Fiat X-1/9 Review

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Fiat X-1/9
★★★★★
5.0
100.0% of users recommend this
  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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Guest's review of Fiat X-1/9

“My brother and I have owned three of these cars. An...”

★★★★★

written by on 09/09/2010

My brother and I have owned three of these cars. An 81 and two 87's. The current one, an 87, I picked up last year after the bug to have another one hit me again. It has some body rust but nothing I can't handle. It had been heavily abused and required some work to get it back on the road. I probably payed too much for it but hey, car lust is hard to ignore. It has 95K miles. Many things did not work when I got it but gradually most everything has begun to work again. Almost magically. I put in rod bearings, brake pads, clutch slave and master and brake master cylinders and all belts. Parts are cheap and it is fairly easy to work on. I have worked on virtually every brand of car over the last 30 years and it is nowhere nearly as bad to work on as people say. You just have to use your head about things. If you are a brute force gorilla you will have problems. The majority of the problems I found with this car came from poor mechanics working on it. Many bolts were cross-threaded with SAE bolts. The electrical work was horrendous. I only purchase the newer cars with Bosch electronics and fuel injection and they work splendidly. The electrical system is very well thought out contrary to popular opinion. The car is divided into right and left sections for the lamps and other items. Trouble-shooting by a competent tech is extremely easy if they understand the logic. Use only a factory Fiat manual for everything. Others are wrong. Very wrong. A little common sense went a long, long way. The rust issues are true but then again try to find a 1970's or 80's Japanese or inexpensive European car and you will find they succumbed to rust also. Of the three that we have owned the first one, the '81 was the best, engine-wise. I placed a 37-75-75-37 cam in it and it was a monster. It only had 35K miles on it and it ran like a scalded dog. I turned it 8000 rpm every single day and occasionally around 9K. No problems. It finally died when a friend drove it for many miles after a hose burst. The thing got so hot the head literally turned to dust. It was easily faster than the first generation MR2's and early Fieros fell away. I placed kYB struts all around and made my own anti-sway bars from 1984 Dodge Colt 4-door cars and 1972 Chrysler Newport drop down sway bar hangers with custom brackets. It handled like it was on rails. Got myself into trouble a couple of times since the 1980's 60-series tires were not up to the suspension but it had more under-steer due to a larger than necessary from bar. But it was always controllable if you used your head. The two 87's had far more miles and probably weaker valve springs than the '81. They will rev to 7K but not much more. Still, the newest one has no problem dealing with other small cars out there. While they are spinning their tires the X digs in and launches. It will take most front wheel drive cars off the line with no problem. They are lighter and will catch up if they are one of the much newer cars but the new one is totally stock so some work will cure this problem handily. The tests that say 0-60 in 12 seconds are wrong. It is quicker than that. The new one has ADDCO front and rear bars and is a blast to drive. It has a fair amount of over-steer unlike the '81 but it is fun to drive with the narrow 70's and one can kick the rear out at will. It's suspension is softer than the 81 also and the ride is very good. My wife does not like harsh rides and she can't believe how accomadating it is even over rough roads. All of them will go exactly where you point them like nothing else on the road. It really is a full size go kart. No rattles or groans since it is a totally welded, incredibly stiff body. Only thing of note are the brakes. One should use better pads all around. Front wheel lockup is prevalent in the rain and more so with wider tires. One must watch their following distances in the rain. Can't be stated enough. Run good synthetic lubricants (Redline, Mobil 1, Royal purple, etc.) in the engine and tranny. I use Water wetter for the cooling system and I can run this one at 4.5 to 5K rpm for long lengths at a time with a temperature of 195 to 205 degrees in the summer in Miami, Florida. I am going to add an oil cooler, MSD, Turbocharger, 15" rims and some other enhancements in the near future. These should bring the horsepower up to maybe 130Hp with far greater reliability at these levels. Doesn't sound like a lot of HP but with a free-revving engine it will be fun. One last thing. A good alignment is a thing of extreme importance with these cars. If it feels pretty good do not let the techs perform a rear wheel alignment when you install new tires. Always screws up my cars. They mean well but I have found many of the computerized alignment machines are not quite right (I also have 70's era Mopars and these get messed up too.) Many techs do not seem to understand what they need to do Unless you are having tire problems do only the front. Do these things and you will be hard pressed to get out of it. I never want the drive to end.

  • 1987

    Year Manufactured

  • 1 Year

    Length of ownership

  • 2

    Doors

  • Performance

  • Practicality

  • Reliability

  • Value For Money

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