A tale of 2 cars....

Ok, so over in my other thread I posted that I had went and tested out a Fiat 500 Sport as a new DD. This was a car I really wanted to like but I walked away with a "meh" feeling. It just wasn't enough to part me and my money. I really wanted to test an Abarth, just to see if it was any better, but that had to wait until today to make the trek out to PA to a dealer that had one on the lot. In the interim I looked at other options and hey, same motor different package why not a Dart.

I left with the feeling that I would end up liking the Dart more than I wanted to and that the Abarth would not be able to justify the extra cost.

So my afternoon started with a trip to the local mom & pop Dodge dealer. We bought a used car there a few years ago for my wife and I really liked the place, no nonsense, small town dealer. They had a nice blue Dart SXT/Rallye there with the 6 speed and 1.4 multi air turbo.

Wow, what a great car, dodge is back in the game with this one. Very roomy, drives nice, turbo is a bit laggy but was nice in its powerband. And it was priced very well. 5 year/100k warranty is a big draw and overall I really liked it. Dealer was straight forward with the numbers and was offering $500 off invoice. I told him from the start I had to get the Abarth out of my system so he was very good about letting me go and said just call once I knew.

So on to the Fiat dealer. Visually I just love the car, black, red stripes...hate the red mirror caps but that's changeable. Nicely optioned just about the way I'd order it if I wanted to.

Now, let me just stop with a word of advice to anyone who thinks they might be interested in an Abarth....don't drive it...don't even let them....wait, no, especially don't let them start the engine.

HOLY E36 M3!! How do they make that little 4 banger make those noises? Dodge needs to immediately put that exhaust on the Dart, or someone in the aftermarket needs to knock it off. It is auditory sex. Oh wait, we still have to drive it dont we? Let's just cut to the chase....

I call her Isabella, and she is mine.

Soooo much fun to drive, handling is great, the power is good, laggy but not if you drive it like and Italian car should be driven...high in the rev range. I rarely let cars be an emotional decision but I'd be lying if I said that didnt factor in a bit.

On the upside, I had emailed their internet department before going and they quoted me $1000 off MSRP....No one is selling these below MSRP, the last dealer I was at still had a $9000 "market adjustment" on theirs and it was sold by the time I got there (I just wanted to drive it, no way I'd pay that markup) So I showed the email to the salesman and he said they screwed up, someone apparently didn't know they dont discount Abarths. I didn't raise a fuss, I knew they didn't discount them but I figured it was worth a shot. Still he comes back and says, the quote was wrong, but we'll honor it. Great dealer, great experience, GREAT car!

Very cool. There are reasons I won't let the commercials sucker me into test driving new cars.

Oh, and after it was all said and done they tell me Oh yeah, you'll be invited to an Abarth track day in NJ, they bring the Abarths so you dont have to abuse your own and its a full day with instructors.

Free driving school, sweet!

Awesome!

I really like that car, I want to drive one as well.

What I really want is that engine/trans in an X1/9 though.

Damn, nice work! I'm envious. Enjoy it well!

m4ff3w wrote: Awesome! I really like that car, I want to drive one as well. What I really want is that engine/trans in an X1/9 though.

What I really want is that engine and trans in my Yugo ;)

Unf. What a great buy!

I'm definitely looking forward to updates on this thing, as this may be my first new car purchase.

And you aren't kidding about the sound... there's a retired guy around here who has one, and I spent about 30 minutes ripping around some back roads chasing him in my V6 Probe GT.

I really like the sound of the Probe with its Magnaflow catback, but it had nothing on the little Abarth.

Care to share the Fiat dealer's name?

I'm not sure that I'm mentally prepared for you to be driving a brand new car.

Sure sounds like fun, though...

Racer1ab wrote: Care to share the Fiat dealer's name?

D'Ambrosio Fiat in Downingtown, PA. Worth a mention since they honored a deal that no one would make and treated me well.

Woody wrote: I'm not sure that I'm mentally prepared for you to be driving a brand new car. Sure sounds like fun, though...

Technically I had a brand new car in the Smart 4.5 years ago. I actually blame the Smart, it got me to like tiny quirky cars and warranties for my daily driver.

ok... I need to stop out at your place sometime and check this one out...

Congrats! Please start a build thread, as I'd love to hear what an Abarth is like to live with/commute with...

mad_machine wrote: ok... I need to stop out at your place sometime and check this one out...

I always welcome visitors. I'll be down in Wildwood with it on Sunday, a bit closer to your neck of the woods.

dj06482 wrote: Congrats! Please start a build thread, as I'd love to hear what an Abarth is like to live with/commute with...

Dunno that I'd call it a build thread. One of the things going through my mind when I looked at the Dart was everything I wanted to do to it, I was even thumbing through the Mopar performance catalog in the dealership. But the whole point to this exercise was to get to a DD that I didn't have to do anything to, I have enough other projects. The Abarth is pretty much just the way I want it. Black out the mirrors, some night shades on the side markers and call it done.

But much as I did with the Smart I will be happy to post periodic updates of life with Abarth.

Awesome! Exactly the car I 've been lusting over.

Congrats.

you win

JThw8 wrote:

m4ff3w wrote: Awesome! I really like that car, I want to drive one as well. What I really want is that engine/trans in an X1/9 though.

What I really want is that engine and trans in **the back seat of** my Yugo ;)

FTFYFTMFW.

Keep giving us updates along with all the problems so we can all agree this was a bad idea and we should all stay out of the Fiat stores.

JK. Congrats on this cool purchase.

Hey JThw8, you were in my town. Would have like to have met up. If you wind up back in D'town drop a line.

Can't say I'd meet you at the dealer though. Didn't have quite the same experience. Much worse actually.

