BeeJay60
New member
Following an extremely unreliable experience with a new 595 Competizione 160, I collected my brand new replacement Cordolo Red Competizione 180 on 3rd June 2015, from Arnold Clark Edinburgh.
I have now covered 1760 miles in my new 180 following a week's holiday touring the Yorkshire Dales and north Wales. This is a completely different car to the previous 160 model. The new Garrett turbo engine and Monza exhaust sounds beefier and more rorty, and mid-range punch is noticeably more potent. The new engine also spins eagerly and more smoothly to the red line. The turbo boost gauge has also been recalibrated slightly. The standard Brembo front brakes are reassuringly efficient, a factor well tested on the undulating Yorkshire dales and north Wales "B" roads. I also liked the new alloy wheel design. The wheels on my car are in satin black finish which blends well with the black Abarth sidewinder decal and Cordolo Red paint.
The handling, for public road driving, is both confidence inspiring and compliant enough to cope with most road surfaces. The steering is also reasonably communicative in "Sport" mode which I choose to use all of the time. I have yet to experience the car on the track. Whenever an opportunity arises I shall report back on that aspect at a later date.
If I have a criticism it is that the Sabelt sport seats are set too high on the subframes with no height adjustment available. For my 5' 10" frame I would prefer the seats to be 2 to 3 inches lower. Also a two-way adjustable steering wheel option would be good, rather than the current height only adjustable arrangement.
On my car tour of 1350 miles I averaged 38.6 mpg on Shell V-Power on a mixture of motorways and spirited driving on undulating "B" roads. Having owned both the 160 and the 180 within a few weeks of each other, this is the car Abarth should have produced as the Competizione model in the first place. It's a cracker!
Brian
I have now covered 1760 miles in my new 180 following a week's holiday touring the Yorkshire Dales and north Wales. This is a completely different car to the previous 160 model. The new Garrett turbo engine and Monza exhaust sounds beefier and more rorty, and mid-range punch is noticeably more potent. The new engine also spins eagerly and more smoothly to the red line. The turbo boost gauge has also been recalibrated slightly. The standard Brembo front brakes are reassuringly efficient, a factor well tested on the undulating Yorkshire dales and north Wales "B" roads. I also liked the new alloy wheel design. The wheels on my car are in satin black finish which blends well with the black Abarth sidewinder decal and Cordolo Red paint.
The handling, for public road driving, is both confidence inspiring and compliant enough to cope with most road surfaces. The steering is also reasonably communicative in "Sport" mode which I choose to use all of the time. I have yet to experience the car on the track. Whenever an opportunity arises I shall report back on that aspect at a later date.
If I have a criticism it is that the Sabelt sport seats are set too high on the subframes with no height adjustment available. For my 5' 10" frame I would prefer the seats to be 2 to 3 inches lower. Also a two-way adjustable steering wheel option would be good, rather than the current height only adjustable arrangement.
On my car tour of 1350 miles I averaged 38.6 mpg on Shell V-Power on a mixture of motorways and spirited driving on undulating "B" roads. Having owned both the 160 and the 180 within a few weeks of each other, this is the car Abarth should have produced as the Competizione model in the first place. It's a cracker!
Brian
