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500 (Abarth)  Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

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500 (Abarth)  Draigflag's ABARTH 500 (new thread!).

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Trip cancelled, new years do ruined. Thanks car. God awful rumbling whining sound, sounds like a 1930's V8!? :confused: Jacked the back end up, one wheel spins for 30 secs +, the other won't even do a full rotation. Didn't want to risk a 350 mile trip with it, especially with the tyres as well.

Finally taking her back to Abarth next Saturday, was going today, but they have no courtesy cars left.
 
Just got back form Corkills Abarth in Cheshire. Very nice showroom, lots of nice Italian metal there. Somehow managed to get lost twice on the way there, once in Chester and once in Ellsmere port. Then once more on the way home (i don't own Sat nav) I'm just not used to traffic lights and lanes and all that rubbish, i i think i got caught speeding near Bala too (n)

Anyway, got myself a plain white little A500 SS whilst mines being fixed. Thought i would do a little review. First thing i did was an emergency stop, not on purpose, but the brakes were superb. They shouldn't be this much better than mine surely? Mine bites about 2 thirds of the way down the pedal, after driving this 76 miles home, I'm pretty sure my brakes must be knackered. Second thing i noticed was how quiet it was! Barely run in with 3400 miles on it, the engine and exhaust were very quiet, although cabin noise in mine was amplified thanks to the damaged brakes/wheel bearings. The Michelins seem to reduce road noise somewhat. Only got 32 MPG on the way home too, i got 37 in mine, another indicator that it's still in the loosening up process. Strange though, the gearbox feels much more slick than mine, and the clutch is very light. The leather wheel/gearknob etc are still mat, they look a bit daft, but i'm sure they will become nice and dark and shiny in time. Overall when i compare mine to this, it makes mine feel worn out!

Now about the ride. At first i thought hey, this is quite good! Firm but not crashy like i thought it might be. Turns out it was just the road surface. On anything less than a smooth road, the ride is a little fidgety and it jitters from left to right, it seems to be attracted to all the little ruts in the road. Then when you hit a bump, it bounces. It's still quite a firm bounce, but becomes annoying after a while. The only benefit of the SS suspension is the fact that there's slightly less body roll in the corners as far as i can tell. On saying this, overall the ride is not as uncomfy as i initially thought. I could probably live with it on short journeys.

As for the SS V's TMC power? Well, the SS seems smoother and more responsive in 1st and 2nd gears. In these gears the power is consistent and steady, where as with the TMC, it seems to dump all the power straight away in on the same cogs (not a bad thing though!) But the SS does feel a little underwhelming after this. The most noticeable difference is the way TMC box makes the car pull much better in 4th and 5th gears making overtaking at speed much safer. Mine certainly feels quicker with the TMC, but again, this little SS in not run in just yet.

It was a nice surprise to have another A500 as i was expecting a MiTo again (boring) Only bad thing is that there's a £1000 excess as i'm driving it on their Insurance! I'm missing Abi already, should be home in a week or so. When i go to collect her, i'm driving a Red APE, so expect a little review for that as well.
 

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Not sure why some people bother putting pointless comments... Everyone enjoys doing something whatever it be, If you like spending time looking after your motor, taking photos or being creative in PS I cant see how this gives anyone a reason to offend?
Anyway interesting to read SS vs TMC im trying to put some money aside for the TMC box along with purchase of a house and everything that goes with that :(
 
IronHorse said:
Not sure why some people bother putting pointless comments... Everyone enjoys doing something whatever it be, If you like spending time looking after your motor, taking photos or being creative in PS I cant see how this gives anyone a reason to offend?
Click to expand...

ONe could argue that photoshopping his car to look like an Ambulance is a tad pointless. It's a free country though and people have the right to comment on stuff :rolleyes:
 
zanes said:
God I love those wheels on the SS :yum:
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My brother like them better too. Personally i prefer the 10 spokes (as they are known) as they are less plain, have a polished finish and have more detail too. I appreciate some people prefer plain looking cars, must admit, I'm quite taken by the plain stealth look in BNW, it's a stunning colour.
 
