stassen@trwspp.UUCP (09/28/84)
[] Are all of you mechanics out there listening? ... good. Christmas shopping time is approaching (at least it is time to start saving up for the coming bills), and my wife has informed me that the one thing that she wants more than anything else is a "pointy car." Well, that leaves me with (as far as I can see) a TR-7 (or TR-8?), Fiat X-1/9, and Pontiac Fiero. The Fiero is out of my price range (less than or equal to $6k), so I'm left with not many choices. On top of all of this, I have not heard very good things about either the Triumph or the Fiat when it comes to maintenance (and I'm certainly not rich). Any suggestions or comparisons? (Mail to me and I'll summarize later is there are enough requests for summaries). Thanks in advance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Christian W. Stassen [decvax!trwrb,vortex,ihnp4!vortex]!trwspp!stassen
marcus@pyuxt.UUCP (M. G. Hand) (10/01/84)
If you're prepared to get your hands dirty then the TR7, at least, offers you the ability to get inside the engine and work. The TR8 (if you really want to consider it) doesn't offer anything like the same advantage - not only is it considerably more complicated but being a Rover V8 (3500 cc) there isn't a great deal of room under the hood. As for the Fiat X1-9 in any of its variants it is not only complicated but well nigh inaccessible. (not to mention fragile) At least the TR7 is a relatively straight forward engine... Marcus Hand (pyuxt!marcus) PS The Triumph spitfire is pointed and you can sit on the front wheel when working on the engine... ditto the Triumph GT6.
dxp@pyuxhh.UUCP (D Peak) (10/02/84)
TRIUMPH For : Reasonable access to engine ,reasonable fuel economy,
reasonably uncomplicated engine layout
Against : heavier than fiat,not as much luggage space as fiat
FIAT For : Good fuel economy,reasonable performance,all of them
offer wind-in-the-air driving.
Against : restricted engine access,driver limited to 6'0->6'1,
has a pretty bad rep for reliability(this is mostly due
to incompetent mechanics - I did have an excellent
mechanic but he got promoted)
All in all they both CAN be excellent little cars ; later models, due to
EPA they are both severely under-powered and due to the fact that they are
both imports after-market tuning & parts are expensive ($200-250 for a
good camshaft for the X 1/9). Funnily enough the earlier 1300cc Fiats have
more power than the later 1500cc jobs (1300cc=75bhp ,1500cc=67bhp).
Turbocharging the Triumph would probably the best way to make the thing
work as intended (TR8 gives great performance but as marcus hand stated
it takes up a lot of room - the best engine for the TR7 is from the Triumph
Dolomite Sprint a 16 valve engine almost exactly the same size as the original).
Enjoy !!
--
Dave Peak (pyuxhh!dxp)
"Kabooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom"
- Guy Fawkes