Abarth 595 Competizione
Discussion
So before I begin with my current car here's the very short history of the cars I owned.
My first car:
(The only decent photo I have and no it's not the Ralt racing car sadly)
A 1999 Citroen Xsara VTR 1.8 16v, 112bhp and a 0-60 of 9.1 as a first car I gave it hell and it survived everything I gave it, I also knew when pushing it to much as it had a tendency to lift a wheel, sadly I sold it after buying my second car for £500 and this is something I've regretted ever since, I had great fun with that car and it lasted me 3-4 years of solid motoring.
I then wanted something more sporty I looked at RX8's and TypeR's but a move in jobs meant I was commuting 500 miles a weekend to see the girlfriend of the time so decided to go for a more economical choice a 2007 Honda Civic TypeS GT.
The best bit about the car was the colour Deep Bronze Pearl
138bhp with a 0-60 of 8.6, it served me well but I found it a dull car to drive but on a B road the handling was solid and just about managed to hang on to friends in higher powered cars on drive outs
Here it is on a Boxing Day drive out, a memory that I will hold forever. In the photo is Indy Lights driver Dean Stoneman and sadly 2 friends who have passed away Dean Palling (In a car accident) and Mike Lovell (P1 Powerboat accident)
And so at the end of this year I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more fun, more unique and that can fit me in at 6'3".
The first car I went to look at was a renaultsport Megane cup, on browsing the car the salesman was useless didn't know much about cars and even less about the car he was trying to sell me it seemed so I walked away. I looked at the Fiesta ST200 but ST's are very common and the battleship grey of the 200 is awful, everything is also big and chunky on the fiesta which didn't appeal.
I also looked at a second hand Audi TT but the car just felt really dated for just 2/3 years old and again quite a common site on the roads.
Then when looking if Alfa Romeo had any offerings at the local dealer it turned out they were also an Abarth dealership. On making a general enquiry the salesman suggested he thought it best I had a test drive before any talking happens. So off I went thrown the keys for an hour in a 595 Competizione with performance pack. I came back and signed the next day no talking required, the salesman clearly knew the car did all the talking.
So I took delivery of the demonstrator 400miles on the clock which saved me a few £££ and I'm now just over 3,500mile.
So the spec:
ENGINE
Engine Type, Displacement, Cylinders, valves
T-JET, 1368 cm³, straight 4 cylinders, 4 valves per cylinder
Max power output - 180 hp (132 kW) @ 5500 g/m
Max torque - 250 Nm @ 3000 rpm
Turbo - Garrett GT 1446
TRANSMISSION, EXHAUST, AIR FILTER
Gearbox - 5 speed Manual
Exhaust - Dual mode Record Monza exhaust system with 4 tailpipes
Filter - BMC high performance intake system
Suspension
Front: Mac-Pherson suspension with anti roll-bar
Rear: Torsion beam with anti roll-bar
Front: Koni with FSD valve (Frequency Selective Damping)
Rear: Koni with FSD valve (Frequency Selective Damping)
Braking system
Front: Drilled and ventilated 305x28 mm front brake discs, four-piston aluminium fixed brake calipers in Red by Brembo
Rear: Drilled and ventilated 240x11 mm rear brake discs
PERFORMANCE
Top Speed - 140 mph
Acceleration 0-62 mph - 6.7 sec
Weight to power ratio
5,8 kg/hp
Performance Pack
Mechanical Limited Slip Differential
17" supersport alloy wheels
Sabelt leather and alcantara seats with carbon fibre shells
Rosso Passionale paint with black mirrors and decals
Audio
BeatsAudio 480watt sound system, 8 channel amplifier, 2 tweeters, 2 midwoofers, 2 full range speakers and subwoofer.
So what have I done to it since owning it? Apart from frequent stops to fill it up with Shell Vpower (a tiny fuel tank but returning over 40mpg with a heavy right foot) not much, I have some wind deflectors to fit and I'm currently trying to decide if I fit the carbon dashboard from the Maserati edition.
One thing I have done which I would normally be against is purchase a few genuine Abarth "Tributo Ferrari" bits. This was a limited edition that came out a few years ago. But partsworld have them on offer (photos to follow at a later date) to replace the Abarth key cover to a red one to match the car is £40, for the ferrari cover its £18, for the black Abarth breakdown set its £40 for a red one which says "Tributo Ferrari" its £24 and 2 Hi Viz vests with the Abarth logo and Ferrari logo in a red Tributo Ferrari cover it was £12 (Euro road trip in planning for 2017)
I would normally disagree with making something look like it's not but as everything is hidden in the boot (and the key in my pocket) I think I can excuse myself.
