Did the 500 just become the most popular car on this forum? Almost everybody here has one!
Did the 500 just become the most popular car on this forum? Almost everybody here has one!
In reply to confuZion3:
Maybe it's the new Miata? 
Got an email from the dealer in Strongsville OH that I had inquired about one of their cars a month ago, when I contacted 3-4 different dealers. It starts with "Thank you for your interest in our 2013 Fiat 500 ! You actually could not have picked a better time to look into a Fiat."
I replied that I actually picked a month ago to look into Fiat's and I bought one at another dealership about 2 days later, but thanks anyway. 
Jerry wrote: In reply to confuZion3: Maybe it's the new Miata?
Might seem sacrilege to some to say so but I like my Abarth much more than any of the miata's I've owned.
When I came out of the kart track last night, I heard some massively beastly car out in the parking lot with an awesome exhaust note with just a hint of whistle from the turbo buried in all the burble. Imagine my surprise when I finally figured out that it was coming from Jerry's car. I know that everybody says the exhaust is perfect on the Abarths, but like the Matrix, no one can be told what it is, you have to hear it for yourself.
I know it sounds amazing inside, I had to have faith it was that good outside.
In other news, thanks Amazon: 
confuZion3 wrote: Did the 500 just become the most popular car on this forum? Almost everybody here has one!
It has replaced the Mazda2 as the tiny car of the moment.
It was a good weekend.
In reply to Jerry: I did a bit of a double take-at first glance from the rear it looks like loads of camber. Good looking car.
I'm starting to really like these, I may have to stop and look at that use red one I pass at a dealer often and see what all the fuss is about
Heh, maybe it's the angle and camera work, but that first picture almost makes it look like one of those Mayan pyramid things :)
Made the first payment this morning. So it begins.
Also, any owners had luck with LED's in the tail/backup/DRL areas?
If someone gets a minute can you see if the rear spoiler is held on with hardware of just tape? The wife is pretty sure she wants the Abarth spoiler and the aftermarket ones are stick on. I was wondering if the originals are too.
One came out to autocross with us this weekend - looked like a ball and sounded great.
I plan to autocross mine eventually. Ordered a short shift adapter yesterday, torsion bar next weekend.
I just signed up for the Abarth Driving Experience in Joilet IL in August. Woot. Came free with the car!
Now that I am making more money.. I am considering one of these as a replacement for the saab as a daily. As much as I dislike black as a car colour.. it is the one hue I like on the abarth
mad_machine wrote: Now that I am making more money.. I am considering one of these as a replacement for the saab as a daily. As much as I dislike black as a car colour.. it is the one hue I like on the abarth
Well if you go hunting stay away from the dealer in Maple Shade. I get my service there but their sales department is on crack. D'Ambrosio out in Philly cut me a good deal on mine (back when people weren't making deals on them) and I'm sure there's some other places around that are decent but last time I was at Maple Shade they still had a dealer markup on Abarths even though they had 4 or 5 on the lot.
For you owners, I found out this storage thing fits almost perfect in the trunk (at least with the Beats Audio subwoofer, probably almost as good without):
SWMBO bought one for her camping trip & I test fit it in the Abarth. Just bought one for myself at $12. And it folds up flat when not in use.
Short shift adapter is in. PIAA backup and DRL's are in. If any of you know how to get to the fog lights on an Abarth, feel free to clue me in. Nothing's worked so far today.
Jerry, have the mud flaps helped keep the back of the car cleaner? We say some guys from Rally Armor at Lime Rock today and they told the wife she could get their logo put on them in light green so now she's thinking of getting them too. For someone who really isn't a car person she seems to be picking up a lot of toys.
I hope at least one of you guys gets around to lowering the damn thing. The proportions of the car look SO much better without that wheel gap. that would likely be the first thing I did after buying one.
@Wally: hard to say definite yes, but it seems like it. Plus it looks so damn cool.
@Gamby: that's on my list at some point, after HID headlights, intake, rear seat delete, rear torsion bar, strut brace, ... Hopefully over the summer while I can still enjoy it, because I probably won't drive it much over the winter. Especially if we get another one like this past!
Well, it's a gorgeous day today, and a company-time errand took me right past the FIAT dealer this morning, so I stopped in. Test drove a loaded 2014 Abarth cabrio in Bianco. Didn't really get to toss it around the twisties, but did get to romp on it a little.
Overall, it seemed like a really fun little car. Power delivery was pretty linear, with just enough lag to tell you it's a turbo. It got a little hairy when I was on it hard on some uneven pavement, and the short wheelbase made itself felt. But overall, it felt pretty tossable. This was on the 16x6.5 wheels, not the upgrades. The controls and shifter felt nice and fell right to hand; I like the upright driving position.
I could have had my choice of white, black, or red in the 2014 base Abarth w/o sunroof, which I would actually prefer. Without even trying, they went to $21200 for any of those 3 cars, with all taxes, fees, 5-year tags, everything, out the door. If I didn't have a kid going to college this fall and another kid just home from college, I'd be tempted to try and get them down to $20k flat.
[edit] Oh, and I got The Wave from a lady in a brown 500 while I was on the 15-minute test drive.
In reply to Duke:
That's about what I paid, with sunroof and many options. The sunroof is coming in handy today. 
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