General Newbie comments on the Stilo

[Nello]

All - you;ve probably seen my first initial 'rants' in the technical section as a new Stilo owner. I thought I'd give my overview of the car as a new owner. Firstly to say I'm a big Italian Automobilli owner - owned alot of different Alfas, Fiat, Lancias over the years (both young and old!) - my only 'lapses' were a stray into a couple of TVR's and I still have a Lotus in the garage. Anyway I'm currently driving an Alfa 156 but the wife wanted to change her Brava - we'd had it 5 years and it never let us down once. I wanted to get another Coupe - this time a 20VT LE after a previous stint with a 16V - but the wife didn;t like driving that and we needed both cars that we could both drive and be modern/reliable and able to accomodate our son and any future 'family' additions?!! Anyway the Stilo was the compromise - Always loved the 3-door design - after a petrol - thou I would have had a JTD especially as the variator on my 1.8 sounds like one at times! Anyway the model was 'chosen' for us by me finding a private 1.8 3-door Dynamic in Silver - Abarth skirts - 31K for only just over £4K! Bargain!
I'm used to Italian 'playful' Electrics and rattles but have to say the improvement with build quality is plain to see and its drives like a modern car should. Kit with car is impressive and the 1.8 pulls OK - the 'warm' hatch description is about right. Anyway with the addition of 17" Claw Alloys and some lowered springs it'll be a great car - I may even let the Mrs. use the Alfa a bit more!! Look forward to continued contributions on this forum!

 

[1.8Stilo]

if you want to change that warm hatch status, to more a even warmer hatch...angel tuning can now do a remap for the 1.8 stilo, i cant comment on this yet as im still saving my pennys! Put that together with a BMC CDA and preferably a supersprint cat back exhaust system and it will be considerably faster

Great price you picked ur 1.8 stilo up for wot reg is it?

If youve got the side skirts and the alloys all you need now is your rub strip colour code and they total transform the look of the car!

 

[Nello]

Its an 2002 - 02 plate but is seriously mint with no dings dents or scratches - looks superb when clean (isn't it amazing how quickly cars get dirty this time of year?!) - but will be even better with the mods...........
Whats the easiest way to change the rub-strip colour? How do you get them off? Is it quicker to paint them or get colour coded ones?
......I know of Nigel at Angel Tuning as he got me a new Air-box on my 156 and is local.............

Cheers m8

 

[stripey stilo]

the best thing to do is buy some new rub strips and get em sprayed up then pull the other 1 off there only stuck on and replace

 

[1.8Stilo]

Did u get my PM earlier in reply to u r message! You can use your original rub strips on the car now, they basically are held on by little...Hmm...how do i explain this pop clip thingys - quite easy to pull off basically! But the clips break really easy, you can get these from your fiat dealer cheaply (makes a change ) If you were to take them to a garage to get sprayed your probaly looking at a few hundred - expensive i kno! But most people on here use Ben R, whom has done quite a few of the other chaps cars. I sure he'll pop up sometime drop him a PM - in not sure if his private garage is closed for the winter though

 

[Nello]

Yes cheers 1.8Stilo - your car looks superb - I'll probably stick to a 30-35mm drop as it the wife will be using it too!!
I'll have a crack at the rub strips myself - how do they come off? Do you have to lift up or pull straight out? -cheers