Good day to you all.
First sorry if this post offends but its my opinion. My family and i have just got back from a short week break, id hired a 500 abarth through the guaranteed car rentals at Europecar. I had great hopes for this little scamp of a pocket rocket, id done 80000miles in a 100hp in just over 6years with my only major complaint being the small fuel tank, so this car could only be better,right??? well NO. I was so excited to finally get my grubby mits on the little A500 but i was left so dissapointed, very very dissapointed.
Ill start with the negatives,the auto gearbox. Who the **** allowed this box into the car??? i have two BMWs a125i 6speed auto and a 320d 8speed auto, neither of these boxes smash into the next gear, both are super smooth, they dont hunt they just work perfectly if i drive either of the BMWs quick the gear changes are just seamless, the 125i is 2011 so old tech but the 320d in 2013 so newer tech, both of which are far far superior to the "brand new should-be-up-to-date auto box" in the A500. I couldnt drive the car with any passion as it would just lurch between gear changes, not good for passengers.
The noise which travelling at speed is horrific,thats before id tried it with roof down which is even worse.
The steering wheel wouldnt go high enough and the seat wouldnt go low enough so i couldnt see the top of the instrument panel, im only 5ft 10 but i could not get comfy sitting on the seat rather than in the seat.
The radio/media system was dire, i paired my phone but my sons iphone5 kept over-riding my phone even though i didnt pair it wtf..
Mpg is rubbish when i did press on and spent way too much on fuel, it didint bother me but only the 35l tank meant frequent stops.
As you sit so high the visability is terrible, the rear view mirror very nearly was ripped off as if seamed to just constantly be in my line of sight.
The turning circle is rubbish,that with the dog **** auto gear box meant 3point turns/parallel parking etc become very tiresome.
The drivers door has a mind of its own when opening it, it just wouldnt stay open whilst trying to get out of the car, and i love the way the seats hold no memory when you let rear passengers in or out of the rear.
It felt a lot less planted than i remembered my panda being even with wider tyres, high speed driving seamed quite unstable.
I could forgive all the issuses if it was a cheap car but its not is it?? retail is over£20000, Fiat would be at the bottom of the pile of other cars that id buy, no way is it worth that much money, its very much a that'll do car. The plastics used in the car interior are rubbish, but that'll do. The quality of the thud of the door closing is non excistent, again that'll do, the ride and handling,that'll do, that ****ing gear box, well that'll do.

But i did throw it down a certain Sa Colabra and it did put a smile on my face. Manual gear changers are so much better than the automated changes. (see some thing good to say)

I told the lady at Europecar that i was pleasently surprised that the car was actually available, i thought it might have been not and i would be lumbered with an Astra or something. I even said to her that if its any good id trade my car in for one when i got home, both the BMWs are safe.

It was brand new so hardly abused with only 500kms on the clock,but it creaked and growned as if it had done 100 times that mileage.

I agree with you on the MTA box, it's awful.

But the rest of what you wrote I see as plus points!

They aren't means of sensible transport, they are compromised far too much to be of any use that way and hopefully that puts enough people off them to keep a bit of exclusivity about them.
But I think perhaps they are a bit less compromised than stuff like Range Rover Sports and M badge X6s.

But on the odd occasion you get it on the right road and the right time, they are fantastic entertainment.

£20000 is a small price to pay when you cane a £70000 BMW from the lights!

Other way to look at it, 'wow you were driving an Abarth c - top down and not a boring run of the mill BMW'.

Most reviews say similar stuff to you but do say that people who buy Abarth are the people who want Abarth. It's a car for specific people.

I understand the MTA box was recently improved and it's as good as manual gear changes, the art is anticipation.

In USA they have the full auto AISIN gearbox, so no robotised gear changes,it may come here.

Some years back we wanted to change our auto Toyota rav4, I hired a Pug 2008 with MTA type gearbox, it was horrible compared to our 4 speed automatic, never bought the car but found another brand with Aisisn 5 speed.

Plastics etc are annoying but as I said people who want Abarth buy Abarth, it's the only 80s type GTi left and oh that exhaust sound, now unless you want refinement in all areas... We are privileged to be spoilt by so much choice. Anyway all good houses should have a selection plus couple of motorbikes

If you have a moment, look at the Biposto, I think it was around £30k and almost devoid of goodies.

How was the holiday

Cheers for the pleasant replies. First the holiday was very good,it was only 6days away just a half term break for my lad who does his sats next month,it’ll be just one of many this year, may my next hire car better suit my needs, not deafen or cripple me the car was way too noisy to have the roof down I’d go for the skydome like I did in my 100hp, lightened up a dull cabin.
Sa colabra early in the morning away from the coaches,the taxis, the locals, and the bloody cyclists,yes it was the correct car for that road. I just drove foot planted and even made myself feal queezy,it’s only a hirecsr and I didn’t care.
I’ve re read my op a few times now and I’ve booked a test drive in a manual one just to feal the difference, I won’t ever buy one as for me £20k is a late BMW M135i. Happy motoring guys.

gtidriver said:

Cheers for the pleasant replies. First the holiday was very good,it was only 6days away just a half term break for my lad who does his sats next month,it’ll be just one of many this year, may my next hire car better suit my needs, not deafen or cripple me the car was way too noisy to have the roof down I’d go for the skydome like I did in my 100hp, lightened up a dull cabin.
Sa colabra early in the morning away from the coaches,the taxis, the locals, and the bloody cyclists,yes it was the correct car for that road. I just drove foot planted and even made myself feal queezy,it’s only a hirecsr and I didn’t care.
I’ve re read my op a few times now and I’ve booked a test drive in a manual one just to feal the difference, I won’t ever buy one as for me £20k is a late BMW M135i. Happy motoring guys.

