significant high speed sweepers and a good surface to allow optimistic progress- its a section of road I always forget about, but in fact, although the moorland and wind farms are 'atmospheric' rather than 'scenic'- it's certainly quite relaxing.

25 miles later, upon reaching the Coast again, the road becomes less forgiving and you are confined to cambers and the visible distances between bends.
Overtaking is possible, with a drop to 4th, and the car picks up with no trouble. As I continue- this gets easier; and I realise; I'm not imagining it. Something else is happening.

I'm a big fan of a long-term maintenance plan called; mechanical-sympathy. Which is to say, that until I feel the car is ready, I won't take it over four thousand revs. The term 'ready' is usually derived by ear, as even at speed and warm, the oil-pressure doesn't really tell me anything. Longer term, if I can work out a subtle place to site it, I'm considering an oil-temperature gauge to assist with this judgement.

By the time I reach the Berriedale Braes, which involve a significant decent through a couple of hairpins (2nd gear behind a slower commercial traffic) and a momentary stop at roadworks- I can hear that the car is idling quieter- it's got less thrum, and has become more fluid in note.

On the next 25 miles to Golspie (note to self; TWO gas stations in Brora) things have turned a corner. The VIS suddenly seems to have developed an extra litre of capacity.
From as low as two and a half thousand revs, the car picks up in an awe inspiring exponential surge- the engine note doesn't even reach the kind of high revs idling pitch, as earlier- everything has gone deeper- the car has a new charisma. It builds momentum so fast, that on a couple of occasions, coming 'off the gas' isn't quick enough to lose the speed, and I actually have to brake when I pull back in from an overtaking manoeuvre.
As I pass slower traffic, I am almost embarrassed by the gurgling-thrum emanating from under the bonnet and the standard exhaust.

"what must people think!?" I think to myself!

The car starts to sing. Every corner becomes a balance between gearing and torque; everything becomes about grip and weight distribution- position in-lane, for the apex of the bend. I find myself accelerating through bends for no reason at all.
It is deeply-deeply satisfying, and my world becomes a relationship with the car, made up of gear changes, juxtaposed against camber and a beautiful scenery.

I realise that, by engine note, the car is running much faster than it had earlier- to my ear of mechanic sympathy; I am now at 80+ before I really 'hear' the revs- way too fast for most of this tarmac.

And ALL of this. all of it:- before I even hit the magic variable valve timing revs speed of five thousand- where the VIS does its trick for extra top end. I don't think I got further than four and a half thousand round the clock. Maybe four and three quarters, a couple of times...

At Birnam, I catch my first ever sighting of an Alfa Giulia, going North. I give the guy the 'Alfa-wave', which sometimes works from a Coupe- it did last year, when passing a GTA-Sportwagon in Inverness, moments before our initial meetup on the West Coast Tour...


I have done this route in a variety of machinery. Recently a few times in a German large capacity turbo diesel with four wheel drive- which must have cost (at initial purchase) twice the cost of a FIAT Coupe.
Every time I have driven it- I stop in Aviemore for a break.

Not yesterday- I couldn't come down from gears four and five, not for anything. (roundabouts at Perth notwithstanding!). Before I knew it- I was through Fife, and approaching the Forth Bridge- the new Forth Replacement Crossing towering through the mist.

Scrabster to Edinburgh; 5 hours. 20 minutes dead.

Just as I went over the Forth Bridge- 15 miles from home; the fuel light came on!

The longest straight non-stop journey I've ever done in one go in the car. It was disappointing to have to turn it off- indeed I was mildly excited to have to go back and repark it after I had arrived at my destination!

If I could gather data to work out how the car reaches this point, I would be very interested. Maybe it's the catalyst? But that is after the lambda, isn't it? Maybe it's back pressure from a warm catalyst...


Who knows- but it was sheer FIAT-Coupe-magic!

Great piece of prose sir - though I can't help wondering if some of the magic derives from the Orcadian mushrooms

Interesting observation about the new 'dimension' of motion experience - perhaps there is a degree of temperature reached only after a certain prolonged period of driving that 'sweetens' the mechanisms, or there again maybe it's us that reach that state of hypnosis, if you like, only after exposure to motion and sound for a similar period.

Whatever the factors it's an extended moment of magic which makes any coupe niggles totally worthwhile!

Not that it may appeal to some, but for me it might be equatable to attending a concert given by a pianist who is not technically flawless but can produce moments of magic which many don't and which make the ticket outlay completely worthwhile.

I enjoyed reading that

Me too. It reads like a piece in a car magazine.

Like Eric Morecambe playing to Andrew Preview you mean?

Yes we were all Wise after that event

Barnacle may be along in a minute with a technical explanation but I think it is just like Edinburgh referred to. It's the love and the passion and the oneness that becomes you and the car and scenery. The coop is one of the few cars I would just take out for a drive just for the sake of it (The Brera being the only other)

Great write up.