As for the car I think if I was any taller it would be a no go and a lot of complaints about the high seating height which is true however you soon forget about it, the exhaust note is incredible, you often see people looking round to see a supercar only to be puzzled by a tall bloke in a tiny car
And the LSD means it flings round corners in all weather I'm amazed by just how much grip it has, my hope for 2017 is to do a trackday or 2 to hopefully see what it can really do.
My first car:
(The only decent photo I have and no it's not the Ralt racing car sadly)
A 1999 Citroen Xsara VTR 1.8 16v, 112bhp and a 0-60 of 9.1 as a first car I gave it hell and it survived everything I gave it, I also knew when pushing it to much as it had a tendency to lift a wheel, sadly I sold it after buying my second car for £500 and this is something I've regretted ever since, I had great fun with that car and it lasted me 3-4 years of solid motoring.
I then wanted something more sporty I looked at RX8's and TypeR's but a move in jobs meant I was commuting 500 miles a weekend to see the girlfriend of the time so decided to go for a more economical choice a 2007 Honda Civic TypeS GT.
The best bit about the car was the colour Deep Bronze Pearl
138bhp with a 0-60 of 8.6, it served me well but I found it a dull car to drive but on a B road the handling was solid and just about managed to hang on to friends in higher powered cars on drive outs
Here it is on a Boxing Day drive out, a memory that I will hold forever. In the photo is Indy Lights driver Dean Stoneman and sadly 2 friends who have passed away Dean Palling (In a car accident) and Mike Lovell (P1 Powerboat accident)
And so at the end of this year I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more fun, more unique and that can fit me in at 6'3".
The first car I went to look at was a renaultsport Megane cup, on browsing the car the salesman was useless didn't know much about cars and even less about the car he was trying to sell me it seemed so I walked away. I looked at the Fiesta ST200 but ST's are very common and the battleship grey of the 200 is awful, everything is also big and chunky on the fiesta which didn't appeal.
I also looked at a second hand Audi TT but the car just felt really dated for just 2/3 years old and again quite a common site on the roads.
Then when looking if Alfa Romeo had any offerings at the local dealer it turned out they were also an Abarth dealership. On making a general enquiry the salesman suggested he thought it best I had a test drive before any talking happens. So off I went thrown the keys for an hour in a 595 Competizione with performance pack. I came back and signed the next day no talking required, the salesman clearly knew the car did all the talking.
So I took delivery of the demonstrator 400miles on the clock which saved me a few £££ and I'm now just over 3,500mile.
So the spec:
ENGINE
Engine Type, Displacement, Cylinders, valves
T-JET, 1368 cm³, straight 4 cylinders, 4 valves per cylinder
Max power output - 180 hp (132 kW) @ 5500 g/m
Max torque - 250 Nm @ 3000 rpm
Turbo - Garrett GT 1446
TRANSMISSION, EXHAUST, AIR FILTER
Gearbox - 5 speed Manual
Exhaust - Dual mode Record Monza exhaust system with 4 tailpipes
Filter - BMC high performance intake system
Suspension
Front: Mac-Pherson suspension with anti roll-bar
Rear: Torsion beam with anti roll-bar
Front: Koni with FSD valve (Frequency Selective Damping)
Rear: Koni with FSD valve (Frequency Selective Damping)
Braking system
Front: Drilled and ventilated 305x28 mm front brake discs, four-piston aluminium fixed brake calipers in Red by Brembo
Rear: Drilled and ventilated 240x11 mm rear brake discs
PERFORMANCE
Top Speed - 140 mph
Acceleration 0-62 mph - 6.7 sec
Weight to power ratio
5,8 kg/hp
Performance Pack
Mechanical Limited Slip Differential
17" supersport alloy wheels
Sabelt leather and alcantara seats with carbon fibre shells
Rosso Passionale paint with black mirrors and decals
Audio
BeatsAudio 480watt sound system, 8 channel amplifier, 2 tweeters, 2 midwoofers, 2 full range speakers and subwoofer.
So what have I done to it since owning it? Apart from frequent stops to fill it up with Shell Vpower (a tiny fuel tank but returning over 40mpg with a heavy right foot) not much, I have some wind deflectors to fit and I'm currently trying to decide if I fit the carbon dashboard from the Maserati edition.
