Mark the HIPPO - A Fiat Bravo Maniac !!

[Mark Paul Chetcuti]

Hello,

How are you doing with all your Fiat Bravos?
I am 20 yrs. old and come from the small island of Malta just beneath Sicily, if you have a map just try to find it!!

I'm also an owner of a Yellow Fiat Bravo GT.
My registration no. is MPC123.

This unofficial site is smashin'and if anyone has any ideas or need any ideas for tuning, styling and i.c.e. installations for the Bravo range please do not hesitate to contact the "HIPPO", that's my nickname.

Well that's all for now. Soon I'll send some of my pics.!!

Thanks
Mark the Hippo

 

[qwyatt]

mark i need help!!!!!!!!!

i own a 1'4 SX. i seem to be having trouble with lack of power at low rev's. it feels like a miss fire and if i dont catch the cluth at the right time i'm affraid it is like pushing the thing by hand. i should imagine that this is also going to the problem of heavy fuel consumption. the car will happily motor along once it is going but just takes some persuading. it has been looked at several times but to no avail. any suggestions? if you need more detail then please get in touch.
many thanks,
Mark Wyatt.

 

[Mark Paul Chetcuti]

Bravo's with 1.4 engine!

Mark,

I've heard a lot about these engines.
The problem is this engine is an 8valve and that's why the new engine is smaller in cc therefore 1242cc but is a 16valve and believe it or not the 1.2 ltr engine is faster than the 1.4 ltr. engine.

For you i suggest to fit an air cleaner (K&N or Pipercross etc.) which will increase your power for now!!

 

[Karl]

Be informed..

I am a personal friend of the SUPERB BRAVO TD 100 owner and I can assure you that the only mods. carried out are in a bigger Turbo and in a very sofisticated tuning in the diesel pump taken from a Lancia , so before spreading the news your way please be informed well.
However I am not surprised by your LACK of Intelligence in uderstanding motor tuning since in our Lovely Island of MALTA there is nobody able to tune vehicles like this , infact this Superb motor was tuned by the Italian guy Alfio Leotta .
Thanks to this guy , the gods around here (Cosworths), are being beatin by a Diesel Engine.
So imagine what can be done if a Punto GT is tuned to the xtreme by this Guy ( it will be transformed into a jet vehicle).

KARL

 

[Mark Paul Chetcuti]

Bravo TD 100 BOMBA

Karl,

Ma jimpurtax ghax ha niktiblek bil-malti hu!


Nafu kif bhalissa il-Bravo qed jifqa lil kulhadd Hal Far u jien hekk niehu pjacir ghax fl-ahhar mil-ahhar Bravo ghandi u lil Ford m'ghandix demm maghhom.

Fil-fatt jien nahdem ma tal-Fiat stess.

Habib ta Ivan stess kien qalli li l-Bravo TD kull m'ghandu huma l-affarijiet li ghidtli int.
Pero Hal-Far jghidu hafna affarijiet u tghidx kemm smajt li dak ghandu in-Nitro. Skuzani jekk misinterpretajtu pero hadd pjacir li qed nitkellem mieghek.

Jien ma nafx min int, pero jekk tkun Hal Far toqghodx tiddejjaq tigi tkellimni.

Mark il-Hippo

 

[John Fellows]

1.4 engine

The 1.4 is a 12 valve. I had one of these for 3 years. Mine suffered from sluggishness and a misfire for a time which was cured by replacing the ECU (under warranty, luckily). If the engine has been checked out on a FIAT diagnostic computer and the fuel system/injectors/filters are clean, fitting a K&N seems like a good step to take.
I also drove a courtesy car with the 1.2/16V engine. I agree it was faster than the 1.4 but only if you revved it above 5000rpm in every gear. For 'normal' everyday driving, the 1.4 was gutsier with more torque at low revs and was generally more relaxing to drive. A dealer told me that FIAT dropped this engine from the range because it was slower than the 1.6 (obviously!) but was just as thirsty on petrol. I have a Brava 1.8 now and I have not noticed any significant increase in consumption over the 1.4. The 1.4 is a nice smooth revver though and a better drive in my opinion than the 1.2.

