I was under the impression the arbarth one was 135BHP, that was the review i read. 180BHP is Crazy! In something that will weight less than a tonne!

I was under the impression the arbarth one was 135BHP, that was the review i read. 180BHP is Crazy! In something that will weight less than a tonne!

Its only stupid if it dosent sell, Im guessing there will be sufficent demand for the bigger Engine. I know someone whos already ordered the current model for imediate delivery & she has placed an order for the Abarth. She test drove the new one this week & described it as an absolute stunner

I know someone high up in a major motor group & they are selling every one they can get their hands on.

If I owned a mini I would be looking at seriously moving it on quickly as Im guessing the values will take a knock

My Octy at 350 bhp could handle more power, my next car will be nearly 500 bhp, its all down to what you want.

Piccies from the official launch on Monday

It was at the London eye at 8 pm on Monday, the reason for the time, it was 500 hours into 2008

::ITALIASPEED::

Its only stupid if it dosent sell, Im guessing there will be sufficent demand for the bigger Engine. I know someone whos already ordered the current model for imediate delivery & she has placed an order for the Abarth. She test drove the new one this week & described it as an absolute stunner

I know someone high up in a major motor group & they are selling every one they can get their hands on.

If I owned a mini I would be looking at seriously moving it on quickly as Im guessing the values will take a knock

My Octy at 350 bhp could handle more power, my next car will be nearly 500 bhp, its all down to what you want.

I honestly ment stupid as in stupidley fast! Which is definatley a good thing!

Its only stupid if it dosent sell, Im guessing there will be sufficent demand for the bigger Engine. I know someone whos already ordered the current model for imediate delivery & she has placed an order for the Abarth. She test drove the new one this week & described it as an absolute stunner

I know someone high up in a major motor group & they are selling every one they can get their hands on.

If I owned a mini I would be looking at seriously moving it on quickly as Im guessing the values will take a knock

My Octy at 350 bhp could handle more power, my next car will be nearly 500 bhp, its all down to what you want.

another thing for the mini drivers, is that the currently MOST expensive fiat 500 is still cheaper than the LEAST expensive mini! :eek:

I honestly ment stupid as in stupidley fast! Which is definatley a good thing!

:thumbup:

:thumbup:

Speed is definatley an addiction!

Iv been building fiat 500's all morning (dont tell my boss!)

If i bought the 1.3D pop, in white, 16'' alloys, red chequered side sticker kit, door bump gaurd with logo, leather gator and leather stearing wheel with controls on them for just a smidge over 10k!

Monthley payments would be £50 less than im paying on the VRS, id be getting up to 78MPG, tax and insurance is cheaper and i would have paid for the whole car in the same amount of time as if i kept my VRS!

To say im tempted would be a understatement! Iv booked a test drive!

John If they give you a poo part exchange price for you fabia, i know a dealer who would give you a very good price, they are crying out for fabia vrs's.

Let me know if you want a value

Cheers skud! But no need now, check out my part 2 version of this thread

I have been speaking to a local dealer and he advised that hes is gettting jokers asking for a discount, on new, but lots more prepared to pay asking price.

I will be ordering one in June for delivery in mid September, spec as follows:-

Red - white sport stripe.

16" 5 spoke alloys

50 50 split folding rears

colour coded wing mirrors ( fitting from door to mirror is black, will have that colour coded to body)

body kit ( side, front & rear ).

With the other minor additions the price comes out at approx 12.6k.

My Fabia will be going for sale end of May, beginning of June.

Nice little car but I'd go for a Panda 100bhp in black or slate grey. You can get massive discounts on these if you browse the web. I reckon that the 500 will probably hold its value better. If Fiat are savvy they will probably restrict supply to keep prices high.

UK have an allocation of 16K units this year.

Italy can sell thier allocation twice over, and there is pressure to reduce UK allocation and have this for Europe, but it would mean re-tooling the factory , and Fiat UK have committed to this number.

I've just been to have a look at this today and it looks great. I am down to have a drive next week and if it is any good I might consider one next year (if the new VRS is not released blah de blah). I will be going out in the 1.4 16v at the dealers suggestion, when he saw the Fabia VRS pull up, I guess he thought I would be disappointed by the performance of the Mulitjet 1.3.

Is the 1.3 really down on performance? I don't mean speed but has it got that small FIAT sensation of briskness (you will know what I mean if you have owned one) James May slated the Diesel in the Telegraph.. I may keep the Fabia, buy the cheapest 1.2 petrol and rag it to hell in the best small Fiat Tradition. I had a Fiat Uno 45 as my first car and the little 999cc FIRE thrived on being thrashed. The 1.2 is based on this engine I believe.

Spyshots of the Abarth. Remember this is disguised so expect the finished version to be styled slightly sweeter, I believe these are taken near the Nurburgring so some serious testing being done

Rumoured at 180 bhp & thats before its tweaked :)

Fiat 500 Abarth SS

P.S The dealer told me the Abarth is not coming to the U.k:mad:

the arbarths are comming to the UK.... my dealer will be able to order them this year (th GP at least) ....

and alot of people with a vRS have been looking at the 500... and none of the current range will have the same performance, so anyone seeking that will need to wait for the arbarth models.....

remember the grande punto sporting (In 1.4 petrol turbo 120bhp, or 1.9 jtd diesel 130bhp) is available for "real" prices of £11k, (£12,500 forecourt prices) which well undercuts the current fabia sport for price, (dread to think what the vRS will cost!) and is safer, better equipped, handles better, and is faster....

just a thought.....

