MX-5 v Fiat 124 S Design

[justa1972]

I have decided to treat myself to another MX-5. I have also noticed the 124 and particularly like the S Design….

Would I be mad to go for a FIAT over the Mazda ?

Any 124 owners on here ?

Thanks

[Trevor555]

Does the budget stretch to an Abarth 124?

That's the one I'd recommend.

[ZX10R NIN]

They drive very differently & once you test drive both you'll know what one suits you.

[justa1972]

Trevor555 said:

Does the budget stretch to an Abarth 124?

That's the one I'd recommend.

Nope prices are more second hand than they were new !

[georgeyboy12345]

Top tip, the standard (non Abarth) 124 Spiders can be safely remapped to around 210 bhp, which makes them slightly more interesting. Then there are various tuning parts available to tidy up the handling.

Either car is a great buy, they drive slightly different from one another, which I think is a good thing.

[SWoll]

justa1972 said:

Trevor555 said:

Does the budget stretch to an Abarth 124?

That's the one I'd recommend.

Nope prices are more second hand than they were new !

?

They were £30k new, you can pick up a used one from £19k with under 20k miles.

What's your budget?

[justa1972]

SWoll said:

?

They were £30k new, you can pick up a used one from £19k with under 20k miles.

What's your budget?

They were struggling to sell them so let them go a lot cheaper than that

[andburg]

I've got a 2018 124 Lusso

i wanted the softer suspension and more relaxed power delivery of the turbo.

[Trevor555]

justa1972 said:

SWoll said:

?

They were £30k new, you can pick up a used one from £19k with under 20k miles.

What's your budget?

They were struggling to sell them so let them go a lot cheaper than that

I remember seeing them drop to £22,995

Around the same time a great lease deal was also offered, most of them went on that.

[funbobby]

georgeyboy12345 said:

Top tip, the standard (non Abarth) 124 Spiders can be safely remapped to around 210 bhp, which makes them slightly more interesting. Then there are various tuning parts available to tidy up the handling.

Either car is a great buy, they drive slightly different from one another, which I think is a good thing.

Where have you seen that? Most I see is around 170bhp

[Trevor555]

justa1972 said:

Trevor555 said:

Does the budget stretch to an Abarth 124?

That's the one I'd recommend.

Nope prices are more second hand than they were new !

When I heard theyd stopped importing them to the UK I thought theyd got to become a modern classic, so I'm not surprised at the current values.

I guess the big question is how well they'll hold value from now on?

My guess, with everything going electric soon, they'll hold their value very well.

The ultimate cost of a car is the depreciation when you come to sell.

It might cost more to buy initially, but if it doesnt depreciate it costs nowt to own.

I've done this with a couple of Porsches, VX220's, BMW Z3's... they cost me nowt to own for a year or so.

The Abarth is worth getting just for the exhaust

[georgeyboy12345]

funbobby said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Top tip, the standard (non Abarth) 124 Spiders can be safely remapped to around 210 bhp, which makes them slightly more interesting. Then there are various tuning parts available to tidy up the handling.

Either car is a great buy, they drive slightly different from one another, which I think is a good thing.

Where have you seen that? Most I see is around 170bhp

AHM near Basingstoke and Celtic Tuning near Newquay can do it

[andburg]

call me crazy...but I've never with 140bhp put my foot down and gone, this needs an extra 70bhp

[georgeyboy12345]

andburg said:

call me crazy...but I've never with 140bhp put my foot down and gone, this needs an extra 70bhp

Ok, you are crazy.

You do know which website this is, right? What is the tagline of this website?

[300bhp/ton]

georgeyboy12345 said:

funbobby said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Top tip, the standard (non Abarth) 124 Spiders can be safely remapped to around 210 bhp, which makes them slightly more interesting. Then there are various tuning parts available to tidy up the handling.

Either car is a great buy, they drive slightly different from one another, which I think is a good thing.

Where have you seen that? Most I see is around 170bhp

AHM near Basingstoke and Celtic Tuning near Newquay can do it

Are they verified claims? Celtic Tuning seem to be able to tune every car under the Sun according to their website for massive gains. Which would mean they must have spent several decades dyno tuning 1000's of models. Which I'm highly doubtful of. Some of their HP gain claims are laughable on other vehicles.

[justa1972]

SWoll said:

?

They were £30k new, you can pick up a used one from £19k with under 20k miles.

What's your budget?

They were struggling to sell them so let them go a lot cheaper than that

[georgeyboy12345]

300bhp/ton said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

funbobby said:

georgeyboy12345 said:

Top tip, the standard (non Abarth) 124 Spiders can be safely remapped to around 210 bhp, which makes them slightly more interesting. Then there are various tuning parts available to tidy up the handling.

Either car is a great buy, they drive slightly different from one another, which I think is a good thing.

Where have you seen that? Most I see is around 170bhp

AHM near Basingstoke and Celtic Tuning near Newquay can do it

Are they verified claims? Celtic Tuning seem to be able to tune every car under the Sun according to their website for massive gains. Which would mean they must have spent several decades dyno tuning 1000's of models. Which I'm highly doubtful of. Some of their HP gain claims are laughable on other vehicles.

I don't know. Looking a bit more closely, it would appear the 210 bhp figure is a "stage 2" type tune and requires intake and exhaust mods. I'd still do it if I had one.