Turbo Fiat Coupe Trounces 4-litre Jaguar!

Malcolm Steward's blog.
Good stuff!
He should be in this forum somewhere

What a fantastic, positive write up, love the way he spoke to the aa chap

nice write up!

Great write up.

"even if its unforgiving stiff suspension and chassis do rattle one’s teeth loose"

good blog

Link didnt work for me, thry this, its at the bottom

http://www.malcolmsteward.co.uk/?s=coupe



lol funny guy

Agree, great bloke, as mentioned in the Blog he joined up at Brooklands and was very chatty. He has registered on the forum too.

Yeah he seamed a very nice bloke had a quick chat with him as I was queueing up to go up the hill.

Malcolm Steward wrote for the magazine "Audiophile" during the 80/90s I seem to remember.

Yeah, that was me. Now I've found something that is just as much fun as high-end audio - low end supercars!

Welcome to the forum, Malcolm.

I trust you've checked the oil?

Neil

Nice blog Malcolm. Welcome to the forum.

Have I checked the oil? Is checking it on a daily basis sufficiently regular?

I have definitely acquired coupe paranoia. However, I have finally learned not to sit watching the red light and the falling needle on my oil pressure gauge when the engine is hot and idling: it's been telling me that I have no oil pressure for nearly six months and nothing untoward has happened yet so I guess the sender is about as reliable as the rest of the car's electronics!

At least the water temp gauge seems to work: It usefully signalled max the other day just as steam began pouring from under the bonnet. The car appears not to like warm weather (strange for an Italian) and standing at traffic lights for any length of time. Thankfully, it boiled over 50 yards away from a garage with a plentiful supply of H2O.

As I re-filled it I wondered why I didn't drive a more reliable modern car. Then my wife's three-year-old Toyota Yaris blew its water pump and when she went to collect it from the garage after having that replaced, and becoming £200 lighter, she found she couldn't start the engine. Blown head gasket: £620 parts and labour. That is Japanese reliability from an engine another mechanic once told me was "bombproof".

So, the current state of play seems to be Japan 0, Italy 1. Not the result I would have predicted last week!

The Mrs is currently driving a courtesy car, a turd-coloured Nissan Note. What a soul-less hunk of plastic that is. So make that Japan 0, Italy 2!

Malcolm, do you still write for any hi-fi magazines?

Yes, I write for Hi-Fi Critic and Hi-fi Choice in the UK, and I've just started writing for Hi-Fi Plus. Frankly, though, it's no way to make a decent living nowadays because with a few notable exceptions the business isn't in the finest of health. I still very much enjoy being involved with it, nonetheless.

Sorry to hear about the coupe. Hope it's something fairly cheap to repair!.