 

[rudolf]

my TD100

i like my '97 TD100 as well, allthough it seems to smoke a lot when accelerating >3000 rpm. is this a problem or just a characteristic ? Also it is very, very noisy when cold (when warm it is lovely and smooth)
dunno if i could beat a cosworth...but that's not my goal.
can anyone tell me something about the smoking ?

thanx
rudolf

 

[Colin]

Smokie !!

Hey Rudolf ,

Do you drive real slow ? Cause sometimes when diesel engines are driven real slow it will build up lots o`carbon so when engine is revved up it will remove deposits and there when smoke appears , but if that`s not thing probably you need to clean the injectors . If that is so try using some additives that you pour into the fuel tank you buy these from petrol stations and car accesories....
Hey Rudolf if you want to have a diesel engine that can beat a cosworth , you have to find a mechanic that makes sense , thats all

Regards
COLIN

 

[Ian Jarvis]

1242cc engine is the same as the Punto's

I ran a few Punto's before I got my 1.4SX Brava.

The first Punto's ranged from 1108cc SPI(55) , 1242cc SPI (selecta) , 1242cc MPI(75) , then a 1.4 turbo and a 1.6 Sporting.
In 1997 they dumped the 1.1 and 1.6 and had a range based around the 1242 engine which featured as 1242cc SPI(60), 1242MPI (75) and 1242 MPI 16V (85)

Dumping the 1.4 12V engine looks like another rationalisation exercise.

Ian Jarvis

 

[John Fellows]

1.4 engine

It does seem puzzling why Fiat dropped the 1.4 without developing it further, especially as it was hyped at launch in 1995 as a brand new engine (although I suspect it was a reworking of the Tipo 1.4 engine with a new 12V head).
On the whole I was very satisfied with my 1.4 Brava and only changed it because of the mileage I had built up. I now have a '2nd generation' 1.8 ELX Brava (would have gone for a BravO but new baby means 4 doors required) chosen because we wanted air-con which seems a hard-to-find extra in used SXs (probably because most of 'em are ex-rental jobs and rental companies don't fork out for extras).
The 1.8 seems effortless after the 1.4 although my '96 1.4SX seemed to handle sharper. The '99 1.8 seems to sit slighty softer and higher on its suspension than the earlier car. Perhaps this is Fiat's response to some criticism in the motoring press of an over-firm ride in Bravas/Bravos. Personally I prefer the sharper ride and handling and methinks I will consider a spring lowering kit. Anybody know which is the best/cheapest (Eibach/Spax/Sparco etc..)?

John

 

[rudolf]

re : smokie and td100-jtd105

Hi Colin,

Whenever possible I push the pedal, however that's not often possible in Holland. I do 100-120 MPH sometimes. Offcourse only with well warmed-up engine. I also tried the clean-up additives, but they didn't help much. My mechanic says it's harmful. It doesn't effect the oil-usage or the performance as far as i can see. And offcourse, when you look in the headlights of the car behind you the smoke seems worse...
But it is fast, very fast.
Do you or does anyone else have a comparison between the TD100 and JTD105 ? because that might be my next car.
thanx for your response,

rudolf

 

[Paul Keeble]

Lowering

John,

I've just fitted a lowering kit to my Bravo 1.8hlx - made by a company called G&M and supplied and fitted by Elite, based in Essex. Cost was £207 including fitting and resetting the track (essential). Lowered the car by 40mm and made a real difference to both looks and handling. Hasn't affected the ride qualities as far as I can tell. The springs are TUV approved and guaranteed for two years.

I've heard good stories about Eibach, but nothing but trouble for stuff like Spax - I would always go for the more expensive stuff that has TUV approval.

I also took the opportunity to fit some new wheels at the same time. Couldn't resist the 17inch Kosei 5 spokes (fitted with Avon ZZ1 tyres - 205/40/17). Looks superb and drives like a Go-cart !

