Picking up an Abarth 500 tomorrow - running in?

[mattiselvis]

Per the title, I'm picking up my Abarth 500 tomorrow and am wondering whether it needs to be run in or not? I've heard some chat that Fiat don't say it's necessary - any thoughts from the PH massive? I have a 150 mile motorway journey to get it home - maybe that would be a good start... Anyhow, I'm getting quite excited now - my first new car for ages!

Thanks in advance,

M

[Killer2005]

I'd just like to go on record and say

You absolute bd

enjoy it, I'm just a little jealous

[Dunit]

I have a 155 Mito and driven quite hard from day one. With modern oils and engines finished to extremly fine limits engines bed in very quickly.Just make sure its full up to temp and do not let it labour it will be fine.Mine has now got 1500 miles on it and has not used a drop of oil,Enjoy!

[dannij]

I would still recommend giving it a proper running in mate.

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Lucky you!

If you run it in fast, it will always be fast

Also, try not to let it run at constant revs for so long, so on the way back on the motorway change from 4th, 5th and 6th every so often.

[mattiselvis]

Thanks for the advice chaps - I'll take it easy for a little bit, although the lure of an early morning Sunday blast down the A272 might be too much to resist!

[RicksAlfas]

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Lucky you!

If you run it in fast, it will always be fast

Also, try not to let it run at constant revs for so long, so on the way back on the motorway change from 4th, 5th and 6th every so often.

Agreed. A gentle constant pootle is the last thing you want. Best running in advice ever is here:
http://www.pumaracing.co.uk/runin.htm

Oh yes, one more thing - you jammy git!!

[mattiselvis]

That Puma Racing article is really good - makes sense to me! Only a few hours to go now.

[mattiselvis]

So I picked the car up yesterday - the weather was terrible so I haven't got any photos for y'all yet - will try to take some today! My first impressions:

- it's actually quite a big car, rather tall, even hunkered down on the lowered suspension. The packaging is clever - more room inside than any car I've had to date

- the engine is nice and grunty, good 5th gear acceleration on the motorway from low revs - strange to say, but it isn't far short of the TT when accelerating from 70 in top (admittedly the Porker is geared for 190mph!)

- the driving position is excellent, the seats are supportive and the gear lever falls nicely to hand. I was a bit worried about this aspect as I'd only sat in a 500 for 2 minutes prior to purchasing

- on the two miles of B-road I've driven on so far, the car cornered flat and had good grip and feel...

- ... but the secondary ride isn't the best: a bit of hop and skip on poor surfaces

- feels well built, the leather on the seats and door cards in particular is of very nice quality

I'm planning an excursion down the A272 over the weekend, so will give it a few more beans on a proper road. I also plan to drive it back-to-back with my Clio Williams, which should be an interesting comparison. All-in-all, it feels like a good purchase.

P.S. does anyone know any of the mods on the Abarthisti uk forum? My membership has been awaiting approval for a week and I really want to get involved

[mattiselvis]

I used "mattiselvis" . I've not taken it above 5000 rpm yet - nearly 300 miles in! I'm really impressed by it so far - I took it for a spirited drive on some good roads yesterday and had a great time! Very happy with my purchase, just wish the weather would clear for some photos...

[cayman-black]

I drove mine fast straight from the dealers, just mind full about tyres and brakes for about 250 miles!. great car i love it.