Um... lets see your Abarth's?
Discussion
Based on the other threads I thought i'd seek out some other Abarth owners if there are many on here?
Anyway, copied from readers cars if you haven't been in there:
Thought I'd get up some pictures of the wife's new car (although I think I've spent more time driving it
)
She had a standard (base model) 500 for the last 4 years and it was starting to show signs of its 'Fiatness' in that it had a stonking great hole in the exhaust that was made from the thinnest tin foil steel you've ever seen. The two back suspension rubber mounts were perished giving it a nice creaking when cornering, and one of the shocks was leaking.
Not great for only 24k miles in those 4 years really, I was pretty certain it would fail its up coming MOT.
So with this in mind, we did what all rational people do... go out and buy another one!
The wife was convinced she didnt want anything bigger (I was thinking Focus ST or Megane R26 as an nice step up).
So we found our nearest Abarth dealer (Platts of Stafford, exceptional service so far), and went for a test drive. By God it was fun! We drove straight back and ordered, the only extra being the leather seats (I prefered the cloth, but they would have had to special order and take 8 weeks!). It turns out they had the exact spec sat unregistered in their compound, so we could get it only a week later after sticking the stripes on and prepping it.
They did us an excellent deal on the old car as well. We bought it in March 2008 for £8200 brand new, they offered us £5125 trade in! I almost fell off my chair, it made the deal a no brainer considering the state of it (it also had a scuff on the rear bumper), a quick bit of man maths makes that depreciation of only £65 a month. I dread too think what a Ka of same vintage would be.
It arrived a week before Christmas and its been a barrel of laughs ever since!
Piccys:
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo (1) by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo (2) by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
I was sorely tempted for fork out the extra £2k for the Esse Esse pack, but having read the thoughts on here and elsewhere about the ride (rock hard bone shaker) I thought it not fair on the wife who's car it actually is (not a petrol head)
The seats are designed for little Italian bottoms rather than chubby West Midlanders, so I sort of sit 'on' the seats rather than 'in' them, they look great though, just gotta look after them. I must say I do like all of the Abarth details, they've even added it to the stereo start up screen!
The torque steer is knowhere near as bad as I was expecting, it pulls very well in a straight line and is great fun when on boost. Off boost its pretty much like any 1.4 petrol, so 'nippy' I would describe it, but stick your boot in and its off like a rocket!
The best thing however and I still giggle like a girl when I start it up (I have to have the window down every time) is the noise... simply brilliant for the size of engine. I prefer it to the V8 mustang I drove in the states recently for noise factor!
Anyway, hope you've enjoyed my little ramble.
Anyway, copied from readers cars if you haven't been in there:
Thought I'd get up some pictures of the wife's new car (although I think I've spent more time driving it
)She had a standard (base model) 500 for the last 4 years and it was starting to show signs of its 'Fiatness' in that it had a stonking great hole in the exhaust that was made from the thinnest tin foil steel you've ever seen. The two back suspension rubber mounts were perished giving it a nice creaking when cornering, and one of the shocks was leaking.
Not great for only 24k miles in those 4 years really, I was pretty certain it would fail its up coming MOT.
So with this in mind, we did what all rational people do... go out and buy another one!
The wife was convinced she didnt want anything bigger (I was thinking Focus ST or Megane R26 as an nice step up).
So we found our nearest Abarth dealer (Platts of Stafford, exceptional service so far), and went for a test drive. By God it was fun! We drove straight back and ordered, the only extra being the leather seats (I prefered the cloth, but they would have had to special order and take 8 weeks!). It turns out they had the exact spec sat unregistered in their compound, so we could get it only a week later after sticking the stripes on and prepping it.
They did us an excellent deal on the old car as well. We bought it in March 2008 for £8200 brand new, they offered us £5125 trade in! I almost fell off my chair, it made the deal a no brainer considering the state of it (it also had a scuff on the rear bumper), a quick bit of man maths makes that depreciation of only £65 a month. I dread too think what a Ka of same vintage would be.
It arrived a week before Christmas and its been a barrel of laughs ever since!
Piccys:
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo (1) by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo (2) by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
photo by notkenblock1, on Flickr
I was sorely tempted for fork out the extra £2k for the Esse Esse pack, but having read the thoughts on here and elsewhere about the ride (rock hard bone shaker) I thought it not fair on the wife who's car it actually is (not a petrol head)
The seats are designed for little Italian bottoms rather than chubby West Midlanders, so I sort of sit 'on' the seats rather than 'in' them
, they look great though, just gotta look after them. I must say I do like all of the Abarth details, they've even added it to the stereo start up screen! The torque steer is knowhere near as bad as I was expecting, it pulls very well in a straight line and is great fun when on boost. Off boost its pretty much like any 1.4 petrol, so 'nippy' I would describe it, but stick your boot in and its off like a rocket!
The best thing however and I still giggle like a girl when I start it up (I have to have the window down every time) is the noise... simply brilliant for the size of engine. I prefer it to the V8 mustang I drove in the states recently for noise factor!
Anyway, hope you've enjoyed my little ramble.
I own an A500c which has given me 15 months of pleasure and it breached the 12,000 miles barrier today.
Interior is all-black leather with white stitching and white dashboard finished off by a red liner.
I have two sets of 17" alloys in which both were redone in white to match rest of the paintwork. The petals are for winter duty whereas the spokes are for summer duty.
Interior is all-black leather with white stitching and white dashboard finished off by a red liner.
I have two sets of 17" alloys in which both were redone in white to match rest of the paintwork. The petals are for winter duty whereas the spokes are for summer duty.
McMacro said:
flatline84 said:
Just another euro s
tbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...
Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
Your post has what relevance to this thread?tbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
DJRC said:
McMacro said:
flatline84 said:
Just another euro stbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...
Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
Your post has what relevance to this thread?tbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
DJRC said:
McMacro said:
flatline84 said:
Just another euro stbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...
Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
Your post has what relevance to this thread?tbox with a pretty face these days, and thats coming from a grande punto owner...Definately going to scratch that alfetta GTV6 itch someday though...
will-w said:
I'll introduce Carmen, my '09 Abarth Grande Punto Esseesse
Has been back to the garage more times than I'd care to think about but have still had some amazing fun
I commend you on your choice Will, beautiful car and looks very well looked after Has been back to the garage more times than I'd care to think about but have still had some amazing fun
What sort of issues have you had with yours? Mine has an issue with the paint on the drivers side door - looks like the top layer of laquer is peeling off. Trying to get Fiat to do it under warranty is proving a right pain in the arse!Heres mine;
Cheers,
Tony
Edited by Spantney on Wednesday 7th March 15:13
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