[Kain]

Hi, all. I'm not currently an owner but am very intrigued by the 124 Spider.

I daily drive a 2014 Mustang GT coupe. I'm just over two years of ownership and enjoy the car but am looking for something different next time around. What irks me with the Mustang are interior comfort/ergonomics and unwieldiness in tight DC parking garages. I've buttoned down the suspension but it still floats a bit in quick transitions. Can't defy the laws of physics when it comes to weight and size, I guess. Oh, and the solid rear axle does it no favors.

Which segues nicely to the 124 Spider. I've driven (but never owned) Miatas over the years and enjoyed the **** out of them. I never took an interest in Fiat until I saw photos of the new 124 Spider. Wow, old school roadster looks with modern Miata underpinnings.

To be perfectly candid, however, I'm not yet sold on the Fiat engine/tuning and initial depreciation. I might bide my time and wait for used ones to hit the market.

In any case, I've been learning a lot from this forum and look forward to (hopefully) join the ranks in the future.

 

[Stewie]

Welcome to the forums ! Definitely, I'm also waiting a bit and then going to pull the trigger on a used one. Just doesn't make sense to buy it brand spanking new and overpay for no good reason. What kind of modifications did you to your GT to try and dial in the suspension ?

 

[Kain]

Hi, Stewie. The Mustang stock is way underdamped. I put stiffer springs, KONI shocks & struts, beefier strut mounts, and an adjustable panhard bar to recenter the rear axle. Plus I went from 235 to stickier 255 tires. All this helped a lot, but it'll never be razor sharp at the limit. This is my first muscle car and largest vehicle I've owned, so I should've expected it. For a daily cruiser, it's awesome... but I live near some of the best driving roads in the country and sometimes want a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer.

I sure will miss the V8 sound and power, though. But the 1.4L turbo can sound great uncorked.

 

[Greg]

I wouldn't be hesitant about the Fiat engine. It's a very well proven engine and has been in every Fiat sold in the US since 2012 and elsewhere in the world since around 09'. I sponsor 6 race cars using this engine, and so far none have blown up, and all have a lot of extra power and have gone through some pretty harsh use.

Greg