A few weeks ago, I made a video on all the problems to expect on a FIAT 500 and people thought I didn’t like the car. Even though every time I hit full boost, I worry the motor might grenade, the plastic parts are made of paper Mache and sometimes people merge INTO me on a highway, making sure I’m paying attention on my drive, I still take out this car as much as my BMW Z4. So, in this article I wanted to talk about the reasons why you SHOULD consider getting a Fiat 500 Abarth just like this one. I know this car isn’t for everyone but hear me out and you might change your mind. Let’s get started.
Looks
This car will make you smile every time you drive it and for me a big factor of that is how it looks. It’s a stylish, timeless and funky design in a small and some even would call ‘cute’ package. The Abarth version takes ‘the cute’ and turns it into a mean little hatchback that no one expects to fit 4 grown people into. This car is just a little bit different with the retro design, fun exterior colors and good choice of rims referencing to the original, classic Fiat 500.
Driving Experience
You will love how easy it is to find a parking space and how you easily park anywhere you want, not to mention the way you can squeeze through gaps you wouldn’t even consider in other cars.
This go-cart of a car is incredible fun to take on a spirited drive and if you can find a twisty road, it’s as much of a blast to drive as any other sports car. You can almost show the big cars that they may not be as fast as they think, especially through the corners. This definitely isn’t a car you would nod off while driving home on a late night as you will be grinning from the sound of building boost, the exhaust note and the turbo whistles. Every time you put it in sport mode and gun it, the boost kicks in and you start to hear the burbles, whines, pops and bangs even from your stock exhaust. The exhaust is intoxicating, and you feel like it’s ‘egging’ you on every single time you drive it. It just spurs you on!
Thanks to its power to weight ratio, the little engine with its peppy turbo makes it a blast to drive even in the city traffic or suburban roads
Handling
It’s not the fastest car I’ve owned, but definitely one of the most fun around corners and probably won’t get you in too much trouble. The way it handles corners, reminds me a lot of the Mini Cooper S, but even more tossable around corners. The light weight allows you to throw it around and it will go in the direction you point. It handles tight corners well, hugging the road and giving you a sensation of an expensive sports car at an affordable price. Basically, they all are such a fun driving experience. No one expects a fiat to get up and go around where I live. People assume because it’s a small car, it can’t go fast or be much fun, but they are proven wrong time and time again!
Uniqueness
These little cars make you start grinning as soon as you get in them, not only because of the looks, the driving experience and handling, but also by how unique they are on the road.
I love that hardly anyone outside of car-world-people really know what it is. It is a unique car in US with a very original and unique personality that even gets looks and thumbs up at gas stations. Surprisingly, I have had conversation about the car with curious people inquiring about the Abarth and most believe it to be modified in some way.
It’s a miniscule car with big attitude, that doesn’t look like every other car on the road and with not too many around, always gets a second look. You’ll want to drive it and drive it hard. That 5-speed manual, turbo engine, options for sporty bright colors and a cabrio top make it a unique, iconic and a globally fun package.
It’s loud, ridiculous, unusual, and just silly fun. I honestly just can’t think of many modern cars that would do this in the price range. It makes me smile every time it growls like an angry puppy with the slightest attempt at acceleration.
I’d have to say that because the body lines/ appearance is unique probably the biggest reason.
Value
The value this car provides is hard to beat. You can fit 4 people or weeks’ worth of groceries if you lower the seats and I’ve even managed to put a lawnmower in the back in a hunch. So, you get maximum utility in a small car that’s relatively inexpensive to maintain and more importantly, inexpensive to modify! I have seen some amazing pictures on Facebook groups of people going all out as well as doing light mods with plenty of instructional videos. Most of which seem fairly easy to do at home. Fuel economy is also very good, even on the Abarth version of the car, you can easily get 30mpg driving it daily and around 20mpg when you really push it.
A lot of people would argue that it’s the most fun car you can find on a tight budget.
The last thing I wanted to mention is that it actually has some cool and fun features that you may not expect, like hill assist. In fact, I have a video on the cool features you can check out by clicking on the corner card.