new car Abarth 500

[lbrench]

well as you all know i chopped in the megane for a 500 abarth.

pick up was at 3pm yesterday.

sold some things off the megane (spare tyres, cold air feed and a few other bits and bobs) then got the megane ready to trade in, removed all the cliosport stickers and gave it a quick clean.

hopped in the megane and set off to the city centre, went the long way down a few twistie roads and its fair to say the megane will be missed.

arrived at bauer millett and spotted my abarth parked on the hill with an abarth cover over it with a sign saying lynden brench infront of it, walked into the showroom grinning like a kid at christmas, signed the megane over, sorted the paperwork out and he showed me round the car, paired my phone with the bluetooth and set up the voice recognition (really good feature) i can see this saving me having to pull over to answer my phone.

first impressions are great, car had 4 miles on it and a full tank of fuel.

drove out of dealership and took it for a spin, once i got my driving position right the car felt great, still in the running in period but still had a quick run round some roundabouts, it feels really planted and lively and responsive, in gear acceleration is great and the low down torque means its easy to drive on the motorway, stuck it in sport mode and it felt 10x better, throttle response is improved and so is the torque.

the attention the car gets its something the is on par with my polo but with a differnt way, i stopped to put £5 in the fuel tank last night and i overheard a woman say to her husband 'what is that' husband replied 'its an abarth, like a fiat on steriods' then told me i had a nice car and asked a few questions about it.

and also the looks girls give you is great

some pictures

sorry about the finger over the lense (iphone fail)

done a total of 68 miles in it and im still getting used to it but its a great little car and cant wait till its run in so i can take it through the revs more.

oh and the exhaust gives a little pop on gear change sometimes which is cool.

also when i park it up i cant help but look back at it, its such a great looking little car.

essay.com

opinions?

lynden

 

[oliver.james]

I really like these; I saw one very similar (same colour & wheels) parked at Tesco yesterday and noticed it did get quite a bit of attention from people walking past

 

[lbrench]

I really like these; I saw one very similar (same colour & wheels) parked at Tesco yesterday and noticed it did get quite a bit of attention from people walking past

its really wierd, like everyone takes a second look. something i just didnt expect at all

 

[Justin]

Like it!

 

[Matt Cup]

Cool little car

Hate the wheels though!

 

[BoroGTI]

Ye liking these a lot, id love my girlfriend to have one but im not sure i could own one. Not the essessee version is it?

 

[Will.]

I like it mate. Looks so funky. Hope you enjoy it.

(you will still get the responses you have been getting the last 2 weeks though. How you going to protect it from Salt this winter?)

Willdot.

 

[fUbAr]

Nice, like that a lot. Poor wheel choice though, and it needs some Italian leather on the chairs.
Do they not give you mats with new cars these days?

What do they quote as the run-in period?

 

[Revels]

arrived at bauer millett and spotted my abarth parked on the hill with an abarth cover over it with a sign saying lynden brench infront of it, walked into the showroom grinning like a kid at christmas, signed the megane over, sorted the paperwork out and he showed me round the car, paired my phone with the bluetooth and set up the voice recognition (really good feature) i can see this saving me having to pull over to answer my phone.

I was hoping for pics of the cover/sign.

Sounds like good service though. Never bought a new car so not sure if they always get you set up with everything like that. Free fuel is good too.

I thought you'd ordered a grey one?! But you really do need to bin that thing on the mirror. You're not in a scene car.

 

[Turkish]

What do they quote as the run-in period?

Probably longer than it takes to empty the washer bottle or fill the ashtray which will no doubt be the point it gets chopped in against his next ocean financed purchase

 

[ForceIndia]

Wheels aren't nice, and WTF is hanging from your mirror? Don't be gay about running in. It'll of been spanked harder than you ever will already.

 

[fUbAr]

How much were the optional Sabelt seats?

Look like a very nice place to sit!

 

[gaz44]

My goodness...another thread on this car!!!

Not for me but enjoy! It's very girly and that's why the girls look.

Also, LOL at the petrol station bs.

