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General Thinking of doing a runner - and confess to fancying an Abarth

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General Thinking of doing a runner - and confess to fancying an Abarth

MaxHeadroom

MaxHeadroom

2014 PANDA 4x4 TwinAir
Joined
Aug 15, 2020
Messages
552
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222
Location
Stow-On-The-Wold
My neighbour has just bought a brand new Abarth 595C Turismo - The C stands for Cabrio/Cabriolet/Convertible,
I've had the pleasure of driving it and have been astonished at the performance.

While I have loved my Panda and still do, (its been my first Italian job and I've been a happy bunny with it) my attentions have now been turned towards the Abarth, so I may in the coming months be absconding from the Panda fraternity.

Nothing is set in stone yet; I'm still looking for the right car - but hopefully if something between 2018 and 2022 in the guise of a Competizione 180bhp as opposed to my neighbour's 165bhp Turismo turns up. and preferably one with the Cabrio option in the right colour for me, I'm afraid I'll be off ;)(y)
 
I did the same thing in early 2018.
I swapped my 4x4 Twinair for an Abarth 165hp Turismo (and added a Dual Monza exhaust) in podium blue.

It was a fantastic drive, a little choppy but that's to be expected. Cornering was a real laugh though and larger, fast roundabouts tended to put both eyes on the same side of your face!

Performance was great too. They are no M3 killer but you can surprise a few.
There are times when you pull up to the lights next to someone in something they think it tasty and you can see them start to sweat!

A little bit of turbo lag low down but the gearing is pretty short so it's on the boil most of the time, but that does make it a little feel a bit leggy at the top end in top gear, but you really aren't going to spend anytime there on a public roads are you? Of course not.

The larger two HP models (165 and 180) use a Garret turbo, the smaller HP model used a IHI turbo, though I think they have now dropped from the line up.
I found the Garret models felt a bit more gruff and snarly.
The IHI a little more buzzy.

Behind the wheel everything felt fine, I didn't think the setup was too compromising for a small car. Legs, arms, pedals, steering wheel and gear lever all felt right.
The back is another story, but nobody sat in the back of mine.

It's not all smiles though.
There are a few complaints regarding finish.
Mine came with some chips and other faults in the paint that the dealer had to send out to get fix and I read that is not unusual.
I ordered the Abarth stripes, which are a dealer fit and they looked like a 5 year old fitted them and mine should have came with alloy caps for the fuel and oil which I had to chase up (the fuel one got stolen within days though).

With great performance comes with a great fuel cost.
OK it's not horrendous as some other cars but the fuel tank is still a Fiat 500 tank so it's only 35 litres.
You don't pass too many petrol stations. I couldn't get from London to my sisters in Aylesbury and back on one tank of fuel.
It can soon started feeling like a chore, stopping and filling up, stopping and filling up so often. I thought it needed 45 to 50 litre tank really.

The biggest drawback is they get stolen, a lot (as did mine). There was/is a Facebook page where owners report their missing cars and it had some pretty heavy traffic, two and three a day at times I recall.
They are so easy to steal and I wouldn't consider one without some other form of decent aftermarket immoliliser and even perhaps a tracker.

I didn't realise at the time but after it went I heard the all to familiar phrase "I knew someone with one of those and that got stolen as well".
 
Its taken us 10 years to add a 500 to our fleet

Pandas are just so practical.. that the 500 demo we had in 2013 didnt impress at all

Ive got a 1242engined 500 now

Ride is poor..practicality is poor.. roadnoise also poor
And of course up against a Twinair panda.. fuel range is also poor.

Personally - I would have an Alfa again :)
 
varesecrazy said:
Ride is poor..practicality is poor.. roadnoise also poor
And of course up against a Twinair panda.. fuel range is also poor.
Click to expand...

Agree on the practicality, but you have to cheerfully accept that in a 500. What I couldn’t come to terms with is the sitting position in the one I had as a long term loaner a couple of years ago. Felt like you were sitting on it rather than in it. That sort of suits the Panda 4x4, but it seemed awkward and uncomfortable in the 500.
 
I went from a Panda 100HP (that always made me smile) to a 170HP Abarth and I'm just unable to wipe the silly grin from my face when driving.
Yes it's a little less practical, but it fits all my camping gear just the same and I tow a RIB to Croatia every year with it. So a bigger tank would've been nice, but in reality I still do about 400 Km till I have to fill up again (13,5 Km/L).
Absolutely loving mine.

gr J
 
A huge thanks to you all for your replies - and particularly to the well written epic by Goudrons which in itself had me chuckling all day!

Yep a bit worrying about the theft issue - the neighbour and I will be looking into mitigating that problem somehow, parking at the property is already well observed by several cameras in the vicinity.
 
MaxHeadroom said:
A huge thanks to you all for your replies - and particularly to the well written epic by Goudrons which in itself had me chuckling all day!

Yep a bit worrying about the theft issue - the neighbour and I will be looking into mitigating that problem somehow, parking at the property is already well observed by several cameras in the vicinity.
Click to expand...
I once considered a BMW 320 but when teh dealer was faffing about not having sorted it out,he was constantly answering the phone. The story was similar, I have car stolen, I have window smashed, I have vandalism at leat three calls. When he finally decided I was a customer.... I stood up and told him fair and square that the phone calls he had jsut had had totally put me off.

With Abarth there is also the utterly ridiculous parts and service cosst that have no justification whatsoever. OK specialist body parts will cost more, but service... No way is a small Fiat nothing about service should cost a penny more. If they rode more smoothly I would have one, but.... My Panda 4x4 which is softly sprung is painful at the moment and Abarth would be VOR for some time yet, so I am happwe with Panda. It goes far far better than anyone would ever suspect before trying one! Panda costs me 330 to insure I dont know what an Abarth would be.
 
Leroypanda said:
Be careful of the convertibles, if the rear window gets damaged in the soft top 99% of insurance companies right the car off as they are impossible to get parts/repair.
Click to expand...


Yes I looked into this - the cost of a hood replacement is eyewatering which I suspect is why the cheapskate insurance companies would rather write the car off. Bar-stewards :mad:

A company in Cheshire can do the hood replacements though, but its at a cost, and theres a guy in the USA plastic-printing some of the mechanism components that can break,

HOODTECH
 
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