Hi all,

I'm currently the owner of three cars. A VIS, LE141 and a 2002 Impreza STi Prodrive.

A mate pondered a question. "If you could only keep one which would it be?".Tricky one.

The Impreza is truly amazing. Best gear change action I've ever felt, perfect chassis balance and body control, seemingly endless grip, 330bhp. Can turn up at a wet Cadwell Park and be pretty much the fastest thing there with very little skill.

The LE... Rare, unique, fastest car Fiat ever made. We all know why we love our coops.

But in the end, the car I have the most fun in, most often, is the VIS. It's a bit more comfortable than the LE, a lot more than the Impreza and better on fuel. So you want to use it for practical reasons.

So you jump in it, fire it up followed by a little blip. Oh my God, that throttle response! It's almost like a bike engine.

Cruise to your favourite road enjoying the unique, arrogant sound of that straight 5. Sounds amazing even at 2000rpm. Little blips, aided by the throttle response, on every down change.

It's a nice warm day, get those windows down, blat along a flowing B road, right through the rev range. At 5k it's trying to sound like a Gallardo. OK the steering doesn't have the feel of a 156 but it's smooth and direct. The car is totally stable.

Now you understand. Now you're saying, "What a car!", the Pininfarina badge in front of you reminding you you're in something special. This confirmed by glancing looks from anyone you should pass.

So I ended up plumping for the lowest powered, lowest value car of the three, and came to the conclusion the Fiat 20V VIS is the best car I've ever owned. I can't imagine ever selling it.

Most underrated car of all time.

That's a loada support for the VIS. My mate has one which I've driven a fair bit and I can't disagree with your general observations....but it keeps coming back to one thing; I really think it needs a 6th gear.

I'm mainly struggling with the mental image of three legs here, let alone the chop.

... But also, if I'm honest, I miss my old NA Coupe over my current turbo. No sunroof, didn't bang my head, didn't whistle, but felt much more progressive with the right foot. Just had those slippery leathery seats which killed it for me. An unmolested fabric seat NA would be my favourite, but I bet it's the rarest Coupe left now.

Well this is a change from the 'which is better the 16vt or the 20vt?' The VIS is a different animal, very revy, very torquey and noisy but very easy and rewarding to drive. Hard to put in words, I've a 3.2 V6 Brera which everyone wants to go in but I prefer the VIS. That said I wish it had more power and as Edinburgh says a 6th gear.
Crickey I've agreed with Edinburgh in 2 successive posts!

I'm lucky enough to own a VIS and a plus, both are great in their own ways. The plus has caused me a headache at times although now (touches wood) is good as gold.
I have owned the VIS for 17 years now and it has been amazing reliability wise only letting me down once with a burst power steering pipe letting the fluid escape all over the road

People often ask me why I own basically the same car twice, but my answer is always the same..... they are totally different cars and both cater for which ever mood your are in.

The plus is great for that surge of power and on a quiet road, you can have some real fun and reach some silly speeds rather quickly whereas the VIS you have to work for the reward as its nowhere near as powerful as the 20vt, but as said the VIS throttle response is more or less instant and it has a lovely noise. On that note, I did a track day at Castle Combe in the VIS and one of the sessions I did a few laps with a racing driver called Gillian Goldsmith, she was really impressed with the coupe and having never been in one before was impressed with how predictable and neutral the handling was on the limit(even patting the dashboard on the in lap saying "good car")
It surprised me at the time, as I thought she was going to slate it having been out previously in the day with a lot newer machinery and from what I heard quite harsh on how these previous cars had been, both RWD and FWD.

I agree with the previous comment that the VIS could do with a 6th gear, I think it would make motorway work far more composed and economical and it would make a much better daily if you wanted it for that kind of thing.
Anyway, long story short, even though I love them both, the VIS would be the one I'd keep if push came to shove, I think its because I've owned the VIS for so long I'd feel like I was actually cutting off a leg
It is close though, the 20vt engine is a peach and I can see why its so highly regarded

Sorry, VIS?

VIS is the higher powered n/a coupe, by means of some electrical tweeks Fiat squeesed a few more hp. There are other differences too I think the wheels are different size. Doubtless the folks on here can give you the technical lowdowns. You may find for yourself if you search some of the threads.

Yes tough one but agree the VIS would be my choice if I had to sell one

........shame as they're a great daily which really come alive after a 2.4 conversion which also resolves the high gearing issue as they're mated with a 5 or 6sp turbo gearbox and LSD.

Thanks for that, yes I did look here: https://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum...s-guide-and-buyers-checklist#Post1264181 but it wasn't mentioned.

VIS = Variable Intake System

It's basically a fly-by-wire setup, so throttle is controlled electronically instead of by cable. It makes for a quite perky pick-up...

7 bhp, which for an N/A does make a difference as we need every horse we can get

Having had 3 20VT's an LE and now we have a VIS. I'd say the VIS is a great daily driver and faster away from the lights than any of the turbo cars. Now that the 135k Cambelts has been replaced I can also enjoy the drive rather than drive with my nerves on edge worrying about a catastrophic engine failure!

Thanks all who responded. So are the VIS cars badged as such? When did the change happen? Presumably this is 5 cylinder cars only?

VIS model came in to production in 1999, the intake system design was also used on many 4 cylinder Alfa models so not just the 2.0L Coupe.

And the Punto HGT I think.