Saddest comparison ever...Abarth is junk.

Not comparable IMO.. The 500 has too short a wheelbase, too tall and too much econobox from the ground up. The abarth tries to look mean.. But it's just dressing.
It reminds me of the mini I owned.. Looks good initially.. But just too quirky and too compromised to be serious..
The twins are way more serious and designed to be sports cars from the ground up.. Price is the only thing they have in common..
The twins are truly great little sports cars! Truly something special especially at its price point..

I'm pretty sure our MCS cannot be outhandled by anything currently available in our market. The Euro Ford Fiesta ST can just beat it.

The BRZ doesn't have the power or the proper tires to beat the MCS.

I think the Abarth comes close to the Mini and is enough cheaper to compete.

You're never going to get a fwd car that really competes with the BRZ. At these power levels these hot hatches are always going to beat the BRZ, its just physics. Fwd is quicker until there's enough power to really overpower the drive wheels. That now takes around 300 bhp before the fwd technology starts to fade back.

The Abarth is a hoot. It's not a serious car, though. It's just fun and silly. There are superior small FWD cars out there now. The Fiesta ST looks like the best of the lot. Cannot see myself preferring either over the FR-S.

Minis are ripoffs. I had a rental Cooper S. It's suspension felt like mush and gave me no confidence at all. Huge disappointment. Years ago, I drove a Works model. It had firm suspension, too firm. The thing crashed over ever grain of sand.

I drove a Abarth, Mini JCW (2 of them, one with the JCW optional suspension bits), the Focus ST, and the Mazdaspeed 3... Along with driving an FRS.

The Abarth had just a horrible seating position plus lots of turbo lag and you can really feel the short wheel base even in daily driving. That combined with the shoddy interior quality and too-small-of-size I just couldn't justifying buying one. The first one I test drove had severe valve tap and had to be taken back into the shop!

The Mini's were fantastic to drive. Zero turbo lag, near perfect handling for a FWD car especially with the JCW suspension bits. But I drove two 2009 models and one of them was already falling apart... And reliability is crap with Mini's which is too bad.

However... The Focus ST was better in every respect. More power, more neutral handling, pretty much everything better than the Mini, even the build quality and especially the seats.

But the FRS/BRZ has the better seating position, better handling, and plenty of power its just not turbo'ed. And no on-power understeer of course, and actually more practical than an Abarth and just as practical as an Mini. Not to mention better reliability than both and better build quality!

I would consider an abarth for commuting back and forth to work if i turned the fr-s into a track whore, but i would probably end up buying a focus ST.

In the low $20k range, I think I'd take the Fiesta ST over the Abarth. In the mid $20k range, the FR-S obviously (or MCS/GTI/Focus ST if I needed a hot hatch). Don't really see a niche for the Abarth.

I feel exactly the same. The Abarth does nothing for me. In the low 20's a Focus ST and mid 20's an FRZ.

In my house there is a Fiat Abarth Convertible and my Raven FRS. In fact, both were purchased on the same day. I have extensive wheel time behind both. Here's my two cents.

Both cars cost roughly the same (about $26.5), both are lightweight cars close in HP and TQ per pound. Both are fun as hell, but they couldn't be more different.

The Abarth Convertible is a toy. A very fun toy.

Performance:
For a 2500 lb car, it's got a mountain of torque. It has the best stock exhaust sound under 50k easily. It's softer sprung than a standard Abarth so it cruises like a GT. It has a fair share of roll, but the grip is there. So once the driver becomes accustomed to the roll then whole performance envelope becomes available. When the turbo comes online (and there is lag), it propels the car gently but progressively harder. Like shove from your uncle. That shove doesn't stop through triple digits. The steering is weighty (heavier than my FRS) and very quick. This takes some getting used to as it only has about 1/3" dead center spot, then the car turns (so it takes an attentive driver when the boost comes online).