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haha.. I think you need to get a manual Competionze to compliment your BMW collection.

I think I am doing about 40 miles at push per week at the moment, working from home doesn't come with driving perks

Palma has been coming up many times in conversation over the last few months, seems idyllic; hiking, the roads as you pointed & the spanish food. Daughter is there at present, looks like you have confirmed our trip with 'Sa Colabra'.

It's worth noting no one pays list.

I was offered £1000 off before even got through the showroom door.
Ended up with £4000 off my Turismo.

If I was in your position and wanted a small Fiat again I would buy this. But that's just me.https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...&aggregatedTrim=Lounge&postcode=la80ja&page=1

Goudrons said:

It's worth noting no one pays list.

I was offered £1000 off before even got through the showroom door.
Ended up with £4000 off my Turismo.

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how did you manage £4k off, that's insane !!

It's not really possible to compare a robotic gearbox to a fluid driven gearbox as like for like. Generally the robot type boxes are more compact and also offer better fuel economy.

I much prefer the use of plastics in the pre facelift 500 versions to be honest. I hate the new radio design compared to the previous versions.
The seats in my cars always remember my seat position if I let people out and the doors stay open and feel reassuringly heavy and close well.

I do find the Fiat standard shocks/dampers are make of cream cheese and once replaced both my cars with low profile wheels feel VERY planted on the road. All four were replaced at 18000miles on both cars and once done, the cars had never drive so well before.

For me the TwinAir is the perfect match between performance and economy. I can easiily get 52 - 55mpg driven carefully or 45mpg driven hard. The car easily gives 350miles to a tank with miles to spare.

I have a selespeed dualogic box on one and I find this very smooth generally. It is designed to learn from your driving style. The only time I find that it lurches, is pedal to the metal from a standstill and this is easily overcome by switching to manual mode and using the paddles.

You are never going to get the best out of any car with only 500miles on the clock... it won´t have run in or smoothed out at all.

We had four cars in the UK on the drive.. Two 500sports, a BMW X3 M sport and a classic... On moving here we sold the X3 and didn´t replace it.. I found driving the TwinAir way more fun.

I paid 18K for a fully specced out TwinAir and although it has all the bits you can´t compare it to a 48K BMW X3. In many ways I prefer the Fiat and at just over 4 years old it is a much cheaper car to run than a BMW.

arorat said:

how did you manage £4k off, that's insane !!

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Not really.
I actually did a bit better, but like I wrote, a £1000 off was offered before I even made it in the showroom.

There's also certain discounts that FCA offer certain customers, like Police employees, NHS staff. (BT staff?) British Cycling members, Aston Villa season ticket holders (yeah really) and a few others.

They are called Privilege and Affinity depending on how you buy it, PCP or outright.
http://www.westmidspolfed.com/member-services/services/?/Fiat-Group

http://origin-www.fiat.co.uk/fleet-services/partners/aston-villa-fc

These are issued quarterly and can go up and down, just so happens it was £3000 on the Abarth at the time I purchased.
Last time out I saved £1750 on my Panda 4x4.

I qualify due to being an NHS slave, but the cheapest way to qualify was to become a member of British Cycling for 20 odd quid, though I'm not sure if Fiat still sponsor them these days.

I did a bit better as the dealer screwed the paperwork up on the order form.
They "lost" a £1000 in the calculation, effectively giving me another £1000 discount, they also offered £1500 more than the PCP balloon payment on the Panda.
Their mistake, my gain!

p6baseunit said:

It's not really possible to compare a robotic gearbox to a fluid driven gearbox as like for like. Generally the robot type boxes are more compact and also offer better fuel economy.

I much prefer the use of plastics in the pre facelift 500 versions to be honest. I hate the new radio design compared to the previous versions.
The seats in my cars always remember my seat position if I let people out and the doors stay open and feel reassuringly heavy and close well.

I do find the Fiat standard shocks/dampers are make of cream cheese and once replaced both my cars with low profile wheels feel VERY planted on the road. All four were replaced at 18000miles on both cars and once done, the cars had never drive so well before.

For me the TwinAir is the perfect match between performance and economy. I can easiily get 52 - 55mpg driven carefully or 45mpg driven hard. The car easily gives 350miles to a tank with miles to spare.

I have a selespeed dualogic box on one and I find this very smooth generally. It is designed to learn from your driving style. The only time I find that it lurches, is pedal to the metal from a standstill and this is easily overcome by switching to manual mode and using the paddles.