I think you are probably right. I like the look of the G.P. The 500 has loads of charisma though and reminds me of my initial driving years in the late 90's. My mate had a previous 500 Sporting and that was a cracking little thing. Got lots of fond memories of small Fiats, perhaps it's the turning 30 syndrome. I like the appeal of a really dinky runaround such as the 500 but I don't think you will see these on faitsupersaver!

I may go on line as check out a G.P Sporting. I like the sound of the little 1.4 turbo and 1.9 130 Diesel . I don't like my particular local dealer in Kent though. My father bought off them when they sold a more exclusive marque and they were rubbish. They are who I'm seeing next week and they are the ones who said to me that the Abarth is not coming to the U.K (as they need special dealers). Probably trying to tuck me into a 1.4 now.

I think you are probably right. I like the look of the G.P. The 500 has loads of charisma though and reminds me of my initial driving years in the late 90's. My mate had a previous 500 Sporting and that was a cracking little thing. Got lots f fond memories of small Fiats, perhaps it s the turning 30 syndrome. I like the appeal of a really dinky runaround. I don't think you will see these on faitsupersaver

I may go on line as check out a G.P Sporting. I like the sound of the little 1.4 turbo and 1.9 130 Diesel . I don't like my particular local dealer in Kent either. My father bought off them when they sold a more exclusive marque and they were rubbish. They are who I'm seeing next week and they are the ons who said to me that the Abarth is not coming to the U.K (as they need special dealers). Probably trying to tuck me into a 1.4 now.

I also like the old small fiats many years ago, i used to have an uno turbo, that was a cracking car (if very poory built! lol..) I would go for a 500, but I like the speed, so would have to wait for the arbarth versions

fiat dealers have a much worse rep, than skoda dealers, but luckily for me, my local family owned dealer is fantastic (If a little stressed with all the people ordering the 500! lol..) they have looked after me well, and I will probably be buying from them again

edit: the arbarth is being marketed as a seperate brand to fiat (you'll have no fiat badges, just the classic scorpion!) and there are going to be special dealers that will "just" sell arbarths...... however, my dealer said, although they wont be allowed to stock them, they can order them for me

well I will post some pics up of the girlfriends one when it arrives, ordered it on Saturday, 1.4 lounge (sunroof version)

nice little car had a quick test drive myself, still prefer a Abarth 1000TC, but you need about 20K for one, but never mind!

nice car imo i like the abarth 500

If they are anything like the two Fiats I had I would keep well away. They are al-right for 3 years then your cheap Fiat becomes expensive just to get it through an MOT.

If they are anything like the two Fiats I had I would keep well away. They are al-right for 3 years then your cheap Fiat becomes expensive just to get it through an MOT.

Depends on how long ago you had the 3 yr old cars.

Depends on how long ago you had the 3 yr old cars.

A brand new Fiat is still a Fiat with cheap and shoddy shockers etc.

A brand new Fiat is still a Fiat with cheap and shoddy shockers etc.

absolutley wrong. I bought my Grande punto in april 07, (new) and have done over 90k in it with no issues,far less than I had with the vRS! Suspension you say? my suspension is original and fine, my skodas suspension bushes failed at 60k when still under warrenty at less than two years old, and skoda refused to replace them! said I should expect my suspension to fail at 60k its wear and tear, well you know what, my suspension in the fiat is fine and its got 90,500 miles on it, and it still drives like new, no electrical failures, no gearbox/flywheel/turbo/clutch issues either.......

don't be blinkered by previous cars, since 2003 when fiat started making the new panda, things have really turned around, a grande punto at 60k was recently dismantled by autoexpress, and got glowing reviews! ( so did the panda when they did the stripdown test on that)

fiat electrics for example used to be pants, you bought a fiat you would expect the electrics to fail, did you know they are now made by Bosch ?

remember, skoda used to have a reputation too..... they turned it around.

absolutley wrong. I bought my Grande punto in april 07, (new) and have done over 90k in it with no issues,far less than I had with the vRS! Suspension you say? my suspension is original and fine, my skodas suspension bushes failed at 60k when still under warrenty at less than two years old, and skoda refused to replace them! said I should expect my suspension to fail at 60k its wear and tear, well you know what, my suspension in the fiat is fine and its got 90,500 miles on it, and it still drives like new, no electrical failures, no gearbox/flywheel/turbo/clutch issues either.......

don't be blinkered by previous cars, since 2003 when fiat started making the new panda, things have really turned around, a grande punto at 60k was recently dismantled by autoexpress, and got glowing reviews! ( so did the panda when they did the stripdown test on that)

fiat electrics for example used to be pants, you bought a fiat you would expect the electrics to fail, did you know they are now made by Bosch ?

remember, skoda used to have a reputation too..... they turned it around.

I agree. If I had more money I would've bought a Panda 100BHP

Ive owned loads of Fiats, and even the older ones Ive had new from 1997 didnt have rattles until a fair few miles, unlike my Skoda!

I did have a 500, a 1.4 16v Lounge from June 2008 until March 2009, it was hit up the rear and then a week after being repaired was hit in the side so I sold it on.

The engine was a real peach, but the six speed gearbox took up so much room that they had to increase the steering lock on 1.4s and it was dreadful. The suspension on the 1.4 was very hard too. The quality throughout was superb, it was much better bult than my Fabia II. Underneath, the componenets didnt look as hard wearing as the Skoda and the underbody rustproofing wasnt as good either, in fact after 6 months the rear suspension looked very tired.

I didnt buy another as needs changed and I wanted a small estate, hence the Fabia. If I was to have another 500 I would go for the 1.3 diesel... the suspension is softer and the diesel is a lovely drive.