 

[Stu_350z]

Think youll struggle with the resale tbh as pretty much all of these are ordered with leather are they not??

but yeah pretty funky tbh....if a bit queer lol

 

[Jordi17]

nice

 

[Fletcher]

Not a fan of the wheels TBH, but I do quite like it.

I find it strange how some people do such little journeys in brand new cars, If it was mine I'd have probably done over 400 miles by now.

 

[jenic]

I really like that, shame you dont have a picture of it with the cover on

Its nice that they go that little extra with the service though

 

[MarkCup]

I've always thought that, you've been waiting for it to arrive, then just sit there looking at it.

You could have that run in in 48 hrs surely?

 

[Bluebeard]

Lynden, don't take this the wrong way, but thats a cool car.... For my wife!

Glad you're enjoying it though.

 

[EllD90]

They're nice when spec'd up. Not a fan of your spec. Sorry!

 

[.Tyler]

I am a fan. I haven't had a spin in one yet but I used to have a Panda 100HP and that was fantastic. Also got those second glances and complements/questions at the pumps!

 

[EllD90]

From a Panda 100? LOL.

 

[kev182cup]

So ya got a full tank of petrol with the car and ya put 5 quid in it already after doing 68 miles? : s.

 

[Nick172Cup]

Poor choice on wheels and interior, fair enough if you couldnt afford. As long as your happy with it...

 

[lbrench]

Well I specced the 10 spokes (I have a picture with it on them) and it looked gash so got them swapped to petal 5 spokes, and I'm after a set of the esseesse wheels. And I actually love it. Set off to work an hour early and had abit of a go Dow some country lanes and it's great, feels spot on, proper little giggle machine lol

I will find a picture of the cover off the abarth forum for you

And run in is 1000 miles so should be run in in about a month, I have been told to drive it hard when it's up to temperature though so might just do that. Not even been over 4k in It yet lol

 

[lbrench]

And about not having leather:

The car I did the test drive in had leather and I found myself sliding about on the seat this is probably due to the fact I'm slightly overweight and very tall.

 

[Sanders]

I like it, but dont think i'd own one

 

[Addz]

I do like these to be fair.. nice little car!

 

[lbrench]

I do like these to be fair.. nice little car!

Thanks mate, how u finding the gp?

 

[ForceIndia]

Get it warm, hammer it. There is no need for a running in period. Think about it, the drivetrain will be under max load at peak torque, which on the 500 is at 3000rpm. So it's already been under max load!

All of my new cars have been hammered from new. All been reliable, all been quick. Do it. Just don't f**king post about beating an enzo whilst doing it.

 

[.Tyler]

From a Panda 100? LOL.

Yeah

 

[BoroGTI]

I actually really like the wheels, they're different which is cool

 

[Damo_Sport]

I had a fiat punto sport once brand new lol


Only 1 thing i liked about it.. and thats the new car smell lol

 

[lbrench]

Yeh, new car smell is amazing

 

[Jason_E]

New car smell <3.

TBH, I bet this gets the bitches wet. Takes a man to drive such a girly car and not give a f**k anyway . Good luck with it! Fiat sports are always cool IMO.

 

[lbrench]

New car smell <3.

TBH, I bet this gets the bitches wet. Takes a man to drive such a girly car and not give a f**k anyway . Good luck with it! Abarths are always cool IMO.

Thanks mate and I have edited it for accuracy

 

[lbrench]

Yeh it's so much fun to drive, still to take it out for a proper spin, so peoples advice is let it warm up then drive it like normal? Not run it in and keep to the 5k limit for the first 1000 miles?


Lynden

 

[Jason_E]

No it's back now I feel a little better. Was weird though. Like peeing through a baby carrot.

And when I sold my Clio it had 12k on the clock and most of that was spent at 7k rpm TBH.

 

[lbrench]

No it's back now I feel a little better. Was weird though. Like peeing through a baby carrot.

And when I sold my Clio it had 12k on the clock and most of that was spent at 7k rpm TBH.

Hero <3

 

[lbrench]

Doing some proper photos of it tonight so will be a big update tonight