Basically after the stress i've had today, i'm trying to justify keeping the A500 (again) It's not just another problem, this time it's an expensive one. The wheel bearing is wrecked, that's under warranty, but i was shocked to hear that both my rear discs and pads are almost worn out at 26,000 miles. I was quoted £386 to change them. Yes you read that right. But it gets worse. The front ones only have a couple of thousand left too, another £400 or so. But it gets even worse, my 2nd service is due in March also, the one with the brake fluid change, another £400 to £500? That's almost £1300 i'm having to spend in 2 months. Then guess what? My insurance runs out, i'm expecting it to be over a £1000 thanks to premium increases, not to mention another speeding ticket + TMC box.

If i include the general running costs for the year (£3000 on fuel, £600 on tyres) then i'm looking at £5000 to £6000 just to keep her on the road and that's if she behaves. That's ridiculous, it's a Fiat with a 1.4 engine yet it's super car running costs. It might not sound much to you, but I don't earn much, work out 45% of your wage, now imagine spending that just keeping your car on the road. It wouldn't be so bad if garages didn't charge 13 times what i earn just for their time, and if Mr C didn't keep putting the price of fuel up, but that's just life i guess. I really can't afford to keep spending like this, I'm really considering changing (n)
 
DraigFlag87 said:
Basically after the stress i've had today, i'm trying to justify keeping the A500 (again) It's not just another problem, this time it's an expensive one. The wheel bearing is wrecked, that's under warranty, but i was shocked to hear that both my rear discs and pads are almost worn out at 26,000 miles. I was quoted £386 to change them. Yes you read that right. But it gets worse. The front ones only have a couple of thousand left too, another £400 or so. But it gets even worse, my 2nd service is due in March also, the one with the brake fluid change, another £400 to £500? That's almost £1300 i'm having to spend in 2 months. Then guess what? My insurance runs out, i'm expecting it to be over a £1000 thanks to premium increases, not to mention another speeding ticket + TMC box.

If i include the general running costs for the year (£3000 on fuel, £600 on tyres) then i'm looking at £5000 to £6000 just to keep her on the road and that's if she behaves. That's ridiculous, it's a Fiat with a 1.4 engine yet it's super car running costs. It might not sound much to you, but I don't earn much, work out 45% of your wage, now imagine spending that just keeping your car on the road. It wouldn't be so bad if garages didn't charge 13 times what i earn just for their time, and if Mr C didn't keep putting the price of fuel up, but that's just life i guess. I really can't afford to keep spending like this, I'm really considering changing (n)
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Not to be funny, but learn how to drive your car properly without stressing the components. Then you won't be wearing tyres out all the time.

You might think I'm just a c**t or something and I'm trying to be an arse, but I am genuinely trying to help you. My summer wheels are currently in the kitchen (I have a semi-understanding wife) and I measured the tread depth and they're all just a smidge under 6mm. Those are the ORIGINAL tyres which have been rotated once so far and have 16k mile or something like that on them. I'll swap them around again when the summers go on which could be rather soon...... I know the Abarth is more powerful but it's a FWD car and the only way you're going to be wearing the rears more excessively than me is to be getting excessive wheel slip. Wheel slip is what wears your tyres more than anything. If you just drive a bit more smoothly and slow down just a touch then you'll find your tyres last FAR FAR longer and ditto with brakes.

As for the speeding ticket. The wife got one recently as the speedo on her Subaru is not working at the moment and she didn't know how fast she was going. She got a speed awareness course so no points. Unless you were speeding by a big margin you should get a course too.

As for my running costs.

1723 on fuel, 200 on tyres if we must count the winter tyres and £120 on a service. But I'll wager if someone more mechanically sympathetic was driving your car your costs would be far lower.

