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From what I remember back in GT5, this car was a certified beater. Guess I'll find out soon as I will be joining you guys tonight.
From what I remember back in GT5, this car was a certified beater. Guess I'll find out soon as I will be joining you guys tonight.
When everyone's running the same beater it's going to be a helluva bunch o' fun.
In a sort of frustrated, albeit hilarious, way.
Hey BBR, where did you go last night? You just sort of disappeared. Was the Fiat THAT bad?
Am I the only one that called it a sleeper?!
Am I the only one that called it a sleeper?!
What? Adjusting brake balance isnt considered tuning?
I honestly hate the swear filter, it **********************************.Nope
Power restricting as well, but ballest is considered tuning. PD logic is odd sometimes, just like the "swear filter" in Lobbys.
Guess that makes me the only one that adores this car.
Don't think of it as a Fiat, think of it as Piero Ferrari.
Don't think of it as a Fiat, think of it as Piero Ferrari.
That's one heck of a harsh comment.Sorry, but the closest this thing could get to being a Ferrari is if it got accidentally hit by Piero's used condom. A glorified wannabe at best, and that's being nice.
Cheers
That's one heck of a harsh comment.
That's one heck of a harsh comment.
It's Baron, he's just being Canadian honest.
Just remember, the only difference between "It's funny cause it's true" and Tourette's Syndrome is a doctor's note.
Italian Stallion
2016 is finally here. I'd been slewed for the past few weeks due to the strong instances of booze that took over on New Years and the short and sweet racing season I had in the first few weeks. Nurburgring, Le Mans, SpA, all in a Mazda LM55. It was a blast, that's for sure, and I have a bunch of pretty trophies in my collection now. But with every good beginning, comes a brutal event. It came with the passing of David Bowie.
I can't help but get sentimental about a celebrity's death, but one that I really enjoyed and respected takes a whole new toll on me. I loved Bowie's music. I couldn't tell you how many test reports were fueled by a playlist filled with the likes of his weird music. But, I can't let grievances get in the way of work, now, can I. The revels of the Car of the Year celebrations are over. Congrats to the Z series for your win...wish I could have been around to test you.
Enough of that now, lets get to the car at hand.
Being a boy of America, I never knew about the Fiat Coupé until I was around ten years old. My parents bought me a humongous book about cars from all around the world, and the Coupé was, of course, featured. I was taken aback immediately by its somewhat sexy looks...then I saw the front. That gaping sad mouth, those seemingly depressed eyes. For a car that had a nickname like, "the mini Ferrari," you'd think it'd be happy about such a remark. Thankfully, it looks much better in person. Especially when bathed in the sexy deep red that my tester had.
There's something a bit odd about the Coupé. That is, it's part of a breed of cars that simply doesn't exist anymore...or, well, they do, but they're not as rampant as they were in the 1990s. The front-wheel drive coupes. In the 1990s, we had cars like the Toyota Celica, Honda Prelude, Alfa Romeo GTV, so on, and so forth. They were all fantastically beautiful cars, and they drove so well for what they were underneath. The Coupé fit right in at the time of its introduction, and it sold decently. Even though it was gone by the 21st century, it's a shining example of a moment where Fiat bit the bullet and made something spectacular.
However, how spectacular it really is is debatable. And that's what I'm here to do. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you year two of CaddyKOP's (now known as DaftRyosuke in some corners) Beat and Sleep Reviews, Part 2: Britpop-fueled Boogaloo.
So, first big track day at Barber for 2016. It's a mostly sunny day, and around 4:36 local time, and the first thing I'm noticing is how bloody slow the Coupé really is. It looks so fast on the outside, but when you really get it on the track, it gives off this feeling of pure monotony. The rampant torque steer attacking your arms as you shift gears doesn't exactly help either. It's not something I can't deal with however...nothing's as slow as that bloody Sambavan from a month ago.
Cornering is (kinda) where the Coupé really shines. FWD cars always have this tendency to understeer...horrifically. And, while there is some understeer, it still corners very nicely and flatly, less like an Integra, more like a...well, a Ferrari. I was once doubting this nickname it was so famous for, but honestly, for a moment, I understood it.
But then, the problem comes in. When trying to apply power mid-turn to drive out of the corner, the steering and the turning of the wheels do nothing but work against each other. It doesn't really understeer, per se, it just slows the car down heavily. I could see that this could become a problem when trying to overtake in a corner. Ugh...and I was really hoping this thing would be a Sleeper.
But, through all the floating and extreme power loss in the corners, I managed to finish the lap. It was a bit of a dismal time, unfortunately, 3:35.352, just a few one hundreths of a second faster than the Honda Integra. But, still...I'd rather have that Honda over this Fiat anyday...let's just go ahead and get through the racing part of the review.
So, I decided to take the Coupé into the shop to do a little tuning. I added a few good amount of ponies to the engine, tuned the gear ratios a bit, and attempted to stiffen the suspension and get rid of those understeering problems. It...didn't really work, is all I can say. Well, part of it did work, but the other part...
The car did become very much faster. Faster than most of the pack, actually. It really did own up to its nickname in this aspect. But the steering problems worsened, along with the very little understeer, now becoming severe understeer. The car stopped being as flat as it was on the test track, it was now plowing straight off the course (or tried to). I may have come in first place near the end, but I was severely displeased. I guess you can't judge a book by its cover, especially is the cover is somewhat good looking and designed by Italians.
The Verdict:
So, it's really got to be obvious what I'm giving this little Italian rocket. You're right, it's a beater. I really didn't want to go so harsh on the first car of the year, but this Fiat pushed my temper so much in stock form, and it didn't do much better after a nice tune. If you're looking for a car of this stature, just buy an Integra or a Celica and be done with it.
Happy New Year indeed.
Wooop! Thank you so very much!
As long as this hasn't been chosen before back in the days before GT6, I think I'm going to go with those decidedly awkward-looking half Japanese, half American twins...
Oh, God, no. NOT THESE THINGS.
AAAAAAAAAAAA-
Aren't these Pontiacs too?That's what I said, then looked around and saw that it could be much, much worse. I'd rather have the Fiat, but at least it's not a Vectra or worse.