General New USA Abarth Ad - Do you think it is Hot?

[ahmett]

People in Europe can get bigger cars for the same price as a 500.

There is no chance that the Abarth will beat the Mini Cooper in terms of sales. The Mini Cooper is a class above the 500 Abarth

Yes but can you get a good bigger car in Europe than the Fiat 500? I mean I can only think of the VW Polo that is bigger, decent and about the same price (although all extras included its a bit more expensive the Polo)

I am not talking about something Korean!

 

[RobinPJ]

The fiat 500 is considered a toy in the USA. It will never sell as well as Europe. I guess as long as it beats Smart and Mini Cooper sales it is doing well as these are the only cars its competing with, and lets be honest hte Mini Cooper is more luxurious inside by far.

If you can get a huge car for the same price as the Fiat 500 in the states, which one would most people go for?

In choosing cars, I have never asked myself "what is the biggest car I can get for my money".

Obviously since having kids I have (sadly) had to rule out two-seaters but beyond this, size isn't everything.

I mean, of these two cars, is the bigger one the more desireable?

 

[ahmett]

In choosing cars, I have never asked myself "what is the biggest car I can get for my money".

Obviously since having kids I have (sadly) had to rule out two-seaters but beyond this, size isn't everything.

I mean, of these two cars, is the bigger one the more desireable?

You have a good point but if you have kids realistically you would not get the Fiat 500. A 4 door car would be much more safe. I almost never use the back seats in my Fiat 500.

 

[RobinPJ]

You have a good point but if you have kids realistically you would not get the Fiat 500. A 4 door car would be much more safe. I almost never use the back seats in my Fiat 500.

Ahmett you make a lot of assumptions - and almost all of them are wrong! I have 2 kids and the 500 is our main family transport, including for short breaks - with the dog.

The only time we use the "other car" (a BMW 3 series estate) is when we need the bigger boot or the ability to carry an extra passenger.

And I do not think I am unique in this.

 

[ahmett]

Ahmett you make a lot of assumptions - and almost all of them are wrong! I have 2 kids and the 500 is our main family transport, including for short breaks - with the dog.

The only time we use the "other car" (a BMW 3 series estate) is when we need the bigger boot for the ability to carry an extra passenger.

And I do not think I am unique in this.

Oh well if you have another bigger car then yes fine = ) But if you only had one car i guess....

I guess me being 23 ideas such as owning 2 cars and having kids is out of my league for now!

 

[RobinPJ]

Typo now corrected in my original post - but not before Ahmett had replied. I do not use the boot of the BMW to carry passnger in, honest.

 

[ahmett]

Typo now corrected in my original post - but not before Ahmett had replied. I do not use the boot of the BMW to carry passnger in, honest.

Ive sat in the boot of a big car and to be honest its great fun! = )
I think i remember sitting facing backwards and i cant remeber if there were seats facing backwards with seatbelts or if i was freestyling it.

But yeah now thinking about it i doubt i would ever need a 7 seater car so that means no seats in the boot for me!

 

[loveshandbags]

I don't think this has been posted elsewhere. USA Fiat fans think this is the best Fiat ad, best car ad, ever
The Italian Model is Catrinel Menghia
The song is Smokescreen by Willis
I expect we will see a lot of Abarth's sold in the States.
Ciao

I must say I enjoyed that ad.
Is it being show in the States at the moment with the Italian language ?
If it is - it sounds way better than English !
It's a bit like an ad that could be produced by a modern day politically correct 'Mad Men' ad agency.
It's a nice touch that Catrinel Menghia (she looks very italian to me) was wearing the same colours as the A500. I did see a youtube of a woman on an Abarth 'stand' wearing chequered sleeves to match the chequered roof of the car but this ad (which is in a different league) would certainly give a man the 'green light'. :idea::devil:

 

[RUI]

Those wheels are not on the production abarth
Here is the North American brochure

 

[ahmett]

Those wheels are not on the production abarth
Here is the North American brochure

Thats proper good. They get essesse as standard and Bose speakers as standard? Well thats it then, Europe has definately become third world!

 

[loveshandbags]

Those wheels are not on the production abarth
Here is the North American brochure

Lucky so and sos !
They get the power, the wheels and possibly the 'standard' springs !
This model should really boost sales in the US.

PERFORMANCE​

Horsepower – 160 hp (119 kW) @ 5500 rpm
Torque – 170 lb-ft (230 N·m) @ 2200-4800 rpm
Braking (60-0 mph) – 129 feet (39.9 m)*
Peak Lateral Acceleration – 0.87 G*
Top Speed – 131 mph (211 km/h)​

Power-to-Weight Ratio – 15.8 lb/hp

 

[geeded]

Don't forge. We also get the FSD shocks as standard. However, 16" wheels are standard and the 17's are an option. Oh, and cruise also standard.

 

[306maxi]

Don't forge. We also get the FSD shocks as standard. However, 16" wheels are standard and the 17's are an option. Oh, and cruise also standard.

