Added another hot-hatch to the household yesterday! Traded in my 500 Twinair for an Abarth 500 . Prepares to be flamed.....

Still have the vRS which SWMBO mainly uses. Will do a write-up to compare the two soon. First impressions are its not as outright quick as the vRS and delivers its power in a much more old-school way but its one hell of a hoot to drive! Handling wise its more entertaining than the Fabia too.

Few pics below:

Wundabah,

enjoy it,

it looks lovely, but not in a hairdresser way, colour combination is just right.

I tried before a couple of them and got on great with the handling but not the autobox ,

but was too much of a porker for comfort sitting or getting in and out.

george

Looks awesome, got a lot of time for these little motors.

grr666 likes this

I must go to my dealer and blag a test drive of one of these.

I'd be very happy if Mrs grr traded in her 1.2 for one of these.

I often drive hers and I get funny looks in a bright yellow girls car.

Good little rocket-ship. I'm told they sound fantastic.

Nice!!

Neighbour has an Abarth and another 500 for the wife.

Nice little cars but no good for me since I want four doors and more room inside,that's where the Fabia comes good.

^ - Four doors is a must until kiddos have their own motors

I love small cars and this one is really a great looking pocket fun park.

These are nice cars, i doubt you will be flamed! great fun to drive, more reliable than you may ever think, should put a smile on your face every time you drive it

If I wasn't so reluctant to loose the DSG I would have probably bought one of the special edition abarth 500's (granturismo?)

Cheers guys, am sooo chuffed with it! Engine sounds great and the standard exhaust is awesome, lots of crackles/pops on up-changes.

Am really lucky to have this as a go-kart fun machine and also the furby vRS for when 5-doors and more space is needed!

These are nice cars, i doubt you will be flamed! great fun to drive, more reliable than you may ever think, should put a smile on your face every time you drive it

If I wasn't so reluctant to loose the DSG I would have probably bought one of the special edition abarth 500's (granturismo?)

Yeah those abarth 595 editions (turismo and competizione I think) look awesome. Shame they are so expensive tho. With a couple of options they are circa £20k! Mine is a standard car just a few months old (62 plate ex-demo) with only 1600 miles on the clock for a much more reasonable 12k.

You crazy fellow, trading in a Fiat, for another Fiat! :no:

Does it handle really well? Annoys me that VAG do not make their small quick hatches handle well. They never have done IMO. SEAT attempt to trick is into thinking their cars handle better, but its only because of the rock hard springs they use.

You crazy fellow, trading in a Fiat, for another Fiat! :no:

He's probably having a lot more fun than you in your SDI......

Edited 17 March, 201313 yr by Dr Zoidberg

He's probably having a lot more fun than you in you SDI......

Never a truer word written lol

Looks fantastic!! Did you collect that from Vospers of Truro, and then take a drive to Newquay by any chance?!

Looks fantastic!! Did you collect that from Vospers of Truro, and then take a drive to Newquay by any chance?!

Yes mate!! Picked it up in Truro in the morning did abit of a tour - st Agnes, Perranporth, back to Truro then out to Newquay in the afternoon!

Did you spot the car or did you recognise Newquay from the photo?

Does it handle really well? Annoys me that VAG do not make their small quick hatches handle well. They never have done IMO. SEAT attempt to trick is into thinking their cars handle better, but its only because of the rock hard springs they use.

Handles like its on blinking rails lol! Makes the fabia feel like abit of a barge tbh. Ride is a touch on the firm side but never crashy and I quite like it that way. Was worried the ride would be bad but it's fine on the standard 16" rims and abarth suspension. I wouldn't fancy 17s on Essesse suspension tho!

*TMC * cough TMC.....

Defo tempted with some TMC action!

Yes mate!! Picked it up in Truro in the morning did abit of a tour - st Agnes, Perranporth, back to Truro then out to Newquay in the afternoon!

Did you spot the car or did you recognise Newquay from the photo?

I recognised Newquay as I used to live near there and recognised the hotel you parked outside of, and I've had to take a few of our cars to Vospers for warranty stuff... not mine but I (only recently left) used to work at St Erth Services dealing with service and parts etc... now I'll be working between St Austell and Launceston no longer with Fiat.

I'm based in Redruth at the moment, Im pretty sure I've seen a white vRS around the atlantic highway now and then.

Good to know theres someone local!

I also noticed with the Abarth has a mahoosive turning circle right?!

Edited 17 March, 201313 yr by Leon-y-k

That car looks amazing!

I had to look it up and it aint that expensive in Sweden! Im even thinking of trading my fabia for one

But on the Swedish Fiat webpage they only list the "Fiat 500 Sport". Is that the Abarth?

What engine does the Abarth have? From what i could understand from the swedish webpage it has the same engine options as the regular 500, in that case how is it possible that it has a diffrent exhaust etc?

I recognised Newquay as I used to live near there and recognised the hotel you parked outside of, and I've had to take a few of our cars to Vospers for warranty stuff... not mine but I (only recently left) used to work at St Erth Services dealing with service and parts etc... now I'll be working between St Austell and Launceston no longer with Fiat.

I'm based in Redruth at the moment, Im pretty sure I've seen a white vRS around the atlantic highway now and then.

Good to know theres someone local!

I also noticed with the Abarth has a mahoosive turning circle right?!

Haha, yeah ill keep an eye out for your yellow Octy, I'm sure I've seen it before!

The turning circle is definitely wider than the 500 twinair I had before - had abit of a shock when I pulled onto my drive for the first time lol! It's not as bad as the Focus ST I had a couple of years ago tho. Oil tankers can turn tighter than those.....

For a 500, that actually looks fairly manly! What sort of man-maths led from a twinair to that though?!

That car looks amazing!

I had to look it up and it aint that expensive in Sweden! Im even thinking of trading my fabia for one

But on the Swedish Fiat webpage they only list the "Fiat 500 Sport". Is that the Abarth?

What engine does the Abarth have? From what i could understand from the swedish webpage it has the same engine options as the regular 500, in that case how is it possible that it has a diffrent exhaust etc?

The sport is a normally aspirated 100bhp 1.4 litre engine.

The Abarth adds a turbo to give 135bhp.

The Abarth Esseesse is tuned to 160bhp and I think you can get further upgrades to 180bhp.