You are never going to get the best out of any car with only 500miles on the clock... it won´t have run in or smoothed out at all.

We had four cars in the UK on the drive.. Two 500sports, a BMW X3 M sport and a classic... On moving here we sold the X3 and didn´t replace it.. I found driving the TwinAir way more fun.

I paid 18K for a fully specced out TwinAir and although it has all the bits you can´t compare it to a 48K BMW X3. In many ways I prefer the Fiat and at just over 4 years old it is a much cheaper car to run than a BMW.

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interesting points... agree with the auto vs robotised, in US they have the full auto but the car seems heavier. A brilliant point about replacing the shocks on the TA, I guess a low cost change like that will make a massive difference.

Goudrons said:

Not really.
I actually did a bit better, but like I wrote, a £1000 off was offered before I even made it in the showroom.

There's also certain discounts that FCA offer certain customers, like Police employees, NHS staff. (BT staff?) British Cycling members, Aston Villa season ticket holders (yeah really) and a few others.

They are called Privilege and Affinity depending on how you buy it, PCP or outright.
http://www.westmidspolfed.com/member-services/services/?/Fiat-Group

http://origin-www.fiat.co.uk/fleet-services/partners/aston-villa-fc

These are issued quarterly and can go up and down, just so happens it was £3000 on the Abarth at the time I purchased.
Last time out I saved £1750 on my Panda 4x4.

I qualify due to being an NHS slave, but the cheapest way to qualify was to become a member of British Cycling for 20 odd quid, though I'm not sure if Fiat still sponsor them these days.

I did a bit better as the dealer screwed the paperwork up on the order form.
They "lost" a £1000 in the calculation, effectively giving me another £1000 discount, they also offered £1500 more than the PCP balloon payment on the Panda.
Their mistake, my gain!

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your post makes me want to shed tears in beautiful champagne flutes, which I can no longer afford !! only kidding and thanks for the impressive insight.

gtidriver said:

Cheers for the pleasant replies. First the holiday was very good,it was only 6days away just a half term break for my lad who does his sats next month,it’ll be just one of many this year, may my next hire car better suit my needs, not deafen or cripple me the car was way too noisy to have the roof down I’d go for the skydome like I did in my 100hp, lightened up a dull cabin.
Sa colabra early in the morning away from the coaches,the taxis, the locals, and the bloody cyclists,yes it was the correct car for that road. I just drove foot planted and even made myself feal queezy,it’s only a hirecsr and I didn’t care.
I’ve re read my op a few times now and I’ve booked a test drive in a manual one just to feal the difference, I won’t ever buy one as for me £20k is a late BMW M135i. Happy motoring guys.

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You need to try driving a Ferrari or Lamborghini with a single-clutch transmission next - then you’ll discover how smooth and refined the Abarth’s MTA is

I suggest perhaps a Golf 7 GTi with DSG (of course) might be more your thing. The interior materials of even a standard TSi model are some of the best in the world. The Golf 7 also has a tighter turning circle than the 500, larger fuel tank, better economy, less road noise, non-boomy exhaust, nicer ride, etc etc. probably better all round than any BMW.

-Alex

Ive driven a F458, was not impressed to be honest. Yes the gti is nice, my brother in law is looking to trade his mk6 to a mk7. Id get a M140 or M135 if i had my way, but the boss is looking at a i3 for us as a company car. The boss will be obeyed..

gtidriver said:

Ive driven a F458, was not impressed to be honest. Yes the gti is nice, my brother in law is looking to trade his mk6 to a mk7. Id get a M140 or M135 if i had my way, but the boss is looking at a i3 for us as a company car. The boss will be obeyed..

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isn't the i3 electric only, so limited to like 5 miles from an electric point, get the M140.

Nope the i3 range is around 90 miles id buy the rex i3. its only a local use car. My only issue is dealing with the ******s that park non electric cars in the charging bays.

gtidriver said:

Nope the i3 range is around 90 miles.

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About the same range as my Trofeo then [emoji48]

arorat said:

isn't the i3 electric only, so limited to like 5 miles from an electric point, get the M140.

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The days of electric cars with short ranges was the 20th century. A 94ah i3 BEV will do over 100 miles.

Tbh comparing your 320d to what is essentially a Panda which dates back to 2003 is a bit unfair.


The ZF 8 speed in your 320d is an amazing box. It's used on everything from Jaguars to BMWs to Jeeps to Bentleys. when I was shopping for a F31 3 series touring I originally wanted the auto, but found something which had a lot of other things I wanted and ended up going for a manual, but next time it'll be an auto all the way, if I don't get something like an i3 that is.


In comparison a selespeed which has its roots in the 90s is always going to be a bit cack.

gtidriver said:

Nope the i3 range is around 90 miles id buy the rex i3. its only a local use car. My only issue is dealing with the ******s that park non electric cars in the charging bays.

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Go for the REx for sure, I had one for a day when my 3 series was in for a service, the i3 was actually hilariously quick and you could drive it quite well just using the one pedal method and make good progress.