944 turbo vs Fiat Coupe turbo 20v

[Guest]

ORIGINAL: charles.y

ORIGINAL: 924nutter
If you'll excuse the pun, Charles, why?[]

I read about it in the Apr-2007 25th anni issue of Classic & Sports Car and its one of the top 10 classics (together with 968 and Honda NSX). So I just started to find out a bit more about this car for a potential punt ...

No offending to 944 turbo onwers here. Just interested in how these two cars compare.
I like Italian sports cars too and if I have £40k to spend on a dream car then it will be the Ferrari 355.

Charles,

Not to inflame the situation but since when did a secondhand 944 Turbo cost £40k????
Also if you fancy a F355 budget on nearer £50k for one worth having,

Cheers
Tom

 

[MonkeyRacing]

As my Grandad used to say, power should not be transmitted via two points that pivot. Leave the steering unadultarated to do it's job of..........errr well, steering!

Also, the engine shouldn't be slung out behind the rear axle line it's all wrong i tells ya []

Si

 

[MonkeyRacing]

.........my list of Italian exotica stretches to 3 Fiats, an Uno Turbo, X1-9 & a Panda 4x4 (stop sniggering at the back please!)

 

[georgethackray]

A Fiat or a Porsche. Hmmm. Tough call.

Try this.

Walk into the pub and tell your mates "Hey, I bought a Fiat"

They'll buy you a pint in sympathy.

Walk into the pub and tell your mates "Hey, I bought a Porsche"

They'll buy you a pint in the hope you'll take them out in it.

Either way, you'll get free beer.

 

[Neil Haughey]

Still though the bottom of the driver power survery this year was dominated by Renault, Fiat etc. etc. The top yet again was Lexus, Honda, Skoda, Mazda, BMW, VW (golf mkV). Not surprising really but some odd ones pop up like the MINI right down in the bottom 20 worst cars (made by BMW), MB with terrible reliability and the Fiat Panda right up there with mega good reliability. Maybe the Italians have finally cracked it.

 

[DivineE]

I fairly recently read a review in a classic car magazine which compared the Fiat 20v turbo to a 944 lux and two other cars. The 944 lux was chosen as it was the best all rounder. At the time I thought it was a bit unfair and they should have used the 944 turbo.. but that would have destroyed the Fiat!

Ben

 

[PJS917]

I think the Fiat Coupe is a fantastic car, (it would be better if it was rear wheel drive) but they look superb, without
doubt Chris Bangles finest design. The interior is excellent (Many 944/68 owners have copied the
coloured dash) The 5 pot turbo engine is very sweet and sounds wonderful, they handle fairly well, not as sweetly as the 44 and they do swap ends quite easily when pressing on. They are a car that has a soul and in keeping with better Italian cars the cabin is a nice place to be.

I would still buy the Porsche, but I would like a Fiat Coupe on my drive and I always look admiringly when I see one.

 

[Krispe]

Wow I've spent months reading through the PCGB forums, (mainly 911 sections), and yet my first post is going to be in the 944 section regarding Fiat Coupes. I am an ex Fiat 20v Turbo owner, at the time I bought it I also considered a 944 turbo, but was put off the 944 by their age, mileage of most cars, (I'd be doing 15k a year in it), and insurance was higher than the Fiat. I also prefered the styling of the Fiat and the interior. The performance was pretty much the same as the 944, (in a straight line []), and they sound fantastic. Now I loved my fiat, BUT I did have to replace the engine, the turbo, plus other bits while I owned it which was not cheap, (in fact I could have bought a 944 as well for the bills I paid!). However I was unlucky, and generally the Fiat was great. After the new engine I had the car modified to 270bhp, 260lbs, (hybrid turbo, unichip, etc), and it then was fast. The Fiat has a viscous LSD so was fine putting the power down, and handled very well for a front wheel drive car, (nowhere near as good as a sorted 944 can handle I know, but pretty good for most situations). There is a very good fiat coupe forum, with lots of true car enthusiats, just like here and there are now quite a few 300bhp+ and a couple of 400bhp owners on there. Overall I mostly enjoyed my Fiat ownership, however a few time I did wish I bought the 944, (when the Fiat enigine went etc,) and even more so now that the Fiat has been replaced by a company car, as I would have still kept a 944 to use as a track car.

 

[cococola]

Also stands for fix it again tomorrow! Ive worked with Fiats and Alfas in the past and in my opinion the Italian styling is usually nice but the reliability.....no way[:'(] stick to Porsche any time!

ORIGINAL: tommo951

FIAT stands for
Found In A Tip - Thats where they should stay.
They haven't made a decent car since the Fiat Dino of the late 60's early 70's
My father used to do PDI's on Fiats in the mid 70's and they would come over from Italy
with surface rust on sills, exhausts blowing and rusty. Oil leaking form enines gearboxes and axles
and faulty wiring to boot
I don't think much has changed!

 

[sawood12]

LSD or no LSD you can't get around torque steer. 300 bhp in a front wheel drive car? You'll have to have forearms like Popeye just to keep hold of the wheel let alone be able to make subtle and delicate steering inputs. The modern FWD hot hatches that are kicking out around 240bhp are only drivable becasue of the ESP systems that are continually working overtime. The in-dash lights are flickering on and off so much, even in the dry, it really demonstrates that the all the BHP's above about 220bhp's are simply wasted as the ESP system is limiting the power to what the car can simply lay down on the tarmac. And that is on a modern car with modern suspension. You may be able to get 300 - 400 bhp on a dyno, but you are certainly not getting it down on the road, where it matters. I'm not saying the Fiat Coupe is not a fast car and not without it's enthusiats (even Trabants have their enthusiasts) but comparing one to a 944 is a bit like comparing apples with oranges. They are completely different cars designed for completely different ends. The fact their engines develop around the same BHP is purely coincidence. I would say the Fiat Coupe's peers are things like the VW Corrado VR6, Escort RS Turbo's etc.

What is impressive with the new generation of FWD cars is their resistance to understeer. My old Cavalier SRi used to understeer like a pig if you pushed it into a corner meaning you had to take corners quite slowly and try to make up lost ground in straight line grunt, but the modern hot hatches are really sharp and will often kick out with oversteer before they understeer. I think the technical developments in the cars that have allowed this have really brought their performance on over the last 10yrs or so. You just have to see how quick things like the Clio cup cars are on track days to see how much FWD cars have come on over the years. And they reckon the new FWD TT is a better drive than the 4WD Quattro variant.