Here's Why You Should Buy The 'Unreliable' Fiat Coupe 20V Turbo 

The world needs more new cars with 5-Cylinder engines

ssssshhh don't let people know about this car before i get one for cheap!!!

I fell in love with this car at 18 yrs old and bought one at 19 in 2005 and I STILL HAVE IT - absolutely love it to bits. Its yellow with plus side skirts and corn splitters and a Maranello hood scoop. Never had any issues with it, done 100000km with it and three trips to nürburgring. Great vid cheers from Sweden! :-)))

This engine is incredible... The line is Amazing and original.. is a italian car

As a proud Fiat coupe 20v turbo owner, I agree with this. They are great, charismatic, exciting cars to drive and love mine to bits. The looks both inside and out, the power and handling all fantastic. As long as you maintain the Coupe correctly, they are truly reliable. A great Fiat.

Anyone agrees that this car is actually underrated?

When fiat used to make good cars

Wait... You're 33?!

Spot on vid, thanks for that. I am driving one of these since 10+ years, currently alongside a 335i and 997 Porsche as daily drivers (plus a few classics), and I will confirm that this is a special car. During the time of my ownership and with about 65k miles on the clock now (bought at 30k) I have had no issues. None. It helps to have a good garage that knows a bit about italian exotica for maintenance. But: cheap to run....if you treat it well. This cars' biggest problem are its owners. It is fast, cheap, flashy. Luckily this has been changing for some time now and you see the well kept examples without Ferrari stickers and hideous body kits that survived the days of hardship. This car has been molested A LOT. As said correctly in the vid, the engines - the straight-5 came from Lancia and was supposed to go into the successor of the Integrale that, sadly, never came - are *extremely* sturdy and if you don't treat them like a boyracer and expect that investing 500 bucks will give you 350hp, will last almost forever. Again, warming them up, cooling them down (turbo), changing the oil, cambelt probably a year or two before its due, etc. must be in your DNA and feel natural to you. If you don't get that concept and/or find it annoying, buy a fast Golf. However, all that I wrote above also goes for the Posche 997 and even for the rather ordinary BMW - you will not torture it, you will make sure it's got what it needs and you will not treat it in a way that you know will bite your wallet in the back in the long run. If you like and respect cars, this is what you do. I will say this: out of these 3 the mentioned 20V Turbo is the most charismatic car. It is the one you will only get out on the weekend. You will rather get the Porsche out when it rains. It is not an expensive car, but it is the one that makes you sigh in awe when you close the door and push the button to start the turbo-5. As a package it feels like a piece of art. I've driven and I am driving a few flamboyant cars but I can attest this is truly up there. It's got the magic. Great, great car.

every time I walk to my Fiat and it appears from the rows of black faceless SUVs, I'm like "holy shit, dude! now that's a sweet ride! wait... is it really mine?"

I remember this car vividly because it smoked me on Gran Turismo

The Fiat Coupe is the Dillion Harper of cars: Not everyone likes her, but you have to admit she does what she does well.

no maintenance - no reliability

that shape is ageing really well.....

Fiat Coupè Alfa Romeo GT Alfa Romeo Spider (the 2000's version) Maserati Biturbo and here it is: your classic garage is complete

Best police car right here! Like if you know what I'm talking about 😏😎

Fantastic cars no matter what you think about fiat. The 20v fiat engine is superb in either turbo or n/a form. The coupe is lovely but not forgetting the Bravo HGT and Marea with the n/a engine and the later Stilo abarth with the larger out 2.4 20v. Sound so bloody good. Lucky enough to have owned a number of cars with this engine including a coupe.

Thaats my first car!!! I still got it and I never intend to sell it ;)

Cool video! But now I miss my Coupe 😐 Had two 20v and one 20v Turbo... The Turbo was a beast... Did intake, Downpipe, complete exhaust and software... Killed an e46 m3 like it was nothing... With a Fiat... And the sound was absolutely incredible....

Fiat Coupe Le is the best car I have ever owned out of about 30. I will never sell it.

Reason 1. It goes vrooooooooom stu stu stu Reason 2. ... Reason 3. Profit

The front looks amazing.