The Abarth Convertible surprises many drivers who dismiss it as slow. It's not slow in real-world performance envelope. Larger cars with unfocused drivers cannot walk on this car at freeway speeds. On the street it can keep up with every car mentioned in this thread. On the track, nope. BUT, with just a tune this car will put down 203bhp and 239tq, add springs and tires and things get interesting.

Comfort:
The cabin is tall and airy. It doesn't feel small inside. Materials are generally better than the '86. Not high end by any means but the interior styling is superb with cool touches all around. Gauges are busy, and the shifter has long throws. This car will get a short shifter kit. Currently the shifter doesn't touch the '86. Few cars do in this range. The Abarth base stereo is not as good as the '86 base stereo with the DSP switched on, but its loud and bassy so good enough. No bluetooth streaming (there is a USB audio input).

The front seats are not as aggressively bolstered or supportive as the '86's excellent front seats, but they're not flat either. Seating position is high (think racecar (especially Nascar) or sitting on a chair at the dinner table). It's purposefully upright, that's classic Italian. People that are uncomfortable are usually trying to set up the front seat and steering wheel in the legs and arms outstretched position and never get comfortable. The rear seats are usable for standard sized adults where my FRS gets emergency duty only.

The trunk in the Abarth Convertable is small. With the seats folded up, its big enough for 1 of the largest sized carry-ons an airline will accept. With them folded down, much more. In non-convertible Abarths, the rear is a hatchback so there is more cargo area available.

So wtf?
Look, to people that like the styling and design of this type of car, the Abarth Convertible snap necks.

Whomever tuned this exhaust deserves a medal, seriously. To get close to that sounds on my FRS it will take my TRD catback, drop-in filter + UEL header and maybe more.

The car drives like a go-cart with a big turbo. Does that not sound like fun?

People look at it, it's beautiful, they smile. People hear it, they smile. They drive it and smile. In the end, that's really all there is to this car.

In that way it is similar to the FRS/BRZ/86. Driving the triplets is pure joy, no matter the performance numbers. Driving this Abarth Convertible is the same, but in a different way. '86 drivers should understand this well about the Abarth and not waste breath wondering if slightly better drag race performance would make the car "better". Both cars were designed to have character and stir passion, for that reason we say they have soul. Those traits put them above most of the other cars mentioned in this thread. They're both achieve fun, but in very different ways.

Very well said!

never driven an abarth, would be interested in giving it a spin though. my neighbor has one, pretty much got it as soon as it came out. sounds really good, looks like a lot of fun to drive. absolutely hate the way it looks tho.

if i did purchase an abarth, i would make a slight upgrade :evil:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouIM71EpIcA"]Fiat 500 Lamborghini V12 Sound - YouTube[/ame]

That Fiat 500 sounds nice, but here's an exhaust that craps all over any other car I've ever heard. It makes Astons look pitiful and brings a smile to my face every time I hear it. Seriously, it makes me think of buying another 550i.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PLFHhhx3-M"]BMW 550i Supercharged Dyno Pull - YouTube[/ame]

I've never driven one, but I've seen one in action. The other night I was going for a late night cruise and ended up near the area of where the street racing scene usually is. I decided since I hadn't been in a while, I'd see what was out there.

I happened to catch a glimpse of an Abarth running an H23 Vtec prelude that had I/H/E. Apparently the Abarth only had a tune and exhaust. To give you an example of what the H23 is capable of, I have a totaled 5th Gen in my backyard with an H22 running same setup and it outran my stock FRS with it being heavier.

That little hatch took the win by 2 lengths. Even with mods, nobody would suspect that it could boogie like that. Kinda like when the MS3's first came out and people overlooked them. Now you can see them shitting on stupid expensive Ferrari's, Supra's, and sometimes even Z06's

There was a Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse at one of the last slaloms/autocrosses overhere - it's fast.
http://www.myabarth.co.uk/2008/09/fi...pecifications/