Just got an Abarth 500
Discussion
Well, my wife has! She's written about it here: http://tinyurl.com/dmu6gz
Any other Abarth 500 owners on here?
Any other Abarth 500 owners on here?
Hmm. Well my first impressions are:
- a stunning interior, the best in the market by a country mile.
- a very cute exterior.
- nice exhaust burble
- pretty well built; it feels solid and hefty despite its provenance and light weight!
- very surprising amount of space: can fit 4 adults (unlike a MINI)
- not fast at all, but just about brisk enough to cut it in traffic (like my old Smart Roadster Coupe)
- handling is ok; again solid, rather than LOL entertaining
- ride is borderline hard; you don't want to be on very bumpy roads or speed bumps
Of course the ride and speed may improve with more miles.
Ours is a non-EsseEsse. I definitely wouldn't recommend further lowering and stiffening the car for day to day commuter use!
I still need to take it out for a good strop on the twisties, but so far I admire it from a fun town car point of view, but wouldn't necessarily class it as a "proper" hot hatch in the Renaultsport Clio category.
I can see it going in for a (non-Abarth) remap at some point, to get the extra power of the EsseEsse but without the even harder ride and not-as-nice wheels (and costing a lot less than £2500).
- a stunning interior, the best in the market by a country mile.
- a very cute exterior.
- nice exhaust burble
- pretty well built; it feels solid and hefty despite its provenance and light weight!
- very surprising amount of space: can fit 4 adults (unlike a MINI)
- not fast at all, but just about brisk enough to cut it in traffic (like my old Smart Roadster Coupe)
- handling is ok; again solid, rather than LOL entertaining
- ride is borderline hard; you don't want to be on very bumpy roads or speed bumps
Of course the ride and speed may improve with more miles.
Ours is a non-EsseEsse. I definitely wouldn't recommend further lowering and stiffening the car for day to day commuter use!
I still need to take it out for a good strop on the twisties, but so far I admire it from a fun town car point of view, but wouldn't necessarily class it as a "proper" hot hatch in the Renaultsport Clio category.
I can see it going in for a (non-Abarth) remap at some point, to get the extra power of the EsseEsse but without the even harder ride and not-as-nice wheels (and costing a lot less than £2500).
!Godzilla said:
Hmm. Well my first impressions are:
- a stunning interior, the best in the market by a country mile.
- a very cute exterior.
- nice exhaust burble
- pretty well built; it feels solid and hefty despite its provenance and light weight!
- very surprising amount of space: can fit 4 adults (unlike a MINI)
- not fast at all, but just about brisk enough to cut it in traffic (like my old Smart Roadster Coupe)
- handling is ok; again solid, rather than LOL entertaining
- ride is borderline hard; you don't want to be on very bumpy roads or speed bumps
Of course the ride and speed may improve with more miles.
Ours is a non-EsseEsse. I definitely wouldn't recommend further lowering and stiffening the car for day to day commuter use!
I still need to take it out for a good strop on the twisties, but so far I admire it from a fun town car point of view, but wouldn't necessarily class it as a "proper" hot hatch in the Renaultsport Clio category.
I can see it going in for a (non-Abarth) remap at some point, to get the extra power of the EsseEsse but without the even harder ride and not-as-nice wheels (and costing a lot less than £2500).
David - let me know when you find a terminal velocity around open corners. We haven't yet...- a stunning interior, the best in the market by a country mile.
- a very cute exterior.
- nice exhaust burble
- pretty well built; it feels solid and hefty despite its provenance and light weight!
- very surprising amount of space: can fit 4 adults (unlike a MINI)
- not fast at all, but just about brisk enough to cut it in traffic (like my old Smart Roadster Coupe)
- handling is ok; again solid, rather than LOL entertaining
- ride is borderline hard; you don't want to be on very bumpy roads or speed bumps
Of course the ride and speed may improve with more miles.
Ours is a non-EsseEsse. I definitely wouldn't recommend further lowering and stiffening the car for day to day commuter use!
I still need to take it out for a good strop on the twisties, but so far I admire it from a fun town car point of view, but wouldn't necessarily class it as a "proper" hot hatch in the Renaultsport Clio category.
I can see it going in for a (non-Abarth) remap at some point, to get the extra power of the EsseEsse but without the even harder ride and not-as-nice wheels (and costing a lot less than £2500).
Hmm. Don't like the idea of a terminal cornering velocity David... 
I bet Mitch loves his because it makes the Z06's ride feel like a Jag's afterwards!
Just paired up the wife's Blackberry with the Blue & Me function on the car. Very impressive.
Much more sophisticated than the Bluetooth functionality on my GT-R.
I bet Mitch loves his because it makes the Z06's ride feel like a Jag's afterwards!
Just paired up the wife's Blackberry with the Blue & Me function on the car. Very impressive.
Much more sophisticated than the Bluetooth functionality on my GT-R.
Drove an Abarth today expecting to hate it after sampling the standard fare when they were released. Very impressive, I felt the thing had plenty of go, no torque steer (which is something I hate about Golfs), and handled like it was on rails. Wasn't keen on the seating position, but what a great & fun little car! Something very Mini (proper) esque about it. Very tempted now to place an order for an esseesse version and get it further modded. Is there anything out there yet? Can you get any of the asetto corsa parts??
Gassing Station | Alfa Romeo, Fiat & Lancia | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff