The 500 Abarth is coming

Wait they haven't released any official pricing on the U.S. abarth have they? everything I have seen has been pure speculations ranging from $21k to $35k

But if it gets the job done, I can't complain in a car for $30k or less.

Well there's the difference, i guess. $30k is a WHOLE LOT, i mean a WHOLE berkeleyING LOT of potential goodness, at least the way i buy things. So i guess my standards are just significantly higher than yours, thus my preference for things to not feel crappy when they cost tens of thousands of dollars.

I fixed that for you.

Yeah, i see that opinion about as much as i see people saying that guys who make a living playing around in other people's brand new cars have pretty great jobs.

Sometimes it's even the same people expressing both opinions in different places.

FWIW, I like the way it looks, but think they are completely out to lunch on the pricing.

I agree with that. As i said, i would really like the car.. at the right price point. This other thread seems to agree with me completely:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/fiat-500-not-selling-well/41611/page1/

Capt Slow wrote: Wait they haven't released any official pricing on the U.S. abarth have they? everything I have seen has been pure speculations ranging from $21k to $35k

Logically, if a moderately-equipped 500 is around $18k, I can't see the Abarth going much higher than $25k. Then again, Minis are in the stratosphere when fully-performance-laden.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/16/autos/fiat_abarth_500/

160hp... not bad, not bad at all. Can't wait to test drive one next year

In reply to Gearheadotaku:

Watch topgear Clarkson gives it a good thrashing it they give it the topgear seal!

I bought a 500 sport because im going to build something on the said and I just wanted a nice daily driver.

In reply to HiTempguy:

They claim the the US Abarth is going to get a HP bump of almost 200hp!

In reply to gamby:

They Abarth are already much cheaper than turbo/John cooper works Mini's.

Fiat is already capable of making the car cheaper and is going to under cut the minis.

In reply to Capt Slow:

Its not even close to being 35,000 in europe! Thats just internet BS!

Its barley in the mid 20s over in europe.......

You have to also take into account over 60% of the car is being built on our soil. MI is taking car of the drive line and assembly and alot of the car is being produced in mexico right now.

So the abarth cannot reach 30,000 and they know to price it cheaper than the mini in the first place.

yes its just funny to see people say that its not worth it when they have no idea what the price will be. That being said that info should be released in about 3.5 hrs. I think...

Duke wrote:

HiTempguy wrote: Really? I haven't ever thought that, even when I use to DD sprints and fireflys. You must be really rough on cars. In fact, I have NEVER had a piece of interior equipment in a car fail on me. So, what you are actually saying is that emotionally, with no logic or rational, you somehow "feel" the car is cheesy and not well made.

I can't turn the radio on my E46 BMW off. The car is 8 years and 74,000 miles old. The knob is loose and rattly and cannot be poked off/on any more - all I can do is turn it down to zero when I don't want to listen.

Crap -- I can turn the radio on and off in my E36, but I have a dickens of a time adjusting the volume. I guess they fixed that in the E46, and broke something else in the process . . .

I'm hoping they'll offer the convertible in Abarth form. That would be fun.

stock video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSeKmb2BcrI

When can we get this car?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GCT2zHKi_0

BAMF wrote: I'm hoping they'll offer the convertible in Abarth form. That would be fun.

...and that's the Euro ride height I was talking about. Perfect from the factory.

Apparently that's the SS ride height. Abarth SS wheels/springs/brakes:

http://www.fiat500abarth.us/blog/aftermarket-modifications/american-ss-kit/

Factory goodness FTW, though.

I just read here the Competizion model is heading for the US too!

petegossett wrote: I just read here the Competizion model is heading for the US too!

The Fit isn't more efficient than a regular 500. It's a fun econo-hatch but not the practical sports car its made out to be, and it's really unrefined. It rotates fairly well but you can really feel the height when pushing the car hard. I have a 2008 Sport but the newer generation doesn't seem much different and the styling is even dorkier.

It does have practicality on its side but I am not particularly impressed with its build quality.

I'm buying a 500 or an Abarth.

forzav12 wrote:

gamby wrote: http://www.fiatusa.com/abarth Not that I'm buying one, but it would be way atop my list if I were in the market for a new car. The Fit Sport would be more efficient, practical and reliable, but that Abarth looks fantastic. I hope it comes here close to Euro spec with the nice low ride height from the factory and the wheels that were on Hammond's car when he drove the Abarth cabrio on TGUK.