I never rev mine until it's warm. Mine likes to rev past 5,000rpm to get the VIS system working, and then the engine sounds like a proper sports car. A roads are the best place for the VIS.

I've noted that the VIS experience is altered by the air temperature, the altitude and by the type of petrol. It likes cooler conditions and 97+ RON. It is also noticeably quicker with no passengers !

Perhaps it also likes nice scenery !

A good read throughout.

Only to point out that for me, the sweet spot is after six hours or so up the M6 and the M74, round about Callander...

What an excellent OP, I really enjoyed reading this, your descriptions of the VIS and how they perform are bang on, there's plenty of power and they do pick up pace when they're hot, mix that with a cold, dry fresh morning and you've got yourself a bigger bang under the bonnet for sure.

Thanks for sharing

Great write up Dante, thanks for sharing!

Really enjoyed that post, I was smiling as I read it

Fab piece of writing, I felt like I was there with you. I love my Vis and after reading your piece I think I may drive it 500 miles to Glasgow this year instead of taking the train.

Let us know when Annie and maybe we could organise an Edinburgh posse to meet you halfway...

thank you everyone.

The thing is Annie- motorway driving doesn't seem to have quite the same effect.

I used mine for an Edinburgh to Merseyside & back commute, that I used to do a few years back, and it never really seemed to come on song within that distance (four & a half hours).

But on Tuesday- it was purring and 'on cam' within two hours.

Maybe it is to do with a critical balance between road speed and air cooling...? If you are tickling 80+, maybe the air cools it back a bit...?

So, 'ideally' do the first two hours on the motorway, and then the rest on A-roads!

Having said that- I do remember a particularly exciting moment on the West Coast Tour, last year; where after I fell behind to get the Skye-bridge-convoy footage, I caught up with Simon, who was waiting down the road- and then we collectively 'booted it' to rejoin the convoy further on. 'Collectively', albeit with a 107bhp disparity between our vehicles.

But it was a stunning drive in that moment too.

Come to think of it- I have had some more fluid servicing since the Merseyside trips- perhaps that is also a factor. I think Toby is right; that the VIS is quite a temperature sensitive car...

I just ended up on Tuesday thinking to myself;
'is this deliberate? Did FIAT really go THIS far with the development of this engine?'
-that they created a little known secret; the car MUST be hot to get into the zone..? But then they DO run hot, don't they, the VIS's? Perhaps that's not an accident...

makes me wonder...


It also reminded me of 17 years ago, when I ran a Marea 20V and Coupe 20VT at the same time, why I thought the Marea was the better car...

P.S. having re-read my original post; I would like to apologise for the somewhat 'reduced' grammar & spelling!

It's been said before, but there is a lot to be said for using all (or most) of the power of a less powerful car on sweeping A roads. The NA is not a great motorway car, although it is surprisingly quiet despite the high RPM. My dad drove it back from winter storage once after being used to his Skoda vRS (1.9TDi) and he was looking for 6, 7th and 8th gear on the motorway !! The Coupe loves A and B roads.. I imagine myself on the Amalfi Coast..


I used to have very fast motorbikes with over 100bhp (550bhp per tonne) and they were great, except when I kept scaring myself silly on corners.

I now have a 60bhp bike and I can use the power without too much fear. As it's an adventure styled machine, I can also use the leverage of the tall riding position to hoon round corners, leaving some of my hunched up sport bike buddies behind. Then there is the 70mpg fuel economy. Would you believe that my Honda VFR struggled to do 40mpg??

The snag I find when I drive a 20v is that it always sounds 25% faster than it's actually revving; that extra pulse per two revs.

Doesn't happen on the 20vt; the pulse is less obvious with the turbo chopping it up, and the taller final drive means you're doing fewer revs anyway.

Yes I've noticed this when driving the various bestially-named courtesy coops from FCSS

It also reminded me of 17 years ago, when I ran a Marea 20V and Coupe 20VT at the same time, why I thought the Marea was the better car...


There is a 20V Marea on eBay just now, bidding is around £300 so far.

What???!!!

Hmm. London...

And unless eBay isn't working properly for me on this device- other than the fill-in-form; there's no info at all.

I'm not going to think about that. I didn't see it.


Yes- that's interesting about the pulse per revs- I was finding with time, it seemed to settle back into a warble, rather than a note, so to speak.

-that's funny Toby; and hits it right on the head I think.


Oh no- the ad is working now; I can see the info.
I'm still NOT thinking about it though...

Oh Annie, do you see what you've done...!!

Bad Annie, Bad! No cookies for you!

I'm still NOT thinking about it...

VCJ

Low mileage and history, a bit rare that age

I don't know what VCJ is,

But I'm still NOT thinking about it...

much...

Oh! I have got it-

It's a Roman numeral

The benefits of a classical education...!

Bingo