CDailey's...new car! Update 6/12/15

[CDailey]

Hello everyone. This past December, I bought a new car! It's a North American 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth. It's the base model so that means no sunroof, no leather, manual climate control, and 16" wheels. I just think it's lighter. My previous car was a 2007 Honda Accord 4cyl auto, which as you can imagine was boring. Very reliable (put about 60k miles on it in the 3 years I had it an only had to change oil and rotate tires) but it was soul suckingly boring. I decided I wanted something that was practical, but still fun and a little quicker than the Accord. I did some research and was interested in the Fiesta ST, Focus ST (though I discovered the Focus was out of my price range with the options I wanted) but neither of them really did it for me. Sure they were quick and they look pretty good (the Fiesta less so IMO) but ever since the 500 came to the 'States I had been infatuated. Obsessed you could say. They were funky, fun and definitely unique. So on a whim I went and test drove an Abarth and I was immediately hooked. Sure it's not as fast as the ST's, but it handles just as well...and the sound. Oh my god, the sound. It is glorious. Raucous. Very loud. Top Gear was right when talking about Italian cars. This thing has soul. It begs to be driven. That said, it is perfectly happy to just 'putt-putt' around town. I am in love. It's like my first car all over again. I want to take a picture of it every time I see it. Every time I get out, I turn around and look at it as I walk away.

It's still stock but this spring, I plan on plastidipping the rear spoiler black, and the wheels vintage gold.

Now for some pics!

The first pic I took of it right after signing the paperwork. Only 16 miles on it then

Some pics from the snow North Alabama got last week

 

[Doodle]

Congrats on the car! I adore those things soo much! You're lucky!

 

[Zyla]

What a great description of the car, I enjoyed reading that! The car itself looks great and the pictures' quality is outstanding. I'll definitely be watching this thread, enjoy your Fiat!

 

[CDailey]

Thanks guys. It's been such a blast to drive. I take the long way home from work every day just so I can drive it. I've put over 2000 miles on it since the middle of December.

 

[homeforsummer]

Nice choice, led to believe these are a lot of fun. Actually, I know they're a lot of fun as they're rather closely related to my old Fiat Panda 100HP!

 

[CDailey]

It's a ton of fun! It's no rocket, but it's definitely not slow. 0-60 is anywhere from 6.8-7.5 sec depending on which magazine you read. It's not about acceleration or top speed though. It's about how it delivers the power and how it handles. This thing has some pretty awesome punch. Tons of passing power and my god does it corner. It's quite zippy, and since it's so small (only 10 feet long!) you can just dart around everywhere.

 

[CAMAROBOY69]

Congrats on the car. Those Fiat 500 Abarth look like such a fun little cars to drive. Great pics too.

 

[Bc4]

Nice car, looks super fun, practical and im guessing its pretty cheap on gas right? what more can you ask from a car

love the winter pics 👍👍

 

[Katiegan]

Nice! Always loved the 500, especially the Abarth! 👍

 

[CDailey]

Congrats on the car. Those Fiat 500 Abarth look like such a fun little cars to drive. Great pics too.

Thank you!

Nice car, looks super fun, practical and im guessing its pretty cheap on gas right? what more can you ask from a car

love the winter pics 👍👍

It's great on gas. The engine is still settling in (just turned over 2600 miles today) so mpg will only improve. Winter gas doesn't help. I am averaging about 24-27 in the city depending on how I drive and on a recent 700 mile road trip I averaged 32.5 mpg with the heat/ac on and cruise control set to 75 with some blasts up to 90+, and that was only with 1100 miles on the car.

Nice! Always loved the 500, especially the Abarth! 👍

Thank you!


I went out for a drive this morning after I got off work. Took some photos of the car, and some videos of the exhaust too!

First video is just outside. Second video I'm parked in a covered parking area so it reverbs a bit and sounds awesome.






Picture overload! lol

I don't know if I like the cropped version better or not

Same with this one

 

[Katiegan]

Sounds pretty meaty for such a small car! Loving the photos too.

 

[Zyla]

 

[Joey D]

The Abarth is easily one of the best sounding affordable cars on the market right now. I'd buy one just for the exhaust note.

 

[Davis]

Oooh I like it. Rode around in a grey one of these and it's definitely fun. 👍

Plus now we're red hatchback brothers.

