The Broken Fiat Club

MadFiat wrote: ↑Wed Feb 20, 2019 6:38 pm

Damnyoutaco wrote: ↑Tue Feb 19, 2019 11:54 am Would you recommend the Injen intake for a car running stock tune? I have the NACA vent that feeds into it.

Definitely would recommend. The quality is top notch. The mounts are rubber isolated so they don't crack like the RRM intake. The filter element is positioned well so it doesn't rub on anything and is higher quality than what I've seen on the others. It also re-uses the stock elbow at the turbo (which is fine for a stock or mild tune) so it doesn't rub on the airbag sensor like many others do.

The only thing is if you have a 2015+, they moved the O2 sensor up slightly, so you have to bend or cut the edge of the scoop to not hit the O2 sensor. Also you'll need a bit of hose to re-route the intake hoses a bit differently.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll probably have to chop up the heat shield for days I run my rain tray with the vents. The EC ram-air boot already rubs on the tray.

Updates coming for Project Estupido!

1) Suspension - 2 choices. I either put the Abarth springs with Sport shocks -or- I put the KW V1 coilovers on....
2) Exhaust - I have a catless downpipe coming. Do I install it? I have a 12" resonator I could throw on also, think that's enough to tame it down? Or I could leave the exhaust as is.
3) FMIC - Ordered an NGEN /CHQ FMIC.
4) BOV - Swapping the factory diverter for a Forge Atmospheric BOV
5) Boost Gauge - I have an aftermarket boost gauge I'll be installing since Fiat didn't include one on the T. The one built into digital display (that doesn't exist on the Abarth) only reads up to about 16psi and isn't labeled.
6) Stereo - Putting in a single din motorized Android unit that used to be in the Abarth.
7) Paint - I need to paint the hatch... people keep saying the like the orange... but... I'm not sure if I agree.
8) Cosmetic - It's getting new badges (competizione Abarth badges from Europe), and possibly a vinyl stripe I've had sitting around for years.

Lots to do this summer!

Project Progress.

In 2 days I achieved the following, with the help of my new assistant (nephew David):

1) Front KW V1 Coilovers: INSTALLED. Damn these things sit low. I had the adjusters about 1 3/4" up and could barely fit a shoe under the front lip of the car. They're now at 2 3/8" up and it still scuffs the ground if I even hit a bump wrong. Tires still tucked lol.... I have no idea if the car would even be drivable at the lowest setting. Maybe will set them that low for fun someday. Rear C/O install comes later so it has a ready to pounce look right now.

2) NGEN/CHQ FMIC Installed. This was quite a chore. It seems the printed instructions that come with the FMIC are for the V1 version, but I was installing V2 so it wasn't clear what to do. Also I have the automatic. NGEN had an updated coupler shipped for the auto, but there are some gotchas. Let me tell you, a few things are different on the auto. The hot side plastic charge pipe under the battery is COMPLETELY different than the manual. I had to remove the boost sensor to have room to remove the factory clamp. Then, when removing the SMIC piping, there wasn't room. The auto trans takes up a lot more forward space than the manual, leaving little room to move things around. Ultimately I decided I would have to drop the midpipe of the exhaust down to give room to remove the SMIC pipe. Which led to quite some difficulty (See exhaust below). Ultimately, however, I got it all out and installed the new NGEN FMIC. I wrapped the hardpipes all in DEI Silver heat tape. I also did the pipe on the side even though I know it's not exposed to a lot of heat. The bumper isn't fitting right on the driver side, I'm pretty sure I need to adjust the couplers to change the angle of the pipe, but will do that later.

3) Exhaust: Was planning on just leaving stock downpipe... but .. when I went to drop the midpipe, mild disaster struck. There's no rust anywhere... exhaust is clean.. flange clean... no bolts on the car are rusted. EXCEPT the studs on the downpipe. Ok drench them with PB blaster and off to the races.... First pull on the nut to drop the midpipe... SNAP! Completely broke the stud. No going back now because it has to come off for any repair otherwise huge exhaust leak. Go to the other side... Slow pull on the wrench, nut is coming off. Making progres.... then it gets easier... and then just starts spinning halfway down the stud... FUCKOLA. Now things are nasty. Look at the dremel. Look at the stripped nut. Whole lotta nope. Off to Harbor Fright to buy an angle grinder I've needed forever and some cutoff wheels. Go to attack the stud only to find I can't fit the angle grinder close enough with the SMIC pipe still in the way... can't remove the SMIC pipe without dropping the midpipe. Can't remove the midpipe without cutting the stripped stud/bolt... can't reach that due to SMIC pipe... LOL.... sooo... had to bend up some random tabs (that happen to be where the plastic undertray bolts) and then cut a one of the tabs off of the SMIC pipe, it finally dropped. Sooo.... I have a damaged factory downpipe. CONVENIENTLY I just happen to have a catless downpipe ready to go. I also have a spare factory downpipe without damaged studs, but why would I use that? So on with the catless!!!

4) Forge BOV swap, got rid of the factory diverter valve. Had to remake all the hoses.. thankfully I had the MAD FIAT to look at how the hose routing works, because Forge's PDF instructions are horrid, they simply show you some pictures of a rat's nest of hoses and some vague directions and expect you to figure it out yourself, basically.

5) Back on with the Injen intake. Not ideal, but my budget is gone, no room for upgrade here.

6) Front badge. Yes, I swapped the Fiat badge for an Abarth badge.....