Regards

Paul

 

[Colin]

Lowering Bravo 1.8 HLX

Paul

I have a Bravo 1.8 HLX and am thinking about getting it lowered. Does the kit from G&M just contain shorter stiffer springs? Have you got any more details on G&M as I'd rather not go the cheap (nasty) route either.
Incidently, did you have to get any other mods done to get the 17" wheels on - like arches etc.

Regards
Colin

 

[John Fellows]

Lowering

Paul,

Sounds interesting. Don't want to spoil the fun but aren't there any clearance problems, especially as you have both lowered the car and also increased the width and rolling diameter of your wheels/tyres? Has your gearing or speedo accuracy been noticeably affected by the bigger wheels?

Cheers,

John.

 

[Paul]

Wheels / Suspension

John,

Its early days - the wheels and suspension were only fitted last week - but so far no problems.

Sure the wheels are big, but the tyres are very low profile (gone from a 185/55/15 to 205/40/17, so overall, little difference in overall diameter. The company I bought them from did say that 7X17 was the largest I could go for - 7 1/2X17 just wouldn't physically fit !

For a few days, I had a set of 16 inch with 205/45/16 on (from my old car, a Tipo), and the overall diameter was exactly the same as the original wheels ! The style just didn't look right on the Bravo, hence changing.

Re the suspension, I just went for springs as the shocks are only a year old, so should be able to handle the new set up - for a while anyway. I haven't needed to do any arch mods or remove the arch liners. I'll try and get some pictures done soon and get them on the site.

If I do encounter any problems with either the suspension lowering or wheels choice over the next few weeks, I'll let you know.

Regards

Paul

 

[Bertje]

smoking 100td

Well, I have the same motor, Marea 100td with 88k km's. They adjusted the valvetiming and after that smoking is a little less. But when strong accelerating it smokes...it's a td!
Rob.

 

[rudolf]

thanx rob

i know, so i am not worried. It drives great !

 

[Joep Salemink]

smoking

Before i bought my fiat bravo td100 i first looked up a test of the fiat bravo in a car magazine. In this test they warned for the smoking problem and also the noise (it sounds like a machine gun) when driving with a cold engine. There's no solution for this problem, so we have to live with it. Mayby a tip, keep the engine below 2500 rpm for the first 2 or 3 miles.

jumbo

 

[Joep Salemink]

verschil TD100 en JTD 105

Hoi rudolf.

Ik neem aan dat ik in het nederlands kan antwoorden.
Ik heb er een aantal oude en nieuwe autoweken op nageslagen en zo op het eerste oog lijkt er weinig verschil tussen een TD100 en een JTD.
Het vermogen is dan wel verschillende en de JTD maakt gebruik van de common rail techniek, maar als je het koppel naast elkaar legt zie je geen verschil. Ookde topsnelheid en acceleratievermogen ontlopen elkaar niet veel.
Wat mij wel opviel is dat het uitrusting niveau van de JTD verandert (minder) is ten opzichte van de TD 100.
Het enigste verschil waarvan ik zou zeggen, dat is de moeite waard, is het uitgebreidere lakkleuren schema. Deze kleuren spreken ook wat meer tot de verbeelding. Vooral de lichtblauwe tint is erg mooi.
Ik hoop dat je wat aan mijn informatie hebt.
Laat het even weten.

Jumbo

 

[rudolf]

td100

mijn td100 rijdt prima, hij is van maart 97 en heeft 135.000 gelopen.
behalve de gewone fiat - kraakjes is er nog niets mis mee. ik kocht hem vorig jaar juni op 110.000.laatst in een jtd105 gezeten, viel me op dat hij met lage toeren iets beter trekt maar dat de td100 een hardere 'boost' heeft. Dat roken neem ik maar op de koop toe, en dat machinegeweergeluid ook bij koude start. Eenmaal warm hoor je hem niet meer.
dank voor je reacties,alle tips en info zijn van harte welkom !!


groet

rudolf