 

[motortrend]

Very cool car, I always smile when I see one around here. IMO it has to be either red, black or white

 

[Punknoodle]

I thought I might share this link with you:

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/moto...twinning-abarth-race-team-20140214-32ntw.html

It's a good write up about the Abarth racing team that took out 1st, 2nd and 3rd in their class at this years Bathurst 24h race. Ok, so they were the ONLY cars in their class lol, regardless, the cars placed pretty well overall, ahead of some pretty serious competition, earning themselves a lot of talk around the paddocks about how well they performed this year. It might make you love these little cars just that bit more

Nice car mate, enjoy!

 

[Pifachu]

I work at fiat, and i got to say that car as a awesome sound, really fun to drive around

 

[Ameer67]

Nice car. 👍

 

[CDailey]

Nothing new really, just a small update.

So I've been thinking of some visual mods I could do and I saw this car at a local St. Paddys day parade and thought the white lip looked awesome. It would be really easy to do with plastidip, too. His mirror caps are the factory white ones, but I could plastidip mine white and I think it would look nice as well.

And here's my car parked next to one of my coworkers lifted Tahoe.

I've been getting into the local car scene, going to events and taking photos and meeting the locals. It's really fun now that the weather doesn't suck. Not too many Fiats, let alone Abarths, so even though my car isn't all that special, it definitely stands out.

 

[pilmat]

I have the Turbo model (in between the Abarth and the Sport). Got it May 2, 2013 and have 47 000 km on it (~29 300 miles). Yeah, I drive a lot...

The car is a lot of fun Had a Mini Clubman prior (non-turbo) and for $12k less the Fiat is even more fun to drive! 135hp and 150 ft-kb of torque make for some big grins

I considered the Abarth, but our 🤬 roads here in Quebec killed my Mini and I swore I'd never have a stiff suspended car again (and the Abarth only comes on 17" here). I don't get the great exhaust note, but I get a bit better mileage.

Enjoy your ride

​

 

[Zyla]

The white mirrors and lip do look good; I say go for it. 👍

____

Your car isn't that special? Sure it is! If you like it, that's all that matters. I personally think it's cooler than a lot of sports cars nowadays.

 

[Davis]

So I've been thinking of some visual mods I could do

The white looks great. Do it.

 

[Doodle]

Please get the white.

 

[Joey D]

You need white wheels too, they look awesome on that other 500 you posted.

 

[CDailey]

You need white wheels too, they look awesome on that other 500 you posted.

I love the white wheels, but they would be hell to keep clean. The brakes on these things give off major dust. That said, If I ever do upgrade the wheels, they will either be white, gold/bronze or black. I really like oldschool vibe wheels. DTM/rally style or "stance" style (without the lows and the uber-camber because this is a DD). Lots of spokes, plenty of concave etc...



Wheels similar to these. Only problem is the ones that are awesome, are also very expensive. The Rotiforms and Pogea racing wheels are like $1500+ for a set. I know that's pretty "entry level" in the world of nice wheels, but that is still a metric **** tonne of money for a set of wheels.

 

[disinfected]

This car is on my list of cars I plan on buying by the end of the summer. Drove one and fell in love with it. The sound is amazing.

 

[CDailey]

This car is on my list of cars I plan on buying by the end of the summer. Drove one and fell in love with it. The sound is amazing.

They are an absolute blast! The sound is intoxicating. They are so nimble and fun. You always feel like you're going faster than you actually are when driving spiritedly.

Are you planning on buying a new 2014 or a used one?

 

[disinfected]

It was much more exciting than the FRS and the Veloster I also drove. Probably going to look for one about a year or so old. All depending on the rebates at the time, Fiat seems to have them often.

 

[Ibonibo]

Nice car mate. Should be quite exclusiv in the US. Especially as a dude 👍

Cute kissball (that's what they called over here "Knutschkugel")

 

[CDailey]

It was much more exciting than the FRS and the Veloster I also drove. Probably going to look for one about a year or so old. All depending on the rebates at the time, Fiat seems to have them often.

Everything I've read about the Veloster says it's pretty disappointing. Sloppy gearbox, not enough power, too heavy. Too bad because I think it's a pretty cool looking car. Some guy in my apartment complex has an FR-S and while I think it looks pretty good (I prefer the BRZ front end), and I understand it's a pretty good enthusiast/drivers car, it sounds very bland and from what I've seen online of the interior, it is definitely not for me.