One thing I have done which I would normally be against is purchase a few genuine Abarth "Tributo Ferrari" bits. This was a limited edition that came out a few years ago. But partsworld have them on offer (photos to follow at a later date) to replace the Abarth key cover to a red one to match the car is £40, for the ferrari cover its £18, for the black Abarth breakdown set its £40 for a red one which says "Tributo Ferrari" its £24 and 2 Hi Viz vests with the Abarth logo and Ferrari logo in a red Tributo Ferrari cover it was £12 (Euro road trip in planning for 2017)
I would normally disagree with making something look like it's not but as everything is hidden in the boot (and the key in my pocket) I think I can excuse myself.
As for the car I think if I was any taller it would be a no go and a lot of complaints about the high seating height which is true however you soon forget about it, the exhaust note is incredible, you often see people looking round to see a supercar only to be puzzled by a tall bloke in a tiny car
And the LSD means it flings round corners in all weather I'm amazed by just how much grip it has, my hope for 2017 is to do a trackday or 2 to hopefully see what it can really do.
Vitorio said:
Epic little car, you must be grinning everytime you crawl in it
It's certainly puts a grin on your face! Although luckily I don't have to crawl into it. Most people assume I must be squashed into the car 
But in reality it's a tall car (as the below picture shows) and I have plenty of head room I've also managed 4 up with the average height of around 6ft although only comfortable for short journeys.
ecsrobin said:
It's certainly puts a grin on your face! Although luckily I don't have to crawl into it. Most people assume I must be squashed into the car
But in reality it's a tall car (as the below picture shows) and I have plenty of head room I've also managed 4 up with the average height of around 6ft although only comfortable for short journeys.
Oh i know, its not a tiny car (not in the front seats anyway)But in reality it's a tall car (as the below picture shows) and I have plenty of head room I've also managed 4 up with the average height of around 6ft although only comfortable for short journeys.
I managed 4 up with 4 6ft blokes in a mini (Bmw version though), wasnt that bad, even for an hour long trip
mikearwas said:
Good man. I test drove one of these recently in exactly that spec. It was a lot of fun and felt very alive. A little bit laggy but that actually increased its charm.
Still considering one as a daily.
I use mine as a daily although I take it out of sport mode for the commute, it provides lighter steering, a less responsive throttle and a lower torque map, I doubt it saves much fuel but in traffic and city driving it just makes the drive that little bit more comfortable. Still considering one as a daily.
A couple of things I should have added earlier. The car came with the 5" touchscreen Uconnect system which I'm very impressed with and it records all route data to my phone so I can see my mpg per journey and even the route on a map on my phone which I like (although mpg is not really a factor with a car like this) the system has crashed a few times and reboots itself however updates do download every now and again so it's probably more a software glitch rather than hardware as it hasn't done it since the last update.
If I was buying a 595 today though I'd go for the 7" screen as it has a datalogger for circuits built in and has now been updated with Apple CarPlay. Sadly I don't think it's something that I can get replaced.
Nice!
When I was buying my Abarth 124 Spider, I test drove the Comp around Silverstone and it was a hoot. So much so that when my partner decided we shouldn't own two 2-seaters, I suggested she test drove one and she loves it. We'll be selling our MX-5 in the Spring and ordering one then.
When I was buying my Abarth 124 Spider, I test drove the Comp around Silverstone and it was a hoot. So much so that when my partner decided we shouldn't own two 2-seaters, I suggested she test drove one and she loves it. We'll be selling our MX-5 in the Spring and ordering one then.
Vitorio said:
ecsrobin said:
It's certainly puts a grin on your face! Although luckily I don't have to crawl into it. Most people assume I must be squashed into the car
But in reality it's a tall car (as the below picture shows) and I have plenty of head room I've also managed 4 up with the average height of around 6ft although only comfortable for short journeys.
Oh i know, its not a tiny car (not in the front seats anyway)But in reality it's a tall car (as the below picture shows) and I have plenty of head room I've also managed 4 up with the average height of around 6ft although only comfortable for short journeys.
I managed 4 up with 4 6ft blokes in a mini (Bmw version though), wasnt that bad, even for an hour long trip
RichardHMorris said:
Nice!
When I was buying my Abarth 124 Spider, I test drove the Comp around Silverstone and it was a hoot. So much so that when my partner decided we shouldn't own two 2-seaters, I suggested she test drove one and she loves it. We'll be selling our MX-5 in the Spring and ordering one then.
So an Abarth household! How do you find the 124?When I was buying my Abarth 124 Spider, I test drove the Comp around Silverstone and it was a hoot. So much so that when my partner decided we shouldn't own two 2-seaters, I suggested she test drove one and she loves it. We'll be selling our MX-5 in the Spring and ordering one then.
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