In Brazil some owners change the FIAT badges and put Ferrari's one instead. lol

I think this car might be my first pick in choosing a front wheel drive sports car. I absolutely/intensively/undeniably love this car...😍

As a Fiat car mechanic I drove a brand new grey 20V Turbo+ for about half a hour and this was one of my greatest impressions I got from a car until now.

I’ve always loved these. The noise is a reason why I have a Volvo V50 T5 - same fabulous and distinctive sound. Coupes in general are A threatened breed, which is TERRIBLE!! Fab car, great video

Imagine a new Abarth Coupé... Mr Marchionneeeee wake up

I used to own a Fiat Coupe, its 20V non turbo tho, never had any problems with it

I drived the limited edition 10years ago, i can tell you this car is super fantastic to drive! I never had any problem with it, it's also the best engine engineering fiat has ever made, you only should check frequently the cooling level and the expensive part are the drivingbelt that need to change every 60.000km's. I now drive a Lancer Evo which is super hardcore to drive, but this 5cyl of fiat is just heaven i all kind of way's! Handle it with love and you will married her for life!

5 cylinders give such a great sound, I had an Alfa 156 2.4 5 cyl diesel and that sounded fantastic

I have a Punto gt turbo, love it to death! Always tried to talk my friends into buying a coupe turbo just because I can't afford one and think they are amazing!

Fiat engines are very reliable. Don't really understand why everyone says they're bad

I swear I never clicked this fast on a video before

Finally they get the appreciation they deserve. Awesome little shits! No one ever doubted the capabilities of the engines (be it 16V or 20V) but it is remarkable how well Chris Bangle's design aged. They are looking better and better with every year!

It's not unreliable.

All the crap people talk about Fiat is bull and lies. People say Fiats rust... I just came back from Austria, I was working there. All cars with rust i've seen were all german. Not 1 Fiat with rust. I know many people that used to talk so bad about Fiat then life took a spin and they ended up buying one and today they are super happy with the car and brand. For me, the best brand in the world.

Had a lot of fast cars but my fiat coupe is my favourite, unique looking in a world of faceless overly complicated new cars. Can't think what I'd buy to replace it with. Brilliant review, well done guys. More promotion to push up then value of these fantastic cars

Great video. I had the 'tamest' version of that car, the 16v non turbo. It was the best car I've ever had and would still have it now if I hadn't spun it into a field off an untreated icy road. I cried when it had to go!

For a car produced in the 90's it's dated really well and still looks fantastic. Very few cars can look this good in standard form. Yeah they were quirky and had rust and reliability issues but if you have one, and it's got this far, then it;s not really a problem anymore. The driving position, the noise from that exquisite engine and the general pleasure these cars give you just cannot be replicated by any other car in the same bracket. Proper coupes like this just don't exist anymore.

Ahhh, takes me back to the days of getting my license in Gran Turismo 2 👍

Thank god there’s so many people who dismiss out of hand any car they have heard is unreliable from some bloke down the pub, leaves all the interesting stuff to us proper petrolheads. This and the 916 GTV are true 90s Italian icons. If it’s not some yank banging on about some V8 crap with the handling characteristics and suspension technology of a Stagecoach it’s some JDM fanboy banging on about some plastic shit with the styling of a house brick and an interior less interesting than a 10hr health and safety training course on a rainy Tuesday in November.🙄🙄

It's a shame that there's so many cars like this that just get ignored or rated poorly because of claims of unreliability when there's very little wrong with them or just because of brand snobs. Brand snobs ruin the car scene.

I think Lancia Kappa coupe has the same engine 20v turbo.

It's a beauty and visionary design, could easily get out of factory today and no one would say it looks dated. Same goes for Alfa GTV, they look rather similar.

I remember accidently buying one on gran turismo 5 and not being disappointed

i don´t know why fiats have that bad reputation. Here in Argentina they made cheap and very reliable cars.

I've been wanting one of these since Gran Turismo 2.

The Coupe was my dream car from the first moment I saw it. Then I owned two, a yellow non-turbo (crash - RIP), followed by a red turbo plus. Both where running perfectly. Then I switched to a like-new 3200GT. Total disaster. Numberless defaults ended with broken engine (at 40.000 km - the Coupes where running at 150.000 with normal wear ...), and I missed the lightweight kart-like handling of the Coupe and the ---- sunroof! It's all about personal taste but I think the Coupe was a good car.

This motor(20VT) is capable of 400hp easy...

