I bought a Stilo Abarth :)

Hi,
Seems appropriate to mark my 1000th post by announcing that I bought a 2003 Stilo Abarth in the weekend

It is actually the latest in a line of FIATs:
Owned '97 to '04 - 1974 FIAT 128 Coupe (my Dad owned it '89 to '97)
'97 to '99 - Mum's 1986 Uno 45
'99 to '01 - Mum's 1988 Uno 70SL
'00 to '00 - 1982 126 Personal
'00 to '01 - 1986 Uno 60
'01 to '02 - 1989 Tipo DGT 1.6
'02 to '02 - 1988 Croma 2.0 i.e.
'02 to '04 - 1987 Lancia Thema V6
'02 to present - 1988 Uno Turbo
'03 to '06 - 1988 Bertone X1/9
'04 to '06 - 1992 Alfa Romeo 164 3.0V6
'05 to '05 - 1987 Uno 60
'05 to '05 - 1989 Uno 45

You will notice that none of these cars has been particularly 'new'
So when I drive my Stilo, it feels like I'm driving a rental car! In the UK I drove a 2003 Punto (back in 2003) for three months, and then this year I had a Vauxhall Corsa for a few weeks.

Since it's winter here (and I still use my scooter to go to work) it's not conducive to taking photos - the Stilo currently lives in my 'outside' garage (not the one that's part of the house) but this will soon change...

I test-drove a Stilo Abarth a couple of weeks ago when I'd decided to sell up two of the fleet and use some money from investments to buy a 'new' car. In the end I got $4000 for the Alfa and $4000 for the X1/9... $4000 is 1340 pounds at the current exchange rate. Let's just say that with those two added together, it didn't even make it to half the price of the Stilo

However it was a good $2000 less than the typical price at a dealers - I bought from someone who had just been promoted to company director of a hair products firm... and had only owned the Stilo for three weeks (the owner before him bought the car new for $48,000.) Thus the car has lost more than half its value and has just 27,000km on the clock - close enough to a new car for me (several of my previous cars had over 200,000 on the clock, though the X1/9 was only 79,000 and the 164 126,000.)

A major factor in the purchase was the colour and the condition - I love the interior... exterior almost perfect though the wheels are scratched. I'm considering repainting them myself (gunmetal grey + 2K clearcoat?)

Anyway - I'll be around this forum quite a bit Any Stilo owners from NZ - feel free to drop me a PM!

Thanks,
-Alex

Congratulations on your new purchase looks sweet

Very nice and welcome to this part of the forum

Any mods planned for it?

VERY NICE INDEED..
i noticed on another thread you're getting some good mpg's from it?!
I'm thinking i should check the weight of my right foot compared to my left!!! mine is still only averaging 22-24ish!!

I went to Inverness a couple of weeks ago and averaged 31mpg, average speed 40mph most of the way in fifth on the A96.
But last week I filled the tank £45, I got 270 miles from that tank.
Maybe I should see the doctor about my heavy right foot.
Usual average mpg is 23ish. I managed 91mpg at one point, freewheeling down a hill.
Lovely sound though when I floor it in 3rd at 60mph to overtake.

Nice car, I like black, by far the best colour when it is clean and polished.

I'M FINDING THE BEST MPG WHEN ITS ON THE DRIVE!!!!

BLACK; YELLOW OR SCHUEY RED!!!!!

(I CAN SEE THAT STARTINING A DEBATE!!!)

Is it fun pushing it up and down your driveway then

LMAO he will get muscles in his pi$$ doing that

ScottyP: believe it or not, my Stilo isn't quite black - it's PURPLE!

I think it's a really clever colour, as it gives all the advantages of black (and probably the disadvantages!) yet with an extra metallic sparkle...

I've managed 7L/100km (about 36MPG) on an hour-and-a-half trip, but the around-town consumption (with a little 'country' as well) is more like 10L/100km (27MPG). Whatever, I'm doing better than the 14L/100km that I had read was normal!

Cheers,
-Alex

WooHoo!!! Must go and polish it though!!!

You need some better pictures Alex! They dont do it justice!

Steve - have you noticed how it's WINTER and hard to get pictures... It's dark when I get home! or raining...

Besides I really like that interior photo (blowing my own trumpet I know) but the soft glow of the interior lights makes it look so much nicer than harsh flashlight or daylight... and brings out the rich colour of the seats

I'm very happy with the looks of my Stilo It just seems 'right' somehow, made all the more so by the almost non-existant 'facelift' FIAT have just given it. And, Steve and I managed to fit a FIAT Uno door in the back, so the shape is officially 'versatile' as well

I love the eccentrities of the Selespeed transmission even in 'Manual' mode (the way it quietly shifts into 3rd or 2nd while slowing at low revs, and how it only selects 1st after a complete stop) - they match my driving style and I have so much fun changing 'up', soon I'll probably forget to change down when I drive a 'normal' manual! I also love all the 'toys' - the stereo, the voice activation, the trip computer, the reversing sensors (every time down my driveway... Beep Beep Bi Bi Bi B-Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...)

Although the steering/ride/handling is a bit of a mixed bag (doesn't have the precision of an old X1/9) I'm getting used to it. I can't help but think it would be a little less 'clumpy' if it had normal-sized tyres on it - the unsprung mass must be huge. Driving over bumps and ridges in the Stilo feels a bit like trying to run in gumboots!

-Alex