Looking To Get Another Vehicle. Fiat 500 Abrath, Mini Cooper S, Or?

[dmoonen 54]

So I'm looking to get another car to buy, tinker with, drive, murder, and abandon in my warehouse in exact order. I'll be doing some long distance (24,000km in three months) driving throughout the states, Canada and Mexico for some business ventures. The car will be with my company logos and will be driven fast, long and through some serious summer weather and will most likely leave without any clear coat by the end.

I require something that can fit two people and some luggage. Something thats smaller but sporty and eye catching but wont set me back a small house. I love my current set of monsters but my drive way is getting a bit stale and needs a little bit of spice to my pepper and need something that fits between my 69mpg smart and my 16mpg Custom Audi.

So the ones I've been looking at so far:

[*]Fiat 500 Abrath or Sport

[*]2006 or newer Mini Cooper S, John Cooper Works

Any other vehicles anyone would recommend to check out (new or used)? I'll be making my decision within the next three weeks.

[Huronlad 158]

I would have the Abarth or 500 Turbo before the Mini. A turbo BRZ would be interesting as well.

[stickman007 117]

+1 on the Abarth

[smart142 448]

Last year I acquired an old Mazda Miata and love driving it in the nice weather. It would fit the bill- ''Something thats smaller but sporty and eye catching but wont set me back a small house.''Saw one the other day that was in very good condition for $6000.

[dmoonen 54]

I plan on taking out Fiat 500 Abrath this weekend at a local dealer just have to make some calls to see if they have it in stock. I may also be looking at a 2005 SLK 320 AMG, I briefly owned one for two weeks until I couldn't import it over the boarder.@Glenn the Miata's are a nice little sports car but they aren't something for me. I drove a friends around for a couple weeks and they are a fun little car to drive especially for the $.

[MikeT 449]

ABARTH. not Abrath!

[lebikerboy 88]

The Abarth is just too expensive...

[MikeT 449]

I would choose a Fiesta ST ahead of all the ones you listed.

[dmoonen 54]

Update narrowed down my search to an lightly used 2012 Fiat 500 Sport for just under $11,000 certified and etested. I also have my eyes on something else but I'm not speaking about it yet. . but it may join my micro car gang.

Sorry about the spelling Mike, The Abarth is certainly a beautiful machine and it does sit around the 30k mark. Looking at the cheaper Sport model mentioned before gives me some money and room to modify it to my liking. Smart Madness also is supplying Fiat upgrades too now so leaves a bunch of doors open

Ford has really stepped up their game the past couple years but I'm still not bought over with their products even though the Fiesta is an international platform.

[ianjay 5]

The FIAT 500 shares a platform with the Ford Ka. But that has been around for a while. Maybe the Fiesta is also related?I really like my FIAT. Our Lounge lacks the gaudiness of the Sport and Abarth (I'm not even going near the Gucci) and it seems to be putting on the kms without a sweat. Make SURE both rear license lamps (LED's) are working. The entire assembly has to be replaced. Great A/C, stereo, comfortable seats, reasonable fuel economy.500Madness in the states (west coast) has tons of fun stuff from little bitty keychains to suspension systems.

[Huronlad 158]

Finally got around to driving an Abarth. FCA has a contest going until Saturday to enter to win a free car, seemed like a good enough excuse.

The exhaust sound is very addictive. Performance is quick as long as you are in the correct gear. The non-adjustable head rest is a little low, it sits at the base of my skull. The clutch pedal appears to have twice as much travel as it should. To be able to depress the clutch fully I have to be too close to the other pedals for comfort. When underway, you barely need to touch the clutch to change gears. This appears to be an item that can be adjusted.

A few months still to go until the 453 is here, to compare.

[darren 167]

I hadn't heard of the Ford Ka/Fiat 500 platform sharing… that strikes me as a little odd. Are you sure about that?

I followed an Abarth down a country road once, and the exhaust tuning they did on that is phenomenal. What a glorious exhaust note!

[Francesco 69]

Wait until you hear an Alfa 4C! There was one at a stop light in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago and when he took off, people stopped and smiled. Same street, same morning there was an impeccable 2014 Exige LF1. Scirocco Rs are a dime a dozen in Brisbane. Nice!

[lebikerboy 88]

I hadn't heard of the Ford Ka/Fiat 500 platform sharing… that strikes me as a little odd. Are you sure about that?

I followed an Abarth down a country road once, and the exhaust tuning they did on that is phenomenal. What a glorious exhaust note!

The main mechanical differentiator between the new Ka and its Fiat sibling is that the Ford has better shock absorption than the Fiat 500. Fitting a rear anti-roll bar enabled 30 percent softer springs and accordingly retuned dampers to improve ride performance over uneven road surfaces. Some of these improvements were subsequently adopted on Fiat 500 Abarth and Fiat 500C models.^[24] Changes were also made to the 500's steering geometry for the Ka, although as the new Ka uses an electrically assisted steering system, it lacks the communication of its predecessor's hydraulically assisted steering. However, the electric steering system does make the steering much lighter and more energy efficient than its predecessor.^[25]

[evotell 10]

I have driven both at the track, cars were owned by 2 of my students.

Your choice of either Fiat or Mini indicates that your looking at a quirky car. The Cooper S is a good car, NOT a great car, it has some major bad points, expensive, heavy, and very little driver feed back. The Fiat is top of the quirky list, cute, expensive and also underpowered, and has the magic Abarth name, except in my opinion it isn't radical enough to wear the name.

As a Smart owner you already have the ultimate quirky car, buy the Fiesta ST

Edited May 1, 2015 by evotell

[MikeT 449]

That was my advice two years ago!

[CANMAN 18]

Wait until the 453 comes out in the fall and buy one.

Canman

[evotell 10]

Are they doing the 453 as an electric model

Edited May 1, 2015 by evotell

[ianjay 5]

Update on a real world FIAT 500 Lounge.

We are now at 64K km. No serious issues. AC is perfect, original tires, brakes and shocks, stereo works, nothing has fallen off, Krown rustproofing yearly, no sign of rust. Interior leather holding just fine. For those interested, the manual transmission cars seem to have premature clutch failures. It fails completely, with almost no warning and is a pull whole drivetrain out i$$ue. FIAT seems to be opposed to goodwill repairs on this problem, so do be warned. Some have had paint issues which are not easy to resolve (see previous comment about goodwill clutch repairs). We have the automated manual system and it works just fine.

Would I buy another? Probably.

One final observation: fuel economy is much worse than the ratings. I don't understand how larger Chrysler models using this engine are advertised with the numbers I see. Pure fiction.

[Huronlad 158]

Is the 453 are they doing an electric model

Yes.

[Huronlad 158]

I would choose a Fiesta ST ahead of all the ones you listed.

A local dealer has one, so I may see about test driving it on Saturday.

[FlossyTheSmart 80]

Is the 453 are they doing an electric model

Yes.

Well, eventually. The electric 453 won't be here in the fall.

[marchanna 114]

I don't think the Smart ED will be a practical cross-country vehicle.

[Shogun 4]

Would go for a cooper jcw

[marchanna 114]

I would recommend a used E-class. Great value and super reliable + really comfortable for long hauls. You can usually pick one up that has just over 100,000kms for about $12,000.