I loved my 20v Turbo, it was fast as a bastard and felt like a luxury GT to be inside and drive.

Ive always loved these!

Absolutely love the series! Alfa Romeo 916 GTV6 maybe in the near future?

I had a 99T 20v turbo in steel grey. A great drive, beautiful to look at, cracking full leather interior and 100% reliable. A specialist fitted the timing belts when necessary and changed the oil regularly. It is difficult to say whether the bonnet or the steering wheel was the most attractive thing.

Such a stunning piece of automotive design, I would love one.

Wonderful. Car is just like it was described on this video 😍

Bought one of these in 2008 for £900 and delivered pizzas in it for 4 years. Gave it so much abuse and I think she loved it as much as I did. Reached 175,000 miles on a shoestring budget... wish I still had one but prices have rocketed. Love your channel... even more now you done the fiat some justice even though it is faster than you claim... 0-62 mph is 6.2 seconds but it's more about how it keeps pulling like a train all the way to 150 with 4 adults on board. (Private test track obvs)

I would love to buy this Fiat Coupé 20v Turbo, the shape of it, the power, turbo sound, it just preform so well that it took me a while to realise that it was actually front wheel drive, still according to it's problems, the car was still worthy to own one.😍

Did fiat give it red calipers for extra 100 hp?

Love my red 20VT. It does oversteering so you don't even think that you're driving a FWD car. And if you do some tuning to around 320 hp like me you don't have enemies to 380 hp. Golf R, Cayman S, S3, S4, Challenger, Lancer Evo 9, etc. are breakfast for my Coupé. Believe it or not but it is also very reliable. Just like all my other FIATs I own.

4:26 i thought that was a joke but actually mu fiat coupé's doors are freaking frozen as well😂😂😂🤦🏼‍♂️

I ran one one of these for a couple of years and had well over 20,000 miles of trouble free motoring and a smile on my face every time I drove it. I think the most expensive bit was the cambelt change but thats true in most cars!

Ah brings me back to the days I played Gran Turismo 3. This is by far in my opinion one of the fastest front wheel drive in the game

How hard would it be to get one of these to the US. I'm kinda in love. It's like a Supra met a Miata, but Italian.

Love these cars. Unfortunately I missed the chance to buy a mint one with FSH and 12 months ticket without advisories for £2.5k probably worth 4 times that now. Hopefully one kind soul will let me drive one just so I can have the experience 🤞

Just yesterday I saw one destroy an audi tt rs pulling away like crazy on the left lane and I was all ready doing 150km/h..very fast!!

damn, my favourite fiat

This is not just a Fiat. Everybody things that Ferrari's or Lamborghini's are the best sports cars from the Italians, but the "Coupe Fiat" certainly isn't less special. Is was the fastest production car in the world from 1993 and chopped those two brands! The car name is special in the first place, because it's called 'Coupé Fiat' by fiat itself and especially notable for its special styling. Virtually everything about this design, introduced in 1993, is unique, from the huge slots in the front of the wheel and from the bizarrely shaped air intake in the front. Nowadays it's still very cheap in Europe, only the epic 2.0L 5-cylinder turbo is pricey. But just look at it, do you think you can buy something more special with better exhaust sound for the money? I don't think so...

I simply love that Fiat, stunning body styling by Chris Bangle at Centro Stile Fiat, and amazing exhaust sound!

Chris Bangle is such a good designer. People are starting to appreciate his style now though. His BMW designs were controversial at the time, but still look modern and slick 15-20 years later.

Ha my coop is 22 years old and I've had it for 16 of those. 130k miles. Never broken down and it's spent 80k of those miles in a non-standard tune. Turns more heads in the street and gets more attention than any supercar... and that's before you make a unique straight 5 warble... But it's the hand-built by Italians thing that seems to give it a soul, like no other car I've owned. Like herbie, mine just wants to go when it sees £200k meat in front of it. It's like a pet - a badly behaved yappy little dog that wants to mate with everything it sees.

First time I've seen this car in Gran Turismo 2. 19 years ago...

Exactly the same happened to me,was 16years old I think when I first saw a fiat coupe, could not believe how beautiful it looked and how beautiful they look now even against all the modern cars, so a few years back got myself one, amazing machines

All nonsense people say about Fiats are all not true. I see more rust on german cars here in the UK than on Italian cars. All has to do with maintenance. My Punto has a tiny bit of rust on a panel but it was the painters fault and did not even primed the part when it was painted and its not a genuine part but now I have got a second hand genuine wing to paint and assemble.

