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General What do you think of this?

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General What do you think of this?

I like the look of the Ferrari one too, but I have a bit of a soft spot for Maserati, the first car I would buy if I won the lottery would be a Maserati Quattroporte, a 5 door monster!
 
Compared to an Aston Martin Cygnet at £32K, which is just a re-interiored Toyota IQ with a new front end the 500 by Gucci, Ferrari Tributo and Maserati versions seem good value
 
I've seen(In pictures only) both the Ferrari and maserati, The ferrari one looks nice and at least you get a ferrari badge for your £32,000!!! Not sure I'd pay that for the maserati version...and am not sure about the colour. As far as BHP goes, can you not remap a standard abarth to 180BHP? Or have the engine iternals been modified to cope?
 
handal said:
I've seen(In pictures only) both the Ferrari and maserati, The ferrari one looks nice and at least you get a ferrari badge for your £32,000!!! Not sure I'd pay that for the maserati version...and am not sure about the colour. As far as BHP goes, can you not remap a standard abarth to 180BHP? Or have the engine iternals been modified to cope?
Click to expand...

No - it's not possible on the European Abarth 500.
On the maserati & ferrari edition of the A500 they have changed the turbo from an IHI VL37 to a Garret which allows the boost to go from 1.2 bar to 1.5 bar.
No engine internals have been changed but other 'bits' have been changed aside from the turbo with a different manifold, etc. This 'work' costs about £4,500 if you look at the esseesse upgrade for an Abarth Grand Punto to a AGP SS. A Monza variable pressure exhaust has also been added.
The dualogic gearbox has had some tweaking done in relation to the programming from Ferrari but I don't think that it has been toughened in any way to cope with the extra torque.
On the US or North American A500 it has this turbo along with the new multi-air engine which will most likely end up in the European model in 2013 but the output has been turned down to 160bhp given the limits of the standard manual gearbox.
The most you will get out of a standard A500 is 170bhp with possibly 175bhp if you throw everything at it.
 
loveshandbags said:
No - it's not possible on the European Abarth 500.
On the maserati & ferrari edition of the A500 they have changed the turbo from an IHI VL37 to a Garret which allows the boost to go from 1.2 bar to 1.5 bar.
No engine internals have been changed but other 'bits' have been changed aside from the turbo with a different manifold, etc. This 'work' costs about £4,500 if you look at the esseesse upgrade for an Abarth Grand Punto to a AGP SS. A Monza variable pressure exhaust has also been added.
The dualogic gearbox has had some tweaking done in relation to the programming from Ferrari but I don't think that it has been toughened in any way to cope with the extra torque.
On the US or North American A500 it has this turbo along with the new multi-air engine which will most likely end up in the European model in 2013 but the output has been turned down to 160bhp given the limits of the standard manual gearbox.
The most you will get out of a standard A500 is 170bhp with possibly 175bhp if you throw everything at it.
Click to expand...

So in theory, you could get a red abarth, stick some ferrari stickers on, change turbo etc for £4,500 and bobs yer uncle as they say lol. Would be much cheaper.

I wonder how much of the £32k is for exclusivity as opposed to extra manu cost of the car, I'd love to see the figures....
 
handal said:
So in theory, you could get a red abarth, stick some ferrari stickers on, change turbo etc for £4,500 and bobs yer uncle as they say lol. Would be much cheaper.

I wonder how much of the £32k is for exclusivity as opposed to extra manu cost of the car, I'd love to see the figures....
Click to expand...

I posted a question on the Abarth section (Click here) and got a guesstimate that half the premium is for the badge.

A red A500 essesse with the addition of Sabelts seats, Monza exhaust, Koni FSDs (& TMC tuning box) would output 170-175bhp and a Brembo brake upgrade would give the fancy wheels. This could wear the badge and would probably come in around the low 20s. It would also have the Manual gearbox which is the preferred choice. Remember the C510 gearbox's limit is 201Nm and a Garret turbo is really going to need the torque capability from the 6 speed (M32) in the AGP / APE.
 
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lets be honest these are aimed at folk who probably have a ferrari of maserati in the garage and won't something small and fun and not really concerned on the price tag
 
wigit said:
lets be honest these are aimed at folk who probably have a ferrari of maserati in the garage and won't something small and fun and not really concerned on the price tag
Click to expand...

But are they? I see where you are coming from but there seem to be two flaws in the argument:

First, if you can afford a garage full of exotica, then why have what is really nothing more than a kit car version of the real thing too? If you are that rich and need a car to go to the shops in, you have an Audi A3 convertible for that.

Second, in my experience very rich people get veey rich by being very careful and not being made fools of. Paying north of £30,000 for a pimped Fiat Panda (or Toyota iQ) is having a bit of a laugh.

It really is a good question who buys these cars, other than dealers. Maybe they are given as gifts to loyal customers who buy a new Ferrari every year?
 
i could see a few people i know in london with exotica having one of these for fun to nip around town (they wouldn't give a monkeys on congestion charge) as they are a bit eccentric as well

if you have a Ferrari or Maserati you are a car entheusiast and for that reason wouldn't buy a A3 convertable for yourself as its dull as ditch water (they just litter the company car lists) that said you may not have a choice as that's what your wife or bit of fluff on the side wants so you have no choice but to open the cheque book ;)
 
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