Fiat Seicento HGT

This is an intresting conversation I am having in the New Panda section and as I was going off topic on the Panda thread I thought id share my views with you guys:

Original post is here: http://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/34389-new-panda-sporting.html

I always felt abit unhappy with the fact Fiat never released an Seicento HGT with the 1242 16v as standard which would of been the best choice of engine for the car because:

Punto HGT = 1.8 16v
Punto Sporting = 1.2 16v
(Seicento HGT = 1.2 16v)
Seicento Sporting = 1.1 8v

Reason for me saying the 1242 16v is because Fiat wouldnt give the bigger Punto HGT the same engine as the Seicento HGT so naturally they should give the top of the range Seicento the same engine as the middle range Punto i.e. Sporting and give the Seicento then the HGT badge.

This would of been an excellent move for Fiat as you just have to look at the popularity of the 1242 engine on this forum to see that if they had done it standard then alot more people would of bought it and insurance would be less as it doesnt carry a transplanted engine sign above its head!

Sadly Fiat is not what it use to be and they now work on the fact that maximum sales wont of been reached with the HGT Seicento so it was props never considered which is a shame because this forum and many others have proved to Fiat that the 1242 would of been an excellent car under the HGT badge!

I think to justify the HGT badge on a Seicento Fiat would either have to make it a homologation special (ie the Punto HGT was created to allow the Punto Super 1600 to be built although in the end the rules changed in rallying and they could have built the Super 1600 without relying on the HGT as a source of parts) or car capable of travelling across the odd country or two without fuss. I agree the 1242 engine would have been a better choice for the Abarth rather than just a shorter set of ratios in the gearbox (even that was lost in the mk2 version ending up as just a bodykit option) especially if you look at the Seicento Trofeo rally cars that exist in Italy or Poland with 1148cc Mpi engine chucking out @100Bhp with 6 speed gearbox.
I think you may just have started another thread about what cars we want Fiat to produce.

A few 16v Cento's do exist however cooling is an issue and I believe if Fiat made an actual prodcution model it would be more expensive than the Punto due to the silly complex cooling system they would stick in.

However, it was designed as a city car and not a sports car so this probably never crossed there minds.

Liam

Question is why give it a Sporting badge if it was a City car, I know this is fiats naming to show top of the range to bottom of the range motors like any car manufactor but having a name as cool as Sporting it should have some sort of power to match the name from standard....

What really ticks me off is the fact I have a Seicento Abarth bought with all the Abarth extras and kit from new and yet I am running the same litre engine as for example the Suite, MIA, 2Tone and Active.... what is going on there....

Thats why my views of the 1242 would of been worth while even sticking in the Punto 75 engine and maybe not the 16v due to cooling issues would of been a step up!

I am from Planad, but I hve never heard about factory made Seicento 1148cc Mpi @100Bhp with 6speed gearbox.... could you give me mor information about it?



TIA

[quote=Antoine]I am from Planad, but I hve never heard about factory made Seicento 1148cc Mpi @100Bhp with 6speed gearbox.... could you give me mor information about it?
/QUOTE]
Hi, I've done a bit of surfing and found the following website with some information:-
http://home.hccnet.nl/e.vos/index.htm (written in Dutch)
there used to be some other websites in English and Japanese but as usual you can never find them when you want them. Try looking for either Seicento Trofeo or Seicento kit car as they were run in one make rally championships.

I think the term 'factory' is misleading. The factory in question was Fiat Corse, the old Abarth works, and they built competition cars only.

Cheers

D

mazda 3mps and mazda 6mps different sized car same engine