New Savagegeese video on the Fiat 500 Abarth
 

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6pefYTTWxk"]Review | 2016 Fiat 500 Abarth | Disgruntled Motoring - YouTube[/ame]

Another great video by Dezoris.
Really considered the Fiat 500 Abarth as a possible replacement for the BRZ.
For me personally, the sound is such an important part of the motoring experience (hence my push to change the exhaust and intake for this car, despite the lack of actual performance gains), and that seems to be the signature thing that the Abarth does well.

I actually went from a 500T (very similar to the Abarth) to '13 FRS. I don't regret it one bit. Don't get me wrong, the car was fun to drive on a daily basis, and you will have lots of fun on the streets. Now if you enjoy track driving, don't do it. IMHO its a big step down. Now time to watch the video :popcorn:

Why does he keep saying ah barf!

I actually considered one of these before buying my FR-S. But the reliability was my issue. No regrets, but I do like what they are. Also love they come with a muffler delete from stock.

Eh-Bart?
Ah-Bart?
Ah-Bath?

It's like when I hear people say ABT Sportsline as A-B-T :lol:

This dude is quite amazing at how he could tell the clutch is spongy with those thick running shoes on. I won't comment on his footwork.

Ah-Bart:thumbsup:

i've only driven the regular fiat 500 and it was terrible. I was scared to go above the posted speed limit for my own safety.

Fiat includes a roughly 8 hour HDPE day for every new Abarth owner/lessor (Handling, AutoX, and track) worldwide. These cars are run hard, reliably, all day long. I only wish Toyota/Subaru did the same for us.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/n...ence/index.htm

https://www.abarthexperience.com/eve...n?aboutAbarth=

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...e&&FORM=VDVVXX

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geENeftv37I"]The Abarth Experience - YouTube[/ame]

Completely agree. Sound is such an important part of the driving experience.

I think the biggest problem with the Abarth is the Fiesta ST. It's faster, more practical, better handling, and more reliable. If you're in the market for a budget FWD turbo hatch, I think the FiST has become the default choice.

To be fair it's easy to see three letters all caps and assume it's an initialism.

I had an Abarth and traded it in on the BRZ I now drive. No regrets. Wanted something with less bodyroll and with RWD. The shifter was atrocious, but the rest of the experience (sans bodyroll and FWD) was actually very good. Fun little car! I just couldn't fall in love with it. Wonderful commuter - which is why I got it. Stay out of Sport mode and boost and you have a car that can get 40MPGs.

The engine in that little thing was a hoot though! I loved the exhaust on it. The suspension was overly harsh for what it was in my opinion and thanks to the non-independent rear and short wheelbase, it wasn't the greatest car to be in when the road got bumpy.

It was also easier to get people in the back of the car due to the more upright nature of the vehicle. It was also easier to get people into the front of the car for that matter.

If I could afford to have it (and had the space!) I'd still keep it with the BRZ.

My wife really liked how these looked. But I looked at the specs (particularly the 0-100kph time) and decided that if a Fiat 500 would ever be in our lives, it would have to be an Abarth.

0-100kph time is in the 10 second range.
That's a lot of time to get crushed by the clueless SUV drivers around here.

To top it off, the dealers either don't carry Abarths, or won't disclose it for test drives. So that's out (I'm not wasting my time or the dealer's time to discuss things like pricing until I know I love driving the car).

And Abarth guys will argue that their car is superior, to the death. I'm with you on this one FiST>Abarth.

watch the offset frontal crash test for the fiat...

I think it's pretty well understood that dynamically the FiST is superior to the 500 Abarth (especially in its out of the box absolute performance). Where the Fiat earns fans are in its' intangibles (which IMO it has in spades over the FiST). The Abarth has charisma in a way the FiST doesn't seem to (not to say the FiST doesn't have its' own charm). It's hard to argue with people against their love for the Abarth's character, design, and sound. I thought @Dezoris did a good job of touching that point in his video. Both are great choices in the segment.

The guys at EverydayDriver also discuss this in their two part 500 Abarth vs. FiST head-to-head episode.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6TYmdLrcc"]Fiat 500 Abarth Review (Tiny Turbos Pt.1) -- Everyday Driver - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMtk57OVgjU"]Ford Fiesta ST Review (Tiny Turbos Pt. 2) -- Everyday Driver - YouTube[/ame]

7 of 11 cars in this category fail the small overlap test with a score of "marginal" or worse. Reason is that the IIHS introduced the small overlap test in 2012 and all of the non-passing cars were designed before then. The Fiat 500 went into production in 2006. The Ford Fiesta also fails this test. To be fair the Fiesta went into production in 2008 (before the test was introduced). All the cars in this category that passed the test (rated "acceptable" or better) went into production after 2013.

http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/v/c...mmary/minicars

I'm afraid that there isn't enough front on the Fiat to even be offset.

FiST is better on paper, but boy do I hate that Ford interior, imo the only advantage the FiST has over the Abarth is the engine seems a bit stouter and more proven and 2 extra doors. Maybe driving it would change my mind, but the Abarth is so damn fun.

The Mini gets left off the list a lot, but the 3-banger is a contender with the Abarth, toss a piggyback on it and it's competitive in every category with a better interior than the Ford or Fiat imo.

It's an awesome time to be shopping for a hot hatch. These things will light up the tires off the line through second gear and then net you mid 30's on the highway if you can manage to keep your foot out of it all while hauling 90% of what an average person will ever need to carry. Whether you're down at $20k with the Abarth, FiST, or Mini, or up at $25k with the FoST, GTI, and Mini S, the only way it could get better is if Honda puts a manual in the Civic and nails a real hatch at the right price point.

:burnrubber:

If I had time, money, and space, you bet your ass I'd have an Abarth as a around town runabout and occasional weekend beater. With them sitting on the market <$15k already, my inner child is hunting for excuses.

Definitely. Also would love to see Mazda release a Speed 3. The base 3 is so good, I can only imagine how amazing the MS version would be.

It's almost a shame the SkyActiv is so tame...

Heh, maybe the deal with Fiat for the Miata chassis came with access to Fiat engines. 1.7L Turbo Alfa Romeo powered Mazda anyone? It's already designed to be transverse mounted, all they gotta do is add a stick.

:burnrubber:

That's a well put together comparison. I really enjoyed watching that segment. I think I would've really enjoyed the Fiat as a second car. It's love/hate with the Abarth, and the owner's have so much passion for the brand. The FiST would serve as a better daily/track car for me. But of course, twins>both:D

This one right?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Df9HsixvBs"]2013 Fiat 500 small overlap IIHS crash test - YouTube[/ame]


IIHS rated that 'poor', they rated this GTI as 'good'


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2apWN173D4A"]2015 Volkswagen GTI small overlap IIHS crash test - YouTube[/ame]


imo the differences are small these days, if it gets certified for road use odds are good you'll walk away from just about anything.

Ooh now you're talking! :wub:

I've seen one of these 500 Abarth did a clutch dump take off from the stoplight and I thought it was pretty fast, and I never thought the exhaust is stock cuz it sounded real good.

Would be interesting to see a Fiata Abarth review.