General Abarth 500 & Alfa MiTo - back to back test drive

[Squadrone Rosso]

I drove a 155bhp TB Veloce MiTo and a A500 back to back at Platts near Stoke at an open weekend a few weeks back

The MiTo is very good. Quick, refined, practical & fun (crap lower dash & door plastics though). A solid 8/10 car.

The A500 was out of this world:worship: I adored it & wanted to take it home. I've been gushing about it ever since

I felt 17 again. It brought the hooligan out in me and I can see it being a license looser unless you exercise a lot of self restraint.

I interior is stunning too and the bespoke leather is on par with a Ferrari and much better than any Alfa I've ever been in.

I really miss my Seicento Schumacher and hate myself for chopping it in back in 2003 I had small Fiat's for years.

My heart says to change my 159Ti for the A500.

My head (and my wife) says I'm nuts akin to a Mid Life Crisis:lol:

Both cars are totally different animals and to the Ti's credit, it did not feel heavy, slow or cumbersome after testing both new cars on the weekend.

This was contrary to my expectations.

Some folk say that the cars are in competition with each other

I don't really see the MiTo & A500 doing battle though.

Firstly there's the practicality issue. The MiTo will seat four in relative comfort and has a decent boot.

Then there's the "class issue" - Alfa Romeo versus Fiat. OK, both are generally laughed at in the UK but AR is Fiat's premium brand.

Horses for courses but one things for sure, the A500 is an Epic car. 20/10 in the cool & driving stakes. It's also in my fantasy car garage.

It really is that good:slayer:

Cheers,

 

[903cc]

Then there's the "class issue" - Alfa Romeo versus Fiat. OK, both are generally laughed at in the UK but AR is Fiat's premium brand,

Hmmmm To me ABARTH is THE PREMIUM brand and is much more exclusive than Alfa Romeo.

I don't drive a Fiat I drive an Abarth. The Manual says so. I cannot see the word Fiat on my car anywhere. Much like an Alfa MiTo is just a up market GP.

 

[simer]

Is it just me or is the Mito a funny looking thing?

 

[Hellcat]

Abarth isn't the premium brand.... Alfa is. Abarth is the sporting brand. The cars enter rallys and such. Alfa is for cruising about looking good, direct competition to BMW/Audi.

500/GP Abarth is a lot more like the Fiat they are based on than the Mito/GP. A GP feels like a small family car. A good one but still a small family car. The Mito feels like a high end saloon - only smaller. The feel of the cabin is really quite brilliant for a car of it's cost and size.

Not had a go of the 500/GP yet but the 155 Mito was a hoot.

 

[Squadrone Rosso]

Hey, my post was to heap praise on the A500.

It's is a belter, regardless of how it's marketed but if we're being picky, Lancia is the luxury brand, Alfa the sporting, Fiat the entry level, then there's the Abarth niche (badged up Fiat's), followed by the Maserati & Ferrari high / top end cars.

The point is to the great unwashed, Fiat's are still Fix It Again Tomorrow cars & Alfa's are fast, sporting, premium rust buckets that'll break down by the side of the road.

Ordinary folk just don't get it......

 

[Hellcat]

This could go on for weeks

Given Alfa sell a 1.4 NA (Mito) and the tamest thing Abarth sell is a tiny car with 1.4 turbo 120bhp... I'd say Abarth gets the sporting tag line.

 

[initialg]

the alfas a right ugly beaver absolutly gash

 

[Hellcat]

Doesn't leave much scope for describing large Renaults.....

 

[903cc]

Abarth isn't the premium brand.... Alfa is. Abarth is the sporting brand. The cars enter rallys and such. Alfa is for cruising about looking good, direct competition to BMW/Audi./QUOTE]


NO that would be Lancia. Alfa is the supposed sporting brand. Lancia the BMW/Audi rival. Abarth trumps it as the premium sporting Brand

 

[Hellcat]

I reserve judgement until I've driven the GP/500 abarth

 

[DAV1D]

Hmmmm To me ABARTH is THE PREMIUM brand and is much more exclusive than Alfa Romeo.

Premium Brand? Maybe. Premium Product? No.

Admittedly the 500 is by far the best built Fiat in years but the A500 is still a Fiat for one reason (not that this bothers me in any way or would put me off): Ask a bloke on the street or more importantly a girl what car is it and they are going to say; "Its a Fiat Isn't it?"

