Drove a 500 Abarth today......
 

I loved the little thing!!! I was honestly impressed how fun it was even though it only has 160HP it feels light on its feet. It does so many things good and so many things wrong which i will get into more detail down below but i have to say besides all the bad stuff the thing just keeps you wanting moar!!!! :burnrubber:

Here is an interior shot sorry i forgot to take exterior shots since i was that exited:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...11079244_n.jpg


Molto Bene (The Good):

-The Styling, it is a jaw dropper i have a thing for sexy euro hatches and this is one of them. My wife says the car has Character and i agree with her it has its own personality.

-The Interior, it made my c63 look like an econo box honestly the leather feels great and everything is where you want it to be. Quality is top notch plus this car has the best new car smell ever!!!

-Fun to drive, if this car is something its fun to drive just honestly its pure fun and driver engagement, heel and toe is perfect you feel connected i tapped the brakes out of a corner and it slid its but a bit which felt good that the car feels so controlled.

-Space, i was amazed im 230 pounds and 6"3, my wife is 103 pounds and the sales guy was easily 290 pounds and we fit perfectly had a decent trunk as well.

-Power, for 160 horses all i can say is wow it feels great from down low all the way to redline this car has no lag at all.


Il Male (The BAD):

-Transmission is weird you have to wait a bit to engage from 1st to reverse or it will grind plus gear changes are a bit to long im sure mopar will make a short shifter kit though.

-Seating position is high so it does not give you that race car feeling.

-Stay away from the sunroof they had the sunroof version and the non sunroof im a tall guy and the non sunroof was better my head touched the ceiling with the sunroof so no way i could fit with a helmet.

-About the suspension, i did not feel it was harsh or soft it felt planted but it did seem to have a bit of body roll when i cornered aggressively. I test drove the one with the 17 inch wheels btw.

-Brakes did their job but they did feel a bit disconnected.

-Price 29k out the door for me since the dealer had a 1000k markup and this is fully loaded btw without a sunroof. Seems a bit expensive i would pay max 26.5k out the door for a fully loaded one


Even though it had some things wrong i still loved the car it gives you a feeling not even more expensive cars will give you. It makes you feel unique and special and just because of that i fell in love :wub: . I fell in love so much that i actually thought of ordering one in gray with a red stripe and red interior but thankfully my wife stopped me from doing anything stupid and i decided i would think about it since there was no way i would not get the FR-S to get the abarth though i would consider it if it was going to be my DD.

PS: On the way back home we ran into a CTS-V and showed him what german muscle means lol took him by about a car length.:thumbup: reminded me of how fun HP is.

Was the hot Italian chic riding shot-gun though? (owait, yer wife would not like that) =P

LOL i should of asked if she was included in the price....:thumbup:

Trying to convince the wife for a threesome now thats another story :lol:

As long as you liked it then its all good.

However I didn't. The seating was off for me, I couldn't really find my spot that made me really comfortable to drive it for a long time. The design is eye catching so it made me feel as though they were trying to take my mind off the fact I'm driving a small car which is a good thing imo. And the interior is what really caught my attention or anyone's for that matter. They really put work on the interior and no one can really complain about it.
I'd still wait to see how the car itself will hold up if it justifies the price tag.

Yeah the seating is off but i have to say its a fun little car but as you said it , its hard to justify the price though they said the car has so much demand they are charging 1k over sticker. The sales guy said they had a demo a client drove it, liked it so much that he wanted to buy it they said no because they were keeping it as a demo and he offered 4k over sticker and they sold it to him.:eyebulge:

I actually thought that the interior looked too "busy" thus making it unattractive. They are neat little cars though! Snapped several shots of one I came across when I was living in the UK as they were rare little buggers at the time. Would def test drive if I was going to look at hot hatches.

I'm 5'9" and I felt cramped in the one I sat in.

how much is msrp for the abarth 500 in the US?

It starts at 22k and ends out at around 27k, but apparently they are going for more.

The car was fun to drive but man I had some same flaws also. I had the same problem with the seating. It just felt awkward. Transmission was decent I guess. Braking just felt a bit lifeless. Still looks good and is fun to drive but it is kinda hard for me to justify it's price.

I realize for some performance is everything and tastes vary, but I stand by my previous statement in the Megane thread:

I heard austin is sold out and they are charging 3k over msrp:confused0068:

I don't know how it drives, but I sat in one at an auto show and it just didn't feel right. Also I honestly can't get past the looks. It looks to rounded and cute for my tastes, and I used to own a smart car whcih I loved.

The reason the 160hp felt good is because of the 170LB ft of torque coming on early and strong in a 2,589 lb car. I'm pretty sure TQ was what made it most enjoyable around town.