Bye! Beautiful review, and beautiful specimen! .. 👍🏻 I would like to add and talk about a detail that has not been mentioned in the video review at all, that is the traction, as it is considered (the 20V Turbo) one of the best front traction in the world, due to some technical details not just, that is : THE FRAME: "Type 2", this is the evolution of that of the Lancia Delta, more rigid and robust, as well as the body. THE TRANSMISSION: A sophisticated (especially for the 90's era) electronically controlled transmission through turbocharging management (Garrett TB28) invented by Fiat / Bosch, on the first two "EBL" (Electtronic Boost Limiter) gears, of this what few are aware of, even if it has been mentioned several times by various Italian magazines such as: Auto del 1997, Quattroruote 1999, and also by international magazines, as well as a mechanical self-locking device called (ViscoDrive). I think it is right to say a few words about the sophisticated electronic control of the transmission on the traction, and on its operation. There are 2 sensors / switches inside the gearbox, which are connected to a first satellite control unit, this is connected to the mother control unit (Bosch Motronic 1.1.2) which in turn is connected to a second satellite control unit which is connected to an electronic valve called "Pierburg" which always in turn controls the WestGate valve of the Turbo, opening and closing it according to the wheel spin by means of the ABS sensors. The beauty of this sophisticated electronic system lies in the fact that it does not INTERRUPT the wheel spin, like a common "ETC" (Electtronic Traction Control), where it cuts the current to the engine, making you feel the classic serration and kickback, but REDUCES the wheel spin. of the wheels, precisely decreasing the supercharging pressure, so as to maintain a fluidity and pleasure of driving while driving, without losing performance. The system automatically excludes itself once the third gear has been engaged, included onwards, to reactivate automatically once returned to 2nd and 1st gear respectively. The control system, if necessary, can be excluded with special "Computer Examiner", and not by the Driver in the passenger compartment. The beauty of this sophisticated system lies in the fact that if you want to elaborate the Coupé, even in an extreme way, to increase power and torque, and therefore performance in general, with more extreme trim, etc .... With this electronic system (with ECU reprogramming) you can choose the boost pressure according to the gear engaged so as to always have a smooth and pleasant drive, without excessive skidding and loss of control of the car! ES: If original, the pressure expressed by the Turbo is: 1st gear 0.8Bar, 2nd gear 1.0Bar, from 3rd gear included 1.2Bar (therefore the maximum boost pressure). By carrying out the processing you can do: E.g. 1st gear 1.0Bar, 2nd gear 1.2, Bar, 3rd gear included onwards 1.5 / 1.8 / 2.2, and beyond, so as to never have the classic explosion of power with relative wheel spin in the first 2 gears, which takes away the pleasure of driving. A truly brilliant and unique system in the 90s sports! We remind you that the "normal" Fiat Coupé 20V Turbo and special editions (Limited Edition, [numbered and certified] Plus Edition, and MY99 'Edition) is the only 90' front-wheel drive sports car to have a controlled transmission and mixed management, (Electronics + Mechanics), the latter cohesive in unison, in the name of mimesis, although these are not physically connected to each other in a single piece, like a classic "VDC." In practice, the mechanical self-locking (ViscoDrive) acts as a "TC" (Torque transfer) and the "EBL" (Electtronic Boost Limiter) electronics as a skid control. SORRY IF IT'S LITTLE !!!!! ******* P.s: Some models (more than a few) of original "Limited Edition", new, and of a single owner, rolled on the test bench, have all registered powers of over 230hp, in spite of the 220 declared by Fiat. This indisputably explains the greater performance in terms of maximum speed and acceleration scored by the various magazines, in spite of the "normal" 5-speed versions, that is: (252.23 Km / h, LE, against 248Km / h Normal .), and acceleration, (6.1 / 3 Sec.LE, against 6.5 Sec.Normal) all electronically "limited" in the first 2 steps, as stated above. ****** Bye!