Abarths will be more rare than Alfas but in the grand scheme of things Alfa will still be higher up the Fiat Family Tree. In the same way I have more neighbours with Ferrari's (3 in total) than Maserati's (Just 1), doesn't mean Ferrari as a brand is any worse off for it.

Whilst I'm ranting, the MiTo is a disappointment. It should have been a great little car but its ended up being uglier than the GP. Give me a GPA over the 155 MiTo anyday.

I don't think I have a point but if I did then it would be:

"Buy what you want regardless of what anyone else thinks" even me

 

[OrangeSport]

Not driven the Abarth 500, but have driven the Mito 155 & the Grande Punto 130. The Mito does feel more solid, but the driving position is the same. The seats are soft, so you need to spec the leather.

They both drive well, and I think they both look good.

For my money, I don't think the Alpha is worth the extra. I would go for a GP Sporting 120 5 door with leather....

 

[white 500]

NO that would be Lancia. Alfa is the supposed sporting brand. Lancia the BMW/Audi rival. Abarth trumps it as the premium sporting Brand

trouble is you can't buy a lancia in the u.k so alfa romeo IS the direct competitor to bmw,mercedes,audi,lexus
also who makes the spider/brera/8c/gt. ? not abarth all they make is a punto and a 500 both at less than £14.000. and tbh they dont even make those, i think you'r idea of premium is a bit flawed

 

[Mark Elvin]

I cannot see the word Fiat on my car anywhere.

Try looking at the glass!!!!!

I doubt Abarth have had bespoke windows made.

 

[abarth_178]

Deluded by marketing! sorry but it is still a Fiat.

 

[John R Smith]

Of course the Abarths are Fiats. Abarths always were Fiats, unless they were Simcas (for a while). Carlo started out as a tuner-up and engine wizard on pretty much stock small cars. Eventually Abarth actually did make most of their engines, but the base car was always in there underneath, somewhere. But the whole point of an Abarth, historically, is that it is a hotted-up Fiat, with a scorpion badge or two slapped on it. Nothing wrong with that, at all, but "premium brand"? Surely not. Unless we are talking about pure racing cars, of course, like the Osella Abarths. And since the 1970s, when Fiat bought Abarth out, it has been just a badge.

John

 

[306maxi]

Deluded by marketing! sorry but it is still a Fiat.

Rather

 

[Nuova500]

I was talking to someone at work about this, he says Abarths are not Fiats so he too has been deluded. An Abarth 500 is a Fiat, its made by Fiat, in a Fiat factory in Poland alongside 500s, Pandas, Seicentos and Ford KAs... its hardly premium. Stop being snobby come down off your horse and be proud to own a Fiat with the Abarth label, think of it as a Brabus Merc or a Cosworth Ford and youll be right.

 

[Murano16v]

AHH Simca 1000 Abarths, great machines. Of course the Abarth 500 is pure Fiat and nothing wrong with that. Despite what Fiat might want you to believe it is simply a fast little Fiat ( probably with associated minor glitches ) , but premium brand ??

 

[306maxi]

I was talking to someone at work about this, he says Abarths are not Fiats so he too has been deluded. An Abarth 500 is a Fiat, its made by Fiat, in a Fiat factory in Poland alongside 500s, Pandas, Seicentos and Ford KAs... its hardly premium. Stop being snobby come down off your horse and be proud to own a Fiat with the Abarth label, think of it as a Brabus Merc or a Cosworth Ford and youll be right.

Agreed. What's the problem with owning a Fiat anyway? In my mind Abarth is more of a spec level than a brand tbh. Really it's the same car as the other 500's just with a different engine, a few tweaks to the interior and exterior with better suspension and brakes.

If you want a good example of a car that was actually badged a Fiat but which was more than just a different engine and some tweaks then look no further than the 131 Abarth. It doesn't share a single panel with the boggo 131 other than the roof and doors and thre rest is pretty much all fiberglass, it had a sophisticated independent rear suspension which none of the other productions models had. That to me is the sort of car which justifies a totally different brand even though Fiat actually sold it as a Fiat Abarth 131.

I think like Nuova500 says it's just snobbery and I think it is a little sad tbh.....