The Fit may be more pratical due to it's girth compared to the Fiat, the rest I'm not so sure about. Besides, the little Fiat looks great inside and out-the Fit? Not so much. I was suprised at how cheesy the Honda was when I drove one-hubcaps and all.

I like their commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VLwgnjKkRz0

petegossett wrote: I just read here the Competizion model is heading for the US too!

The quote in that article is $52k for it. That can't be accurate. $30k maybe--but $52k and it better be a giant-killer on a road course.

At $52k it would have to be legendary. Like, faster than an Evo, E92 M3 or Laguna Seca 302 Mustang.

It has a chance of selling a few if it is less than a Mini Cooper S but otherwise... not likely.

Capt Slow wrote: I like their commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VLwgnjKkRz0

that is a great commercial.. and does sum up italian cars so well

mad_machine wrote:

Capt Slow wrote: I like their commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VLwgnjKkRz0

that is a great commercial.. and does sum up italian cars so well

Yeah, that's perfect.

Damn, is that an appealing little car. (of course the chick is devastating)

I took a spin in both the Fit and the 500 yesterday.

Drivewise I preferred the Fiat. Neither one was a super car by any means, but you have a much better line of sight with fewer and smaller blind spots on the Fiat. It also had a sportier feel, not up to the standards of my S2000, but sportier than the Fit.

I'm fast becoming a fanboi of the Fiat. I've been mostly interested in it as something new and thinking of it as one of several possibilities for a city type car for my wife and I next year. It's moved right to the top of the list. My wife will settle for nothing less than a dolled up Abarth now tho.

It is cheaper than the Fit, which shouldn't surprise you since the Fit is Honda and they are always over priced. I've heard about the boutique dealers and never understood it, but I just found out that there are only 4 dealers for them in our area, but 2 of them are near me. That's why I didn't understand.

That should ultimately hurt sales until they add more dealers but the sales manager said Fiat was actively adding new dealers everywhere so that should be less of an issue. Already there are more Fiat dealers in my area than Suzuki and no one's complaining about boutique dealers there. They

I don't understand the complaints about the Fiat interior vs. the Fit. The Fiat's is much nicer. The only thing I can figure out is that maybe some don't like the large body colored piece of fiberglass running across the front of the car? IIRC Mini also has that and they make it so that it can be easily customized. Looks like that would work on the Fiat as well.

It's also roomier than the Fit. No, it doesn't have the stationwagon type storage aft of the rear seats, but it's feels roomier in the front. I meant to, but I never did actually make it to the rear seats of either.

The complaint about the seat bottoms being too thin? It is within 1" of the thickness of the seats in my F150. Both are up on more of a platform than I'm used to in a sports car. As a matter of fact seat height is the only real complaint I can make about the Fiat. Well that and the funny lever on the side to manually raise and lower the seat. It never seemed to work right on any of the cars.

It feels as if the seats sit higher in the sunroof equipped model. There is a lot more headroom in the non sunroofed model than you loose to the sunroof. We had several of the salesmen over and they noted the same thing. There is a headroom issue on the sunroof model, but none on the vert.

A shorter mounting bracket would correct the seat issue and should I buy one that will be my first mod.

They didn't have Abarth pricing either, but they said they had been told it would be $24-$25kish. They said they would be able to take orders next month. It's supposed to come only in the basic colors of white, black, red and gray. 160hp is supposed to be the U.S. version with 180 hp for the European version. Smog is supposed to be the culprit there. But the factory rep, who had just left, said there was a higher hp version was on the way next year.

My wife reamed them for not having a yellow so I'm sure they'll hop right to and introduce one by roll out date.

One nice thing is that they get Chrysler special financing. Right now it's 0%.

The Euro standard Abarth is olny 140HP ish. It needs the full Esse Esse treatment to get 180, so our 160 base Abarth is great. The graphics are red, so I doubt Yellow will happen, but I do love the regular 500 in that shade.

I'm going to reserve judgement on the Fiat until I get to drive one. In the meantime, they need to offer it in this shade of green:

ALL cars need to be available in this shade of green.