Technical Performance

[gfotopou]

I have now my Stilo 1.8 Dynamic for 3 weeks and I have done almost 3000 km (yes I drive a lot). I had no major problems (touch wood, make a sacrifice to Neptune etc.) except a squeaky driver's window after each rain, but it's getting better with time I guess because the plastic is getting softer. I also noticed something that I could hardly describe but it's like that the car does not respond the same when I engage the reverse gear. It's like that the gear does not completely engage, but I guess it's just my idea. However I have a major concern: the performance of the car simply sucks!! [}] I don't know if it's my idea or my expectations were too high or simply I was used to drive a more powerful car (Opel Astra 2.0 GSI with 150 CV). But I can't see why the 17 horses that this car has less and the few kgs that it has more than my previous car make such a difference. I mean it can't be only that... I see around me any possible car overtaking me!!! Little cars, big cars even lorries!! And I'm not talking about driving in the city but driving on national roads and motorways, how the hell is possible every 1.2 or 1.4 lt car to go faster than me and accelerate much better??? [?] The car hardly accelerates when going uphills, unless I lower the gear and still it's bad... Has anyone noticed something similar or is it simply that the car is not powerful enough?

 

[rriggs]

Can't comment on the in gear thing as I do not have a 1.8 however I have the same problem with my window. Does anybody know what this is?

Roja

2003 Silver 3-Door Abarth with grahite wheels and all the toys

 

[Ham]

Have had mine since April and at first it seemed to be slower than my previous Nissan Primera 1.8se Petrol estate. However now it is loosening up it is much better, 1st gear is a bit short but in 2nd it powers on quite well, Easily reaches Legal limit and will go well beyond, on a private road of course.
The driving position gives the impression that you are going slower, I noted this from the change from my Nissan. Much higher up and ride is not bad, just getting used to the differnt handling and the fact that it is Diesel.


Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

 

[peterlloyd]

Caqnnot really comment that much but I have had 1.6 and 1.8 Stilos as courtesy cars while my 1.2 has been in for service.

One thing that struck me was that they made more noise than mine but did not seem that much faster around town.

I cretainly expected a considerable difference that did not seem to be there.

Stilo Active 1.2 5 Door/ Panda 4X4

 

[sly]

i have noticed that it feels slower to accelerate than the ford ka 1.3 i have been driving.
but i think it might just be the 'detached' feeling you get when driving the stilo.by 'detached' i mean that the lack of feeling though the pedals and steering wheel , and the lack of engine noise make it hard to judge when you should be giving it more revs or not.
sometimes when the car has been idling i have thought it had stalled!!:I
spose it depends what you had before too.

stilo 1.6 dynamic 16v

 

[pantjo]

Well, I USED TO DRIVE A CELICA 86 1.6 GT. THE TRANSITION TO THE STILO WAS TRAUMATIC IN THE BEGINING. SO UNDERPOWERED I THOUGHT. BUT THEN I CAME TO REALISE THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY IT COMES DOWN TO THE STYLE AND MANNER THAT EACH CAR HAS TO BE DRIVEN. OF COURSE THE STILO 1.2 DOES NOT COME ANYWHERE NEAR THE OTHER CAR BUT SOMETIMES YOU HAVETHE ILLUSION THAT IT ACTUALLY HAS SOME POWER. OVERALL THE RESPONSE TO THE PEDAL IS SOMEHOW DELAID BUT ONE SHOULD EXPEXT THAT. IT IS A HEAVY CAR AFTER ALL.
FROM WHAT I HAVE READ, EVEN THE ABARTH IS UNDERPOWERED FOR WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO REPRESENT.
SO, I GUESS THAT WE SHOULD ALL REALISE THAT WE DID NOT BUY A PERFORMANCE CAR. WE BOUGHT GADGETS, ELECTONIC SYSTEMS, COMFORT, SPACIOUS SALON, QUIET ENGINE, AIRBAGS, ASP, EBD, ELECTROHYDROLIC STEERING, AND ABOVE ALL GOOD DESIGN. BUT NOT ENGINE! WE DID NOT BUY EXTREME PERFORMANCE!

pantelis
2002 Stilo 80 Active, no alloys, no power tuning, tinted windows, love the sky window though!

 

[gfotopou]

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by rriggs
Can't comment on the in gear thing as I do not have a 1.8 however I have the same problem with my window. Does anybody know what this is?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

The window problem I think is due to hard and rigid rubber and plastic parts around it. I had this problem right after picking up the car but two days later it rained and the noise became horrendous I went to the garage and they treated it with tones of silicon spray and fiddled with the rubber trying to loosen it up and that fixed the problem but with the first rain it was back. However now after three weeks and a few rainy days the noise almost disappeared (or at least is reduced a lot). So I guess the noise is indeed due to the rigid rubber/plastic parts, which increase beyond normal the friction of the window on them. May be with time they'll get softer!

 

[barbarian]

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
SO, I GUESS THAT WE SHOULD ALL REALISE THAT WE DID NOT BUY A PERFORMANCE CAR. WE BOUGHT GADGETS, ELECTONIC SYSTEMS, COMFORT, SPACIOUS SALON, QUIET ENGINE, AIRBAGS, ASP, EBD, ELECTROHYDROLIC STEERING, AND ABOVE ALL GOOD DESIGN. BUT NOT ENGINE! WE DID NOT BUY EXTREME PERFORMANCE!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Amen to that!

With the weight of the car and a 1.2 engine I've often wondered just how the car ever moves. It must be a damn good engine, either that or a poor design choice.

Now if those nice people at Fiat could somehow squeaze a turbo into the 2.4 then we may have something to shout about.


