- Oct 13, 1999
- 22,377
- 2
- 81
Before I left San Diego, I went over to Kearny Mesa Fiat on Tuesday (5/14). A nice guy named Sean Russell let us test drive an Abarth (he pronounced it somewhat like "ah-bart") even though we told him we were from out of town. After driving one of these things, we might be interested...
PRO
CON
MISC
Anyone have thoughts on these things? Own one?
PRO
- Once "sport" button pushed, feels a whole lot more responsive accelerating from a stop, and steering tightens up nicely.
- Looks have grown on me, especially the Abarth models with 17" wheels. I often don't like the design of stock wheels on most cars but these (both 16" base Abarth and the upgraded 17") look really nice.
- Some pretty basic but nice color combinations, with interiors to match.
- OMFG that exhaust note. :whiste:
- Even though so short of a wheelbase doesn't seem any twitchier than the WRX, which makes my Mazdaspeed 6 feel like a land yacht. I totally thought it would drive worse.
- Ride surprisingly not that rough.
- Lots of base amenities such as Bluetooth and USB/aux inputs, power windows/locks.
- Factory speakers sound pretty decent.
- Supposedly gets decent gas mileage.
CON
- Shifter felt lousy. Putting it into reverse for the first time, my hand slipped right off the knob. What a killjoy! Throw was long, and feels like it is hinged too close to the knob.
- Clutch pedal limp and too long travel/throw.
- Dealer did not have any truly base model Abarths in stock. I had wanted to see what exactly $22,000 +$700 delivery gets. Closest they had was a base model with a dealer installed stereo system.
- Big blind spot for me on the left side. Didn't affect my wife, who is short and sits farther forward.
- Car starts in "eco" mode which makes it feel rather gutless, especially from a dead stop.
- I have no headroom in the back seat. Actually, negative headroom, as my head is pressed against the roof. I'm not that big a guy either.
- Doesn't have enough power. 160bhp and official 6.9s 0-60 feels somewhat anemic for those of us more accustomed to driving, ahem, faster cars.
- I'm unsure of the value, as $2200 more (base price) gets a Mazdaspeed 3 with a lot more performance. Then again, it will be the WRX all over again with premium fuel and 25MPG highway (official?).
- Not much driving position adjustments. Wheel is basic tilt without telescoping. Seats are basic front/back and tilt, with driver side getting some basic raise/lower.
- Some materials looked cheap, but this was after driving my mom's Volvo for a few weeks.
- Need to wring it out for acceleration, but engine seems to take nicely enough to that.
MISC
- Seems a rather upright driving position, especially compared to the WRX. Heck, even my Mazdaspeed 6 feels lowered after driving my mom's Volvo V70 for several weeks. Not a pro/con, but more an observation.
- What fuel does it require? Sean said it can use either regular or premium but is better on premium. Which fuel is the 160bhp rated on? MPG?
- Yes, now wife wants one as a commuter car (she daily puts 70-80 easy highway miles on her 2011 WRX currently). Except she would want it optioned out with the upgraded stereo ("Beats Audio" with subwoofer), leather interior and the 17" wheels which look great but also like curb rash about to happen.
- I don't know how reliability or TCO would be. Is the car too new for this kind of info?
- What kind of real world gas mileage do these get?
- KM Fiat had a lot of these on hand. Guess they are really popular. Said they moved a number of them per day (all models, not Abarth).
- Fiat 500L is interesting. Same engine as Abarth? IDK about vehicle weight, MPG or performance. Comes with 6-speed manual instead of 5-speed on the non-L. Also, more "normal" dash. Looks kind of like a 9/10th scale Mini Countryman with a Fiat 500 face grafted on.
- 100 more horsepower? Seems legit to me.
Anyone have thoughts on these things? Own one?
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