Hi
ive came to the point were i want a new car. Two cars seem to take my fancy, thay are the punto Hgt and the Gt! Im undecide of what i want! i like the looks of the hgt abarth but the potential of the Gt still makes me love them. Could anyone give me an insight, i.e which are more reliable? and what to look for if buying them? cheers

depends in what your looking for in a car.. if style is more your forte then i suggest the HGT...

but if your looking for power then the gt would be more up your alley...

I want both! but i know there both pushing 130 hp standard and obviously you can modify a turbo a lot more then a standard 1.8. I just need to know which would be the more reliable! Thats the car i would choose.!

Has anybody had experience of owning both? I just want a idea of what im gunna put up with for the next few years? I only do about 150 miles a week (average) please help
cheers

from what i have heard, HGT's are ment to be more reliable.. (someone correct me if aim wrong)....

if it was me, i would get the gt tho as the power of them are more tempting then the style of the HGT....

Personal choice - if I was forced to choose - HGT. Much more satisfying getting all you can from an N/A engine, and then strapping the turbo on later

GT's are notoriously unreliable, plus they are starting to show thier age now.

HGT's will be more reliable without question.

Why would you buy an older model, thats my way of thought

GT's are no more unreliable than any other car of a similar age providing you get a good one - and that is invariably the problem. The majority have been modified and run power far in excess of what the car was originally designed for, resulting in a variety of stresses and strains being placed on the car.

From what you've said so far the question you really should be considering is how old do you want your car to be? The latest GT you could get would be around 10yrs old now so if age is your primary consideration, buy a HGT.

For the record i've ran a 1994 GT from 18mths old and it's been extremely relaible - same turbo, engine and gearbox and the cars done 135k but it is as standard as the day it rolled out the factory - oh and i've changed the oil every 6mths

It really is your call.

personally the GT-Showing its age a little now and you might struggle to find one that is unmolested
HGT-is more modern although it is probably not as much fun as the GT, the 1.8 is an alfa engine under the skin just something to bare in mind

Gt engine is old and proven, you can get good power with little money but reliability wise and finding a good shell etc. you will have issues IMO

HGT's go for pennies but changing the variator, belts and water pump arn't cheap jobs and most of them need it done if they're going cheap. A few breathing mods sees them up to 150-155bhp while still being reliable as long as they're looked after.

HGT's look nicer and have more toys but that's personal preference.

Boost is fun but 200bhp+ in a front wheel drive fiat with a poor shell? Not great, but still good fun in a straight line.

i know its not the same but i owend a uno turbo for about six months(mk2 so same engine as punto gt) i loved it had about as much in common with a standard uno turbo as a honda, it was heavily modded (£6.5k of reciepts) on the engine alone but that showed in a 0-62 in 3.8 and top out at 125 in 24 seconds it had around 240bhp at the wheels (dyno'd at 210bhp before hybid turbo installed)

sorry getting away from the point in six months of running and 4000 miles lol all i changed was the oil and spark plugs it was one of the most reliable cars i have owned but there again all the work was carried out by turbotechnics

imo go for the gt so much more fun when tuned and they look so much more underestimated at the lights of a strip the hgt looks like its meant to be fast but i dont think they are really but there again niether is a standard gt

Everyone thinks the HGT's are 1.2's though!

Your uno was probably so reliable because it had 6.5k or work done to it.

You buy a GT which could be 15 years old you can't expect it to be reliable, best bet is to re-build it when you get it if it's not been done as the engine is so old and most of them have been treated badly at some point or another in their long life IMO

Don't get me wrong, I like GT's. One of my good mates has one running 220+ bhp and it's hella fun to be out in, but worrying at times how unsafe it feels having that power FWD in a punto shell, and knowing that the amount of time you get driving it is the same amount of time it gets being fixed.

GT all the way

xXxXx

oktopod said:

Why would you buy an older model, thats my way of thought

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older but not nesaserilly(sure thats spelt wrong)better,you just need to know what to look for,i have a 97 gt for over a year now and its been fine,only done 3,500miles tho but most of them hard driving,so now i have 3,i think i have a bug!one for sale soon too?i have always steyed away fron anything with 16v and two cams,there just a nightmare when it comes to repairing and twice as many valves to buy when the timing belt snap's!

oh and before i forget cheep tax and 40+mpg!

cars only start to suffer because the way the owner treats them.. GT's are considered old and undependable because most gt owners rag the sh!t out of them..

take my car for example: 12 year old car and in great condition because of 2 lady owners and then me looking after it well...

now take a punto from the same age but with a more aggressive driver...
unreliable, bad condition and hardly working...

SimonUK said:

cars only start to suffer because the way the owner treats them.. GT's are considered old and undependable because most gt owners rag the sh!t out of them..

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Bingo, but with an older car the chances it's had one or more owners who have treated it badly are increased.

I'd prefer a GT to be honest. Its not gona kill you on insurance, and as for reliability, a Fiat is a Fiat at the end of the day and you either get a good 1 or a bad 1!

both will cost a bit to run/maintain. the GT wont cost as much to maintain, but the HGT has inherently better reliability.

the HGT wins for me for this, its extra comforts/toys, and its looks. they are nice places to be in, whereas the mk1s just look and feel old inside. they are a lot safer to be in if you have an accident as well.