If want your brakes sorted cheaply you can easily get pads and discs far cheaper online

Brembo rear pads http://www.nextdaybrakes.com/brembo-rear-brake-pad-set-pn-p23064-fits-fiat-500-pair_p22282524.htm
Brembo front pads http://www.nextdaybrakes.com/brembo-front-brake-pad-set-pn-p23087-fits-fiat-500-pair_p22282526.htm

Discs can be found cheaply by googling as well

Don't pay silly dealer prices for brake parts when there are reputable parts

As I said, you may think I'm rude or whatever, but listen to what i have to say and you'll save a crapload of money.
 
There are several other circumstances and factors involved. If it were that simple, i would have done. Basically it's too late. And don't go on about the tyre wear B/S again as i don't drive the car hard anymore, I currently hold the record for the most miles per tank remember. I was basing the cost on an average for the time I've owned the car, tyres probably won't be as much this year.
 
theres absolutely nothing out of the ordinary with what Draigflaig is experiencing.
If you drive a fast car, and you drive it hard, then you WILL end up spending loads on wear & tear items - brakes, clutch, etc. And all brands and models of cars have some cars that have a strange early failure on them like the wheel bearing on this car.

You are definitely overreacting to the problems. It happens to all cars unless you are lucky... what would you replace it with anyways?

Tyre wear is NOT mostly caused by wheelspin (I should know tbh, theres rarely a time i drive my car without spinning up at least once or twice, accidentally on purpose)
Tyre wear is mostly caused by bad tracking, I'd have that checked before anything else.
 
Munkul said:
Tyre wear is NOT mostly caused by wheelspin (I should know tbh, theres rarely a time i drive my car without spinning up at least once or twice, accidentally on purpose)
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I respectfully disagree. Of course a car with bad suspension/steering geometry will wear tyres quicker and secondly I didn't say "wheelspin" I said wheel SLIP which is when the tyre slips which by definition is always happening -> http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/group2/suspension/chassis_and_handling/slip_angle.htm but the harder you push the higher the angle of slip and obviously the higher the forces as you're going faster.
 
ah ok (y)

I think most of mr draigs problems stems from the fact that he bought a NEW car, and he's paying main stealer prices for servicing and repairs. Heres a tip mate: buy second hand, or dont complain...

(Actually keep buying new, then people like me get to buy the car when the depreciation slows down and all the problems have been fixed, and work on the cars ourselves. Suppose people like you do people like me a favour!)
 
Munkul said:
(Actually keep buying new, then people like me get to buy the car when the depreciation slows down and all the problems have been fixed, and work on the cars ourselves. Suppose people like you do people like me a favour!)
Click to expand...

I bought new, but I plan to keep our 500 till its falling to pieces.
 
Munkul said:
ah ok (y)

I think most of mr draigs problems stems from the fact that he bought a NEW car, and he's paying main stealer prices for servicing and repairs. Heres a tip mate: buy second hand, or dont complain...

(Actually keep buying new, then people like me get to buy the car when the depreciation slows down and all the problems have been fixed, and work on the cars ourselves. Suppose people like you do people like me a favour!)
Click to expand...

Well i wasn't expecting a bill, i thought the problems were under warranty and i wasn't expecting my brakes to be worn out at this mileage either! Anyway, if had more time i would have done it a lot cheaper, my mates doing the fronts for me so that's saved me £300+ and spare sets are cheaply available from the Abarth forum where people have fitted the SS kit and have the standard brakes laying around. Things like a full time job, living in the middle of nowhere and other things get in the way of having time to sort things properly. My car hasn't even been washed for 6 to 7 weeks for example.

As for the "NEW CAR" thing, well in a way it's a good job because otherwise i would have no warranty and I'd be paying even more for repairs!
 
Sorry to hear all this dude. Lets be honest though, you're not gonna get rid of it. You love it too much. Just sucks that its all come at the same time, but once its out the way you will you will be back to happy motoring?
 
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