General Should I buy a Tipo?

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General Should I buy a Tipo?

Steve said:
That's a sweeping statement Andy. I know many 147 and 156 owners that have had little or no trouble and are very happy with their cars. Early 156's had their problems, but Alfa ironed them out, the 147 is generally reliable.

As for the original question, no, you shouldn't sell the 156 and buy a Tipo. Even the newest Tipo is now an old car. Most will be rusting, most will be unreliable compared to a modern car, it will be slower, less comfortable, noisier, less able to complete a long drive, etc, etc, etc. I'm not being anti-Tipo, I'm simply stating fact. I have owned a few pre-1990 Fiats, but not without the back up of a modern car. Older cars are nice as a hobby, but if you and your family depend on it on a daily basis then you will be let down at some point.

Rusting? Rusting? Nope. We're Zinc armoured (y)

I've used a Sedici through winter as my daily drive. Cost a hell of a lot in fuel but was as reliable as you like. Didn't miss a single day. More than can be said for many newer cars.
 
Hellcat said:
Rusting? Rusting? Nope. We're Zinc armoured (y)

Yes, but not where it counts, the floorpan and rear arches received no rust treatment at all. I'm speaking as a former Tipo owner here. They rot underneath, but the exterior remains nice and shiny. :)

Just to add as well, that if you were to sell the 156 and spend about 1k, you could pick up a nice Bravo or Brava for that and have a few quid over. A much better bet.

Right, I'll leave the Tipo section now and close the door on my way out. :wave:
 
Hellcat said:
True the rear arches arn't galvanised, but the most you could potentially spend repairing them must be what I spent. £450 at a coachworks who are more used to doing full rebuilds of 1900 vintage cars. A 1995 is much easier.

That would be more than the value of 99% of Tipos then. A Sedicivalvole is the only Tipo I would even consider spending that sort of money on. They are worth saving, but a 1.4 or 1.6? Forget it.
 
Steve said:
That would be more than the value of 99% of Tipos then. A Sedicivalvole is the only Tipo I would even consider spending that sort of money on. They are worth saving, but a 1.4 or 1.6? Forget it.

I only had the repair done as I couldn't let the Milkbottle start looking rusty.. Remember the rear quarter panels on a 5 door are bolt on jobbies (y)
 
dazzo666 said:
so its not only my opinion, cheers for that... i honestly find my carbed mk1 1.4 is quicker than me mk2 1.6ie, weird... :confused:
The Spi Tipos are choked with that single injector. 1.6 carb made 86bhp against SPI 75bhp. The torque was also much better with the carb version.
The carb version can be tweaked to produce just over 90bhp with a couple of jet changes and a better airfilter.

Andy.:)
 
dazzo666 said:
oh so thats why its so slow..... cheers for that, always thort carbs are better than ie anyhow...(y)
Give me a pair of carbs over MPI anyday!!

Andy.(y)
 
But the Tipo's carb has a vacuum-operated accelerator pump, also electronically-cut off when the engine is cold (or something), AND the fuel cut as well on the over-run, with the lean jetting for economy - it all makes for slow and jerky progress if you ask me, especially if you push the manual choke in too early. What other 1989 cars have a manual choke?!

It may have had 83bhp, but rice-pudding skins were universally safe when my Tipo DGT was cold.

I've never driven the SPi version; but I'd expect it to be a bit smoother and torquier if nothing else :)

Sure, give me a pair of Weber 40DCNFs over the SPi, any day, but otherwise I think I'll stick with the MPi of the Uno Turbo (y)

-Alex
 
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alexGS said:
But the Tipo's carb has a vacuum-operated accelerator pump, also electronically-cut off when the engine is cold (or something), AND the fuel cut as well on the over-run, with the lean jetting for economy - it all makes for slow and jerky progress if you ask me, especially if you push the manual choke in too early. What other 1989 cars have a manual choke?!

It may have had 83bhp, but rice-pudding skins were universally safe when my Tipo DGT was cold.

I've never driven the SPi version; but I'd expect it to be a bit smoother and torquier if nothing else :)

Sure, give me a pair of Weber 40DCNFs over the SPi, any day, but otherwise I think I'll stick with the MPi of the Uno Turbo (y)

-Alex
Nope. Its the CFM rate through the carb that helped the torque compared to the crappy Spi unit. Spi runs out of puff above 5000 rpm. Oh, the carb version gave 86bhp, not 83bhp and was a lot quicker then the wheezy Spi version which could only wheeze up to 75bhp. The fact the engine lost so much power and torque shows you how bad the Spi is.
The Spi may run smoother when cold, but its a sacrifice i would give for the better throttle response of the carb any day.

Andy.:)
 
You give the cars to little credit having had a TIpo in the family for over 15 years it has always been one of three to four Fiats but has always been the best for reliability and treated the worst (except for the Sedici) Failing the least and having the most miles on it at over 200k! ad they were not driven slowly.

I use my Sedici day in dad out and it is not caused me any trouble, it has a few things which i want to fix, maily due to idleing (but its intermittent)otherwise is immaculate and far more fun to drive than any modern car.
 
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I have owned a 1.4 Tipo IE Lreg for over a year and it only rarely shows any faults when the weather gets very cold. It is only a 1.4 but is still really shifts when you put youor foot down and doesn't complain! It has been a very reliable and safe car for me to drive and am considering getting another one once i need to look at getting a new car.
 
As my daily drive 'rock solid' Marea 2.4JTD is expiring with clutch issues, looks like the Sedicivalvole is going to be my daily drive for the next month while I save enough (to buy another Sedici or two :() to get the clutch fixed :eek:

Once I work out how to release it from the garage :D
 
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