bluescooby
bluescooby Reader
3/15/17 12:38 a.m.

Well I guess I was kinda looking for a Fiat. My wife bought a new Subaru Crosstrek at the end of 2015 and I wanted to convert her old car (Scion xD, yeah you heard me) into something cool. Preferably something Subaru-y. Problem was that we couldn't swing another full car payment at the time and BRZ prices were still just out of reach, so I needed something fun and new enough that I wouldn't have to spend all my time repairing it (like the last few projects I failed at). And instead of getting a Miata like any normal person would, I let my mind drift to a 500 Abarth... you know, like a weirdo. The noises it makes are just hilarious, I thought it was the coolest thing when it hit the salesfloor five years ago. I found a good deal on one, drove one state to the left to get it, and now here I am.

Driving it hard was way more fun than I'd expected. It belches and snarls and whistles, it has more turbo lag than you'd expect, it loves trail-braking a little too much, and people stare and point and laugh when it goes down the road. Old ladies who drive regular Fiat 500s seem especially confused. I can't keep myself from smiling every time I drive it.

And apparently Photobucket and I are not on speaking terms at the moment, so until I can get my account back up and running here's a link to a Fiat forum with more words and pictures: Click for Fiat goodness

I'll keep this thread updated with other happenings as they happen.

Jerry
Jerry UltraDork
3/15/17 8:09 a.m.

Welcome, newest weirdo. And I'm not logged into the forum so I can't see the photos from work.

And I totally back the idea of messing with the xD, as a former and recurring Scion owner. (On my 2nd 1stgen xB and remember the Rally xD that I used to follow online.)

(I'm curious what you paid. Mine was $20.1k for the 2013 in early 2014 brand new, I owe about $5900 on it. I've seen a few online lately in the $9k's)

bluescooby
bluescooby Reader
3/15/17 2:24 p.m.

Oh I forgot the pics might not work... nuts...

The xD would've been fun to play with but parts are scarce except for a few mild TRD bolt-ons. It's a lot of $$$ to put into a smushed-up van-looking thing with less than 130hp. But it's sure different.

I think I paid $12.5k last year (with 27k miles, still had about a year left on the warranty), but I've seen people picking up '15s for about that recently.

mfennell
mfennell Reader
3/15/17 3:26 p.m.

Man, I'd love to sell my wife on an Abarth Cabrio. She has her heart set on an R107 MB though and has for 20 years, so that's what she's getting. Have a really nice one lined up.

Secretly hoping she'll hate it and we'll and up with the Fiat.

SnowMongoose
SnowMongoose SuperDork
3/15/17 3:46 p.m.

The noise to cute ratio on those cars is out of control, you have my approval for that alone.

Jerry
Jerry UltraDork
3/15/17 6:10 p.m.

Here's what you can do with them... Switched the Eibach springs out for KW Variant 1 coilovers last month, can't wait to test them out on the Tail of the Dragon in 2 weeks.

Ransom
Ransom GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
3/15/17 7:43 p.m.

Congrats! I've deferred my Abarth hunt a bit, but it's still on the radar. Glad I saw this, as it looks like with some waiting (which I've gotta do anyhow) and some poking, I can find one for $10k or less, which is at least $3k less than they're mostly popping up around here...

bluescooby
bluescooby Reader
3/15/17 11:38 p.m.
Jerry wrote: Here's what you can do with them... Switched the Eibach springs out for KW Variant 1 coilovers last month, can't wait to test them out on the Tail of the Dragon in 2 weeks.

Nice! What do you think of the KWs?

Jerry
Jerry UltraDork
3/16/17 8:09 a.m.

In reply to bluescooby:

I haven't had a chance to test them much. Right after they were installed the weather went to E36 M3 again. Cold, then rain, back again... A few warm-ish dry days and they seem to be fun. Went with an alignment a bit more slanted towards autocross so it's a bit twitchier, I definitely feel the road more but not terrible. I've made a few very sharp corners under moderate speed and think it has great potential.

As for the twitchieness I feel like a Fiat with a turbo and mostly open exhaust should feel like it's trying to kill me at least a little bit or it's totally wasted.

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