Remaining, still have to do the rear of the car (springs/shocks/rear badge) ... I want to paint the rear hatch, friends telling me NO LEAVE IT THE WAY IT IS... Still have to hook up the boost gauge and install the new stereo.

It does seem to be running a bit cooler on intake temps, especially if it gets heat soaked it cools off a lot more quickly now with the FMIC than it did the SMICs. There does still seem to be some hesitation and unstable boost at WOT... At this point beginning to think maybe it's a turbo issue, but no other signs of that. Not sure.

I didn't take photos of everything, was focused on the work... but here are a few I snapped.

The new "Face Down *ss Up" look... temporary I promise.
Abarth Competizione Badge...
Cold side hardpipe. Wrapped just because. You can see the alignment is a bit off, I will work on that later.
CHQ/NGEN Intercooler hanging in position.
All the parts of the puzzle for the FMIC.
Ready to come apart...
Before and After. Btw, the adjustment on that coilover? Way too low lol....

So how does it drive now?

texanbrit wrote: ↑Fri Jun 14, 2019 2:27 pm So how does it drive now?

Front is scraping/banging EVERYWHERE..... Not just on speed bumps or potholes, but even normal undulations in the pavement that you wouldn't consider to be a "bump" can cause it to scrape. I'm sure it will improve once i drop the rear and there's less rake, but I definitely have to raise it. Adjusters are over halfway up currently. Now I see why the previous owner had them all the way to the top! ... Makes me wonder, to be honest, if KW even engineered these struts for this car or just threw together the fastest generic kit they could... because at least the bottom half of the adjustment range is completely unusable. Where I have it now is usable but only carefully (should probably be the minimum, but it's 1/2 way up). Had to guess on the adjustment because the KW docs don't list what the preset or recommended adjustment is.

As far as performance.... I hate and loathe to say it: LIKE CRAP.... . .. this helped address some of the heat soak issue I was having, as much as it can without a proper intake....

However.... it's still hesitating hard at WOT and you can hear the car hesitating/struggling anytime you're asking it to go fast. It just will NOT do it.... Have pretty much changed everything I can reasonably change, and it's being an ass and refusing to run right.

Hate to say it....

It’s likely the wastegate flapper.... requires turbo removal. Remove the downpipe where it connects to the turbo and put your hand on the flapper (inside the turbo). If you can move it, it’s done.

NGEN wrote: ↑Sun Jun 16, 2019 5:19 pm Hate to say it....

It’s likely the wastegate flapper.... requires turbo removal. Remove the downpipe where it connects to the turbo and put your hand on the flapper (inside the turbo). If you can move it, it’s done.

Beginning to think that. QC on these turbos is terrible from the factory.

Rear KW V1 suspension installed. Front re-adjusted.


Here's my take on the KW V1 coilover setup. HARD PASS.... Would not spend new price on these.

The back in that photo is all the way down. The front? All the way up! Literally as high as it would go to the very single last thread. The bottom 1/2 at least of the adjustment range is completely useless. Makes me think the front struts were not engineered for this application - the range doesn't match what would make sense on this car.

The back, being all the way down, sits just slightly lower than my Abarth. I'm no expert on spring rates, in fact have no idea what spring rate these are. However here's what I can say: At least half the coils fully collapse just with the car sitting on its suspension. There's zero travel on the top half of the springs. Fewer coils, thicker, would be better and allow for more spring travel before they're fully collapsed on themselves.

Now, if it rides good then that's all fine right? Well... My Abarth has Koni Yellow rears, Stock fronts and Vogtland lowering springs. The Abarth sits almost as low as this one is currently. However, the Abarth with that setup is firm and supple. Pavement undulations don't upset the balance, and there's no front/back rocking on bumps. The KW V1's? Harsh as all fuck. Car bumps and bangs around. The actual damping on the struts it's hard for me to properly review because they are used. However they don't appear to be leaking and when I checked them by hand the rebound seemed "normal" .. so they're not blown. But what damping there is has to fight against the mightily hard springs.

I would recommend to anyone, steer miles clear of the KW v1 Coilovers. Other coilovers may be better, I dunno, but my suspension recommendation is still what I have on my Abarth: Koni rear, Vogtland drop springs and while I don't have it myself, properly adjusted Koni fronts, though stock work well with these springs.

Thankfully I got these coilovers rather cheap and I'm simply going to leave them on the 500T for now unless something better comes along, as I can't afford to keep parts swapping.

After a couple of days.... I may be slightly too critical of the KW V1 coilovers, they're usable and worth the price I paid used. But new price? I still say Koni+Springs is better. No clearance problems at the current settings, and not scraping during normal driving.

Long-term Update on Proyecto Estupido:

1) Coilovers removed. Too low for daily driving IMHO. Temporarily has Abarth springs + Sport struts/shocks but way too bouncy like this. It will soon get Vogtland springs, abarth front struts, and corvette rear shocks.

2) Eurodrive GONE. I gave up tuning it, maybe too soon, maybe not, who knows. But I got sick of it running so bad so I took the tune off.

3) Currently has a Racechip and GoPedal. Responsive and quick, but nothing like a proper tune.

4) Just installed new wheels, 15x6.5" Monza wheels from Allison's Automotive https://allisonsautomotive.com/collecti ... der-wheels - very nice! Wrapped 205/50r15 rubber around them, and with the extra offset, they fill out the wheel wells nicely!