Fiats, not this sporting luxurious one, but old cheap street ones; 125, 123, 128, 147, 1100, Uno, Duna, Regatta and many of them have been prepared for racing and put under ANY kind of abuse here, for decades and it's still done. Just talking bout supposed Fiat unreliability. Still today the first car of almost everyone is a Fiat, and doesn't matter how an asshole you are with the damn poor car, it will bear it and if it wears, it'll be cheap and easy to repair it.

I used to own one not a plus though but they are great little cars, kind of make me question the torque steer in so many modern fwd cars. Parking is terrible though those doors have to open so wide to get through

Thanks so much for the video i just sold my Megane RS 225 and i'm going to see one tommorrow :) !!

I wish my dad never sold his Electric blue 20v turbo I need to get one

Design by Chris Bangle. Now he’s with BMW. One of the most beautiful Fiat.

Fiat had a lot of success in the 90s before the Koreans took over tbe Market. Fiats still a great brand and they invented the common rail diesel and sold it. The 5 cylinder was an inovation. Dont under estimate Fiat they have an hard times in the UK these days. I owned many Fiat brands especially Alfa and before they were Fiat. Alfa is a labour of love for those who appreciate them. Lancia a great Brand once please Fiat make some of these type cars again for the UK

Ha! Nearly as good as the Lotus acronym.... Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious.

it sounds sickk 😍😍

Have fiat barchetta, but i want coupe for a while now

When I first saw this car as a kid, I thought it was an electric or some kind of concept car. It looked so far ahead of its time and it looks so contemporary now. Honestly, it doesn't look that dated. If someone did an electric conversion and a kid saw it driving around 10 years from now, he/she would probably think it was one of Fiats first all electric cars.

Unreliable..... I thrashed the living daylights out of mine with many tuning mods.... never missed a beat

Been really looking forward to watching this for some reason

What a great video. I worked in sales for a Fiat dealership in the late 90’s early 00’s and would regularly have use of coupes and also the bravo hgt with the 5cyl and would often terrify bmw 3 series and golf gti owners in them. God they were good days.

I remember here in Vancouver when my best friend parked it next to a Audi RS6 avant. Coincidentally the owner just arrive to and then when other people came, they started snapping photos! Even the Avant owner. EDIT: Did i not say this coupe of my best friend was RWD in the other comment because he got it swapped and did some tuning to it. THIS THING's a future classic! It's pretty rare and soon i bet it'll be more pricey than the Avant! Not always performance but sometime you gotta consider how it drives.

I have a moon grey 20vt plus (no sun roof model) Running 340bhp to the wheels Love love love it to death

My dad dailys this bad boy and only showed electrical problems now, at 200k miles. Honestly this car is such a joy to ride, especially on twisty roads.

I love the design on this, always when one passed I had to turn arround to give it a longer look. It's so Ferrari like, I mean look at the headlights and the grill. it's like supercar status

I've wanted this car since I was a kid

I owned a turbo plus back on 2000 and held on to it with love and pride till 2007. I never regret selling a car like my coupe. I love the whole review and especially the starting story which i use to do all the time and enjoy watching cars disappear from my back view mirror

All 20vt had brembo brakes ,also they didnt have a lsd it was visco drive coupling which was ok but still not a lsd, also be aware that you need a red master key for the immobiliser alot if these go missing.

Always liked this car its looks great

Loved owning my 20VT in Portofino blue, 48k miles, and in beautiful condition for just £4000. Beautiful sound, great character and life threateningly quick. Superb for crossing countries on Motorways and A roads. Did Plymouth to Newcastle once in just a few hours and got out of the car as fresh as i got in. Nobody harrasses you because 99% of the time there is just nobody able to stay in your rear view mirror even when you're not driving on the limit. Had no issues at all in 4 years of ownership. Build quality is very good and built at Pininfarina where they also do Ferraris. My only minor criticisms are that the revised skirts and details on the Plus version are not as good as the clean lines of the original, the front seats are not bolstered enough for hard cornering, the 16" rims should be changed to 17" with quality rubber and the suspension (like all the fast fiats I have owned) needs to be uprated and a strut brace added to remove any body roll. Lampredi's 5 pot version of the Lancia Integrale Engine is utterly gorgeous. A masterpiece !

So, this, or Alfa GTV?

I was obsessed with this car when i was a kid. I’ve got about 20 drawings of it!

I used to drive this a lot when i was a kid, playing Gran Turismo 3

The Fiat Coupé was one of the most beautiful cars of its time.