Barbarian
3dr Stilo Abarth, Leather, Broom Yellow and Sky Window

 

[ahatzig]

I thing it all comes to weight. The car has the same specs with Golf, lucks inquality but has the italian design [8D] . I've test drived a 1.6 Golf of a friend and has the same performance as stilo.
My previous car was a Corolla 1.4 and believe me stilo is a monster. It sounds like a monster and accelerates like one (always comparing to Corolla). I agree that the 1st is a little bit short, but after that it tries so little to reach 170km\h.
Considering the weight i don't think that performance is bad. A turbo would be nice though.

Andreas (CY)
Fiat Stilo 1.6 3Door Dynamic, Metallic Black, 16" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Steering Wheel Radio Buttons.

 

[gfotopou]

However after a Lancia Delta HF Turbo and an Opel Astra GSI to me it seems unbelievably sluggish I still can't figure out why even lorries overtake me on the road [:0]

 

[MrF1]

MMmmmm, after working in F1 I seem to know how to take cars just to the edge and I must say my Stilo Dynamic 1.8 16v is a very good car. I agree with the above that the speed is deceptive because of the higher seated position and dampened engine noise due to the very good insulation!
Fear it not I had the cars rear end stepping out a few days back when I decided to give her a little thrash, again I was pleased with the lack of body roll and how well I was able to control her and how well it actually handled
[:0]
Mate of mine has just bough a MG ZR 160(Rover 200), it boasts 160bhp (27bhp more than the Stilo 1.8) and a 0-60 sub 9 second, the stilo on paper just under 10 and I have to be honest after driving both the same day, the same roads and giving both a good going I have to say there wasn't much in it. What I can say is the MG was terribly noisy, extemely stiff, uncomferatble where the Stilo had the performance, comfort and style plus, 7 insurance groups lower!!!![:0]
In my eye's if your after performance buy a MG ZR, ZT etc etc or Honda Civic Typer R and so on. If you want a bit of style, looks, class and performance to support then the Stilo has my vote[

Stilo Dynamic 1.8 16v (Metalic Black, side skirts, rear spoiler and 17" wheels)

 

[MrF1]

To finish off, do you buy a pair of shoe's if you wanna go running???????

Stilo Dynamic 1.8 16v (Metalic Black, side skirts, rear spoiler and 17" wheels)

 

[Ham]

I can concur with MR F1.
Horses for courses.
If I wanted to be wild I would buy another motorbike.
Much prefer the comfort these days and the Stilo does this in style.
The faster you want to go and the faster you want to corner the stiffer the suspension needs to be,which means a a harder ride and a numb bum to go with it.
I think I will take the comfort route.

Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

 

[gfotopou]

Lads I agree with all of you when you talk about the compromises one has to make to get more comfort etc... However I insist, that I'm really suprised with my 1.8 Stilo. I love its style, design, quiet (even I've driven more quiet cars) and comfortable driving etc, but I feel that it's not possible to be so slow in accelerating (especially with high gear in). I don't want a car for races and I'm not this type of person, I rather respect and never push hard my cars, but I have driven tens of cars (rentals) and I felt having more power with smaller engine cars. To make a long story short I was just wondering if there is a possibility of having a problem with my car and that's why I started this topic

 

[Athanasios]

After this topic i tested my car with my brother driving a Nissan almera 1500 when i opened the third gear he just couldnt pass me we was running in the same line for about 15 sec after i opened the third gear.I also tested with a Ford Fiesta 1400 75hp and he quit the race i took a difference about 20 m. You think that the car does not accelerate or the car is not moving at all when you press the pedal or it does not respond quick disable the ASR and test again you might see a little difference after all the acc pedal is also electronic and the subframe is very good and stops any movements like backward when you press the acc pedal and forward when you leave it.

5D 80 Fiat Stilo Dynamic Metal. Loden Green

 

[Ham]

Perhaps it would be possible to try another car at the garage where you purchased it from, is there another forum member near you that has a similar car that you can compare with. Just a few suggestions that may help.

Fiat Stillo MW. 1.9JTD
Met. Blue. all Electric. Skywindow..SatNav+
17" 7 spoke alloys.
Rear Parking sensor and Puddle Lights.


......Ham............

 

[gfotopou]

Thanks for the suggestions I don't know anyone that has a Stilo around here... But I think that I'll ask the garage when I'll go for the first revision. In three weeks I did already 3500 km so I think at around 6000 and 10000 km I'll go to check the oils etc. before buying the car I test-drove another 1.8 Stilo (5 door one) and it seemed less powerful than what I expected as well... Anyway it's probably just my idea.

Grigoris

3-Door Black Stilo 1.8 Dynamic, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Spoiler

 

[Yogi]

If you're garage is not cooperative you could always get you're car on a dyno and exactly find out how much horsepower it has on the wheels. This way you could find out if the engine is faulty. I testdrove (i will be getting mine in a few weeks) an abarth and found out that it was only (relatively) fast above 5000rpm. Ofcourse I do not know about the 1.8 but the 2.4ltr is definitely a high rmp engine.



Yogi

 

[pjp]

I think Fiat favour high end power - My wife has a Fiat Ulysse (2.0 16V) which is the 'same' as the Pug 806 and Citroen Synergie (and Lancia Zeta?). Despite all these having Pug engines, the Fiat version is totally different - a top end screamer with maximum power at 6000 RPM! - and this is an MPV!!

Paul

Stilo Abarth, Broome Yellow, Alarm - Factory order, still waiting.....

 

[gfotopou]

It's also true that the Stilo 1.8 has the maximum power at 6500 rpm, which is quite high. I never drive at that high revs, I feel sorry for my car :I

Grigoris

3-Door Black Stilo 1.8 Dynamic, 17" Alloys, Dual Zone Climate Control, Spoiler