European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1981, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes january 1981 Corner the Fiat company of Italy has now completed the fuel injection conver Sion on All of its mod Els the and 124 spider sports the brava and the front wheel drive Strada and its a performance plus All the subject of today gets a horsepower boost from 69 to after driving the Weber Carburettor version last year and now the new i find it easy to rate the difference As Sig the performance on the Carburettor Model want All bad to begin especially at top with the conversion to the Bosch injection system on the 1 4cyiinder Strada All goes better throughout the five Speed Quick starts on cold mornings Are the the new designation the engine firing up on either the first or second turn of the the ignition by the does it fit Ting the door locks and Locking Gas Cap As Well As the going into its third year now on the american the subcompact Strada As a family lacking the sporting characteristics that we have come to associate with Fiat for so but Fiat meant it that of As today Market is not the sporting that it was a few years the 3door Strada Hatchback i had for testing purposes Courtesy of american advisory Agency in Germany utilizes its Interior space to the last cubic the room from this design compar ing favourably to its brava Sedan stable the spare tire is stored in the engine More Luggage space is Cre the Siradas pegged at cubic with an extra cubic feet Avail Able when the two rear seats Are folded Forward to create a station Wagon Interi performing this task takes Only a by the As i had the car during the recent i was Able to store a 10footlong Christmas tree inside and lock the car As so Interior space is a big plus in this relatively Small functional car although not stodgy by any the Strada is strictly a no nonsense As with most front wheel drive it performs Well on snowy roads and in wet weather while speaking of the Nonon sense the Strada made news last year in that department when it became the Only subcompact of 11 foreigners tested to pass the governments 35mileper hour Barrier crash the one car involved in the testing the Chevrolet Chevetta also but All eight of the japanese subcompact tested failed to and two German makes also the tests were not compliance tests be cause the Standard Calls Only for 30 and testing at 35 Mph Means crash forces Are 37 percent the testing was done with dummies using passive restraint while passing the test at 35 Mph is not yet mandatory in the Fiat is making a Point of the Siradas safety a justifiable on the the Strada goes from Zero to 60 Mph in seconds the carb versions Best was cruises easily in the 7585 Mph and tops out at just Over 100 in fifth gear at 80 the engine is pulling 3750 revs and at 85 Mph its pulling exactly the Rev counters redline is so the engine is not working Overly hard in the 8085mph the 75 Maxi mum horsepower noted by the is reached at 5500 in both wet and dry was the Strada equipped with discs at the front and Drums at a report in this column last year on the Carburettor version read the car handles Well on the autobahn and on twisting Back and it asks to be driven hard into the front tires biting onto the Road with its a forgiving easy to and you can run rapidly on difficult stretches without its turning on what was written then can be applied on the current As the Only vital change is in the application of the Bosch Fuelin Jec Tion the Only driving drawback involves the five Speed a anything but Crisp setup that allowed one to shift from second to fifth no problem from fourth to fifth but always Job to go from second to third without thinking first about How to miss that fifth gear inside the driving position is of arms out italian style the Rule and Liberal application of Glass makes viewing first rate for both Driver and his three or four adult the Seatbelt Are the ventilation system is quite and the gauges on the instrument panel Are All easy to All except for the that the Mph dial is but the secondary Kph dial has numerals so Small that its quite difficult to read to add to the both Mph and Kph numerals Are in Why not red and or yellow and White that would make things much the Glove Box is too but both doors feature Roomy plastic pockets for maps and engine gets new treatment the 4cylinder motor powering the Fiat Strada now comes with fuel the system hiking the horsepower from 69 to Hatli Avayou Light door lock toggles and other switches Are All color coded Green for on and red for or perhaps vice even if i had this car for id never be Able to remember because the Stop sign Colo code logic escapes a very Good is the lights out when one turns off the ignition the lights shut off automatically so no More Flat batteries or office searches to find the Guy who left his lights Fiat also uses this system on its other in Carburettor the Strada provided 28 to 30 Miles per with the test car returned this including some fairly High Speed during the Brief breaking Premium Gas is then one May switch to the fuel tank holds the 3door Strada costs while the 5door comes in at these prices not note spare tire at stored in the engine compartment to allow area at rear of Hatchback to provide More lug Gage s s photo including delivery both models have rear Windshield defroster and safety tinted As in about the Only options Are Sun roof and metallic american spec Siradas May be seen at selected Fiat dealerships in if no dealerships Are in the by contacting the Fiat american advisory aus Tasse West Ger phone summing the Strada offers value for especially when one considers that according to the latest Commerce department the average sales Price of a typically equipped car sold in the both foreign and Domestic Model prices averaged together came to at the end of the 1980 Model and that was last with most car prices in creasing Randy Barnett the 3door Fiat Strada for 1981 v the italian Fiat firms ing to electronic fuel the sys the Strada is also available in a 5 52 or the Tell to provide american the series convert around of Hatchback style this Type of s s photo
