I personally think that if people think they are buying a True ABARTH from fiat because FIAT themselves have stuck a few bits of plastic and one or two badges on the car then there is no difference. Abarth specialised in getting big performance from little cars originally... so in my view fiat are as guilty as anybody for de-valueing the marqe.

There's nothing wrong with my car and Fiat stuck an Abarth badge on it for a reason. I am happy with the cars performance and personally think it's worthy of the badge. Ask anyone with a Stilo Abarth and 99% of them will agree, it's a very underated car and unless you own one you don't know the benefits of that in line 5. Beautiful cars, and the more people that think otherwise, the more exclusive they will be to us owners.

The harsh reality is that FIAT stuck a badge on it so you'd pay more for it.

For example....Performance wise whats the difference between a Punto HGT and Punto HGT "ABARTH"? What makes it special?

Surely if someone bought a Punto HGT, then the "Abarth" kit and all the mods it would be the same. Therefore the reality if there is no performance difference. FIAT should have made the ABARTHs something much more special and in the face of commercialism saw the lira signs and didnt. Shame.

Im sure the stilo is a very nice car dont take it personally, Im not saying it isnt...just that there is no real difference between some of the Abarth models in the FIAT range, especially concidering what Abarth stood for originally in years gone by.

Personally I own a Lancia Delta Integrale Evolution which is not an abarth but is a rather special car in its own right and believe me I know what real performance means.

The harsh reality is I paid £5,000 less than book price for my ABARTH so that don't really come into play for me.


Oh I don't know what real performance means, because I don't own a LDI Evo.
I have driven a 375BHP camaro for nearly a month in the states and the satisfaction I got from that does not compare to the feeling I get when I go out in my car. It's not all about BHP. A bigger d*ck does not mean greater satisfaction for your woman. It's how big a smile you can put on her face that counts.

A lot of us on here could have bought a Lancia Evo and had that ultimate performance. We chose our cars for the reasons we did and are happy with that choice.

EDIT : I dropped my request to delete the thread... after what I have now written maye I should reconsider that request

For what it's worth (and I think I said this above) practically every person on this forum would love a Stilo Abarth. No question about it...

Greg, for a man that makes his way in the world by selling "fake" Abarth badges you are coming across as very condecending.

I can't believe this has flared up again.

I came across this site while looking at somethong else, but gives a little history on the man Carlo Abarth.
http://www.juwra.com/abarth.html

If you are into your rallying there is some good stuff on this site.

Aaron.

lanciaevo1 said:

The harsh reality is that FIAT stuck a badge on it so you'd pay more for it.

For example....Performance wise whats the difference between a Punto HGT and Punto HGT "ABARTH"? What makes it special?

Surely if someone bought a Punto HGT, then the "Abarth" kit and all the mods it would be the same. Therefore the reality if there is no performance difference. FIAT should have made the ABARTHs something much more special and in the face of commercialism saw the lira signs and didnt. Shame.

Im sure the stilo is a very nice car dont take it personally, Im not saying it isnt...just that there is no real difference between some of the Abarth models in the FIAT range, especially concidering what Abarth stood for originally in years gone by.

Personally I own a Lancia Delta Integrale Evolution which is not an abarth but is a rather special car in its own right and believe me I know what real performance means.

Click to expand...

Oh, got to take issue with you here mate. I had a Punto HGT - fantastic motor. The Abarth version came out some time after my purchase so I carefully compared the two. As far as I could see - yes only cosmetic differences.

BUT. Totally different in the case of the Stilo. The Abarth badge not only stands for the highest trim and extras incorporated as standard but also for the 2.4l engine and selespeed. Neither the 2.4 or selespeed are available in any other version of the Stilo so the Abarth badge here stands for something unique. Totally destroys your first sentence. As KoA said the Abarth is a very underated car and yes, Fiat could have done a far better job on the suspension/exhaust and more power from that lovely big engine. That's why so many Abarth owners can't wait to get modding because they know what the true potential of their car should be. Fiat again missed their chance with the Schumacher but that's another topic....

Dont mean to be, just honest. Most of my badges are made under licence in italy, I started selling abarth badges way back when I had my first Punto GT Turbo and wanted to put some on so I can appreciate other prople want to do the same. I also get lots of Stilo Abarth owner buying abarth badges becuase fiat only put one small one on the boot.

Greg

Which is why I mentioned the Punto in my argument, I thought the topic was "Abarth Badges on None Abarths"... ie applied to the whole range?

As I said dont take it personally... and you have.

Oh and buying an integrale is easy, its looking after it properly thats the expensive bit... but then again its not depreciating like a stone ;-)

lanciaevo1 said:

As I said dont take it personally... and you have.

Oh and buying an integrale is easy, its looking after it properly thats the expensive bit... but then again its not depreciating like a stone ;-)

Click to expand...

To put it bluntly.... P*SS OFF !

lanciaevo1 said:

As I said dont take it personally... and you have.

Oh and buying an integrale is easy, its looking after it properly thats the expensive bit... but then again its not depreciating like a stone ;-)

Click to expand...

Not depreciating ?!?... well, if the Lancia depreciated any more, you would have to pay somebody to buy it from you. (That is true where I come from in any case. Not sure about the UK.)

Also, my Stilo might depreciate a lot in the first year or two, but I didn't buy the car as an investment (I have properties for that reason), I bought the car because I wanted something to play with, I wanted a car that had fairly good acceleration and handling, good looks, and didn't cost an arm and a leg... I ended up with two choises: Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS and the Fiat Stilo Abarth.

The Stilo won hands down. Sure the Subaru has four wheel drive, but the interior and exterior design and finishes compare better to a 15 year old Nissan; :yuck: the seats are nice, until you have to drive more than 2 blocks, then they become uncomfortable; after sales service of Subaru is even worse than Fiat. :bang: :bang: :bang:

My point is that I bought an Abarth because I wanted a car that is fairly exclusive.

This is going around in circles. Thread locked. We'll all just have to agree to disagree.