Rob_Mopar wrote: Hey JThw8, you were in my town. Would have like to have met up. If you wind up back in D'town drop a line. Can't say I'd meet you at the dealer though. Didn't have quite the same experience. Much worse actually.

Bummer Rob, I had no idea, I thought you were out closer to Andy.

Heard lots of good things about the Fiat dept there but yeah its a big mega dealer so it wouldn't surprise me if there were some bad stories to be told. I did hear a lot of very cliched sales speak so I could feel the smarm oozing there. But they stood by a deal I didn't even expect them to so I'll give them props for that.

Yeah, I heard one of those recently. One of the best sounded factory 4cyl cars i've ever heard.

So, Day 1. Wife wanted to run some errands and hey...who am I to deny her request to drive her around everywhere right?

When it comes time to go back to work next week my neighbors are going to hate me. It reminds me of when I used to ride a harley to work. There's just no way to be quiet getting out of the driveway, and my driveway points directly at their bedroom window. I hope they forgive me.

Lots of fun to drive around town and on the highway. The launching is so much fun you almost don't mind stop lights. I still have to work on getting smooth with it. You really do need to bring the revs up a bit on launch or it just kinda falls on its face.

Why they hell isn't sport mode on by default? (must check and see if that is configurable like so many other things on the car) It is definitely my default mode, part of what is throwing off my learning to launch smooth is the car starting up in non-sport mode which reduces the torque in 1st and 2nd. Gas mileage be damned, I want a nice hard launch ;)

Stopped at the FLAPS for some night shades (the side marker lights stick out like a sore thumb) 3 young kids were piling into a truck as I was leaving and Isabella caught their eye but then they went back to getting in the truck. I jumped in and fired her up and suddenly 3 heads popped out of the truck and stared like "what the hell was that?"

Wife likes it. A bit roomier than the smart. Back seat is pretty much decorative except for small passengers but cargo space is great and even better when folding down the back seats (which will probably end up as default mode for me)

They included a killer stereo system with this (Bose) 6 speakers and sub, great sound....I've left it off mostly....the engine sounds are just so great. But it will be nice to have it for the commute. The built in handsfree is also a feature I've been looking forward to. Wife's car has it and although I dont like to take calls in the car anyway it's nice to know I have a safe option.

Sunroof is large and very cool, has a sunshade that can be left in place with the sunroof open to cut down on glare and bald guy sunburned head. But I wish there was a solid shade option, I'm fairly sensitive to bright light and the sunshade doesn't filter as well as the one in the smart did. I'll probably have some good tint added to the sunroof to help out.

Still love it, did you expect anything less on day 1?

I assume you've driven a MINI Cooper S- how does the Abarth compare? I keep eyeballing the things.... wifes' S is gettin' up on miles.

mndsm wrote: I assume you've driven a MINI Cooper S- how does the Abarth compare? I keep eyeballing the things.... wifes' S is gettin' up on miles.

I have driven one, but it was a test drive about 5 years ago so I won't say I have enough experience to compare. I liked the S when I drove it, I remember that. But I can say the sound...wow, the sound...if you haven't heard an Abarth you need to. Nothing short of maybe some supercars is making a sound like this on a stock exhaust. As noted, at times I think it may be too loud but it's just such beautiful music. It's something the Italian's have always done well and they hit the nail on the head here.

Interior/driver comfort I'd put them on par with each other. Interior appointments are nice in both cars but not very high end like a BMW or Mercedes. But definitely nice and less econo-car than my smart was.

Handling, here I'm not sure I can compare, I just didnt have enough wheel time with the S. The Abarth handling is great, very crisp and I seem to recall the S being equally satisfying. Suspension is stiff, but not terribly so, the ride is a bit more compliant than my Smart although the suspension is stiffer, but it doesn't smooth out the rough bits like the BMW did, nor would I expect it to.

I'd think the mini has more interior space but again that may just be perception. The Abarth seems like it should be a small car, but then you put it next to something like my wife's Kia Soul and its almost the same damn size...In fact I'm gonna go snap a shot of the 2 together while I have a few minutes of daylight left.

If you find yourself in NJ, holler and I'll let you come play :)

A quick side by side with the Soul. Perspective isn't perfect but it gives you the idea.

JThw8 wrote:

mndsm wrote: I assume you've driven a MINI Cooper S- how does the Abarth compare? I keep eyeballing the things.... wifes' S is gettin' up on miles.

I have driven one, but it was a test drive about 5 years ago so I won't say I have enough experience to compare. I liked the S when I drove it, I remember that. But I can say the sound...wow, the sound...if you haven't heard an Abarth you need to. Nothing short of maybe some supercars is making a sound like this on a stock exhaust. As noted, at times I think it may be too loud but it's just such beautiful music. It's something the Italian's have always done well and they hit the nail on the head here. Interior/driver comfort I'd put them on par with each other. Interior appointments are nice in both cars but not very high end like a BMW or Mercedes. But definitely nice and less econo-car than my smart was. Handling, here I'm not sure I can compare, I just didnt have enough wheel time with the S. The Abarth handling is great, very crisp and I seem to recall the S being equally satisfying. Suspension is stiff, but not terribly so, the ride is a bit more compliant than my Smart although the suspension is stiffer, but it doesn't smooth out the rough bits like the BMW did, nor would I expect it to. I'd think the mini has more interior space but again that may just be perception. The Abarth seems like it should be a small car, but then you put it next to something like my wife's Kia Soul and its almost the same damn size...In fact I'm gonna go snap a shot of the 2 together while I have a few minutes of daylight left. If you find yourself in NJ, holler and I'll let you come play :)

I'll keep that in mind. Yeah, i've heard an Abarth before, I was entranced. It is a gorgeous sounding vehicle.