Covered this a few times in a couple other threads. Jalopnik got the spoiled auto journalist treatment but posted a review of the car and had the stones to admit that the kind of treatment they got.
So it's a slow car you drive fast (my favorite kind) and there's supposedly a super special edition called Venom that has weight reduction and a 200 HP engine, on the way.
Guess that needs to be added to my to drive list when I get back home in June along with the FR-S, and they both get a GRM test drive.
What say you GRM?
the abarth gets more and more tempting. The problem I have with it.. I would have to get rid of one of my cars to get one.
Saw one in person recently. Not perormance related, but DAM its bugly!
Not exactly ugly, but not real cute either. No wait, it's cute, but not good looking.
The plain vanilla version is blah, but it dolls up nicely.
I like the interior room. I'm tall in the waist and I still have plenty of head room. It also gives you elbow room so you feel as if you are driving a larger car instead of a cramped small car.
In reply to DavidinDurango:
The think keeps growing on me, despite the female oriented marketing campaign that the last director of sales launched (and was subsequently fired for.) It's kinda goofy looking no doubt but I've been hearing a number of good things about it.
I was holding out for the Abarth but that Venom with carbon fiber goodies and a pretty substantial power boost...
Sad as it is I'll probably hold out for the FR-S with the factory turbo/supercharger. Though I've never had a warranty to void before.
If I were looking at something like that, I can't find a compelling reason to buy an Abarth over a Mini Cooper S.
I approve. Besides, the latest Abarth ads are making amends for the fiasco with jaylo. Charlie Sheen=winning!
Its a cool little car that oozes style in a way that only the Italians can manage. It performs pretty well,too.
I sat in one at the car show a couple of weeks ago, and the interior was a major step up from the pop model I was in the prior year. Jalopnik's review doesn't make me want to avoid the dealer, either.
Only, problem, I'd have to ditch the Miata in order to justify this thing. Going from a known, pretty reliable car, to a turbocharged Italian car is a little worrisome. I'd also lose the convertible top, which I used quite a bit last year. Power to weight ratios appear pretty similar, but I'm betting the torque curve on the Abarth blows away the Miata, so it'll probably "feel" faster. The 500 is also a lot easier to get in and out of.
Not sure whether I should avoid or test drive next time the Miata is in for service. The Fiat dealer is in the same automall as the Mazda dealer.
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:
In reply to z31maniac:
$6k?
This. Plus it is smaller and will get better gas mileage. I don't really need anything as big as the MINI.
DavidinDurango wrote:
Saw one in person recently. Not perormance related, but DAM its bugly!
Humm BUGLY, excellent turn of phrase.
It isn't ugly in the Aztek since and not bug cute like the New Beetle.
It's Bugly.
So it came to pass. On March 4th, the world recognized the new adjective of BUGLY
I like the way it looks, but can't stand the latest Beetle. I tried to find out how much it was here, but couldn't find the price on their website.
Oh yeah, I got to sit in a pre-production model in Atlanta last year, surprising amount of head room. I am 6'5" and I fit very well.
I would drive one.
Just remember what the ladies say if you drive a Corvette, the logic holds going the other way too
Or they think you meant to buy a Miata. 
FlightService wrote:
It isn't ugly in the Aztek since and not bug cute like the New Beetle.
Ok the new Beetle isn't cute. It is just stupid.
After staring at it for the last 5 minutes, I think it is the grill. That SJP bump just doesn't look right. My keep staring at it wanting to say...
"Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face!"