Why can't I forge? I really want to forge!

It's good that you guys get the FSD's as standard. It's what the car deserves considering the price.

 

[geeded]

Don't forge. We also get the FSD shocks as standard. However, 16" wheels are standard and the 17's are an option. Oh, and cruise also standard.

That was supposed to be "forget" of course. Could use an edit button here.

 

[306maxi]

That was supposed to be "forget" of course. Could use an edit button here.

Of course I knew that There is an edit button but I was too fast

 

[loveshandbags]

PERFORMANCE

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​

​

Horsepower – 160 hp (119 kW) @ 5500 rpm
Torque – 170 lb-ft (230 N·m) @ 2200-4800 rpm
Braking (60-0 mph) – 129 feet (39.9 m)*
Peak Lateral Acceleration – 0.87 G*
Top Speed – 131 mph (211 km/h)​

Power-to-Weight Ratio – 15.8 lb/hp

...We also get the FSD shocks as standard. However, 16" wheels are standard and the 17's are an option. Oh, and cruise also standard.

I didn’t know about the Koni FSD’s & judging by the rumoured price of just below $25K (ST£15,700) not to mention the cruise control you’re doing better than I thought ! From the safety features added IMHO Fiat have got the ‘right’ amount of power in the US A500.

In looking at the above performance figures it would appear that the US A500 is 77kg heavier than the European model (1112 v 1035kgs). With 160bhp your power to weight ratio (bhp:tonne) is between our standard & esseesse model (143:1 as opposed to 130:1 @ 135bhp & 154:1 for the SS)
There was some 'talk' about an esseesse model for the US A500 but at 160bhp it might well be ‘topped out’ (aside from another 10bhp). The IHI turbo would have to be changed to a Garret from the PE to go up anything worthwhile.
Do you know what boost the US A500 is running at ?
The European A500 is @ 0.9bar and the esseesse under the ‘right conditions’ goes up to 1.2bar (but with a reduced service interval of 6K oil changes).
The stopping distance of 129 feet was probably on the standard 16s - I wonder if they were ‘all seasons’ ? It appears that the European 500 stops at 115 feet (hopefully I’m correct on this) so I would expect that 17s on a US A500 with decent performance tyres would do better than the quoted figure which are still competitive with the Cooper S.

Going back to the video Fiat have brought the ‘FUN FUN’ element of the Twin Air campaign into the US Abarth ad with the oversteer that is characteristic of rear wheel drive cars.

 

[306maxi]

Embarassing. Just truly embarassing......

I do hope for Fiat's sake that they get rid of this silly JHo ad campaign. A friend was saying how a friend of his interviewed someone from Fiat US and asked them what they thought about the negative reaction towards the advertising campaign with JHo and they said "What negative reaction?"

Advertising a little econobox at a music awards ceremony is just such a tacky way of advertising and I think it might get a few sales from vacuous morons who buy what is put in front of them, but I think a lot of people would have been turned off the car if they saw that.

No one ever saw this advert and thought "You know I think that's really shameless, they're using that eraser to sell their bloody car! How can they live with themselves with such a tacky advert!!!!

 

[loveshandbags]

Hot off off the press...

A technical review of what has gone into the A500...

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/11/abarth-20111117.html

To maintain a lower ownership cost for the Fiat 500 Abarth, oil change intervals are set at 8,000 miles.

 

[306maxi]

4 litres of oil though which is good

 

[iraklas]

I didn’t know about the Koni FSD’s & judging by the rumoured price of just below $25K (ST£15,700) not to mention the cruise control you’re doing better than I thought ! From the safety features added IMHO Fiat have got the ‘right’ amount of power in the US A500.

In looking at the above performance figures it would appear that the US A500 is 77kg heavier than the European model (1112 v 1035kgs). With 160bhp your power to weight ratio (bhp:tonne) is between our standard & esseesse model (143:1 as opposed to 130:1 @ 135bhp & 154:1 for the SS)
There was some 'talk' about an esseesse model for the US A500 but at 160bhp it might well be ‘topped out’ (aside from another 10bhp). The IHI turbo would have to be changed to a Garret from the PE to go up anything worthwhile.
Do you know what boost the US A500 is running at ?
The European A500 is @ 0.9bar and the esseesse under the ‘right conditions’ goes up to 1.2bar (but with a reduced service interval of 6K oil changes).
The stopping distance of 129 feet was probably on the standard 16s - I wonder if they were ‘all seasons’ ? It appears that the European 500 stops at 115 feet (hopefully I’m correct on this) so I would expect that 17s on a US A500 with decent performance tyres would do better than the quoted figure which are still competitive with the Cooper S.

Going back to the video Fiat have brought the ‘FUN FUN’ element of the Twin Air campaign into the US Abarth ad with the oversteer that is characteristic of rear wheel drive cars.

Are you sure that the IHI turbo is used in the US A500?