KNOW YOUR ENEMY

So what’s this all about, this “Know your Enemy” thing here at FBF? Well, it isn’t about the latest dirt we could dig up on people we know on the net. (and we’ve got lots by the way…) And it isn’t about making comparative road tests or brand bashing and ranting about the cars we love to hate. Well… not entirely anyway. Rather, It’s a brief look at some of the other guys’ stuff, a few observations if you will, of what other vehicles have to offer in terms of performance. We’ve always felt that if you hop up your 124 or Twin-Cam variant, there’s often more than one motivation for doing so. We really have to grin when we hear Fiat owners say they want more performance just to “optimize” their car. Make it a bit “peppier” you know. That’s all very nice but dig deep enough and we find that there’s a more likely reason for spending your dough to mod your Fiat. Chances are, at some point you got into a race with somebody in some other car and he handed you your ass. Hell, it’s not as if we haven’t been there in the past ourselves… Whatever your motivation, it’s always useful to know a bit about that other guy and his car. Understanding what he’s got and what makes him fast will allow you to better assess your Fiat’s performance abilities and, if possible, focus your own modifications to address its deficiencies.

Keep in mind that we are not suggesting that by slapping on a set of IDFs, cams and pistons that you will instantly transform your Twin-Cam into a world-beater. We simply want to look at where our old cars stand in the overall performance picture. Some of the cars highlighted here would be likely comparisons for the 124/Lancia Twin-Cams, others less so. Do we intend to back up our observations with empirical data? Well, we probably could if we had to but we’re sure that’s not necessary. You guys can dig that information up for yourselves and we’re quite certain that there has are at least a few of you out there who spend lots of time citing stats out of magazines to impress your forum buddies. So we’ll leave it to you.

Many of the self proclaimed purists out there would argue that there is no point to this exercise, that our “ vintage sports cars ” were not meant to be modified or accessorized, much less compared to other cars. Well, let’s keep it all in perspective, shall we? It is of course all a matter of preference. By modifying our Fiats and Lancias, it’s not as if we were proposing to modernize the Mona Lisa with a fashionable new hair style and tongue piercing or to drop a couple of ice cubes into your glass of 85 Brunello di Montalcino. Furthermore, if you dismiss what we’re doing here based on the notion that the cars we talk about are not in the same “class” then you’re missing the point. This isn’t simply a head on comparison. So to all you experts and other uptight mod-o-phobes who upon reading the following passages may get their balls in a knot, we simply offer this suggestion:

Go ride a bike.

Cuz a Fiat won't cut it

Captain Bad-Ass

Bite me Honda boy

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