Fiat dropped off a 500 Abarth last week for me to drive, it has been an absolute blast. From taking it to explore some shoot locations in the city, carving canyons, and taking a road trip out to the beach the Abarth has been a total blast. Overall, my impression of the car is great, it has a lot to offer for the man or woman about town, just don't expect to move your apartment in it.
As you can imagine the trunk is pretty tiny, this car with the optional beats sound system means more of your cargo space is eaten up by the subwoofer and amplifier. But if you need a fun runabout for the city, that can still make long drives when needed the 500 Abarth is perfect.
The interior is nicely trimmed and our tester included the Mopar "Scorpion Package" which means it gets the license frames, fuel door, massive roof graphic, and several other things with the Abarth logo on them. I would lose the $595 package myself and just opt for the floor mats and fuel door. The other option I would bypass is the TomTom navigation which is $600 and awkwardly plugs into a slot on the dash, blocking a good portion of windshield real estate.
Aside from those little optional annoyances, the car is a total blast to drive. From carving corners in the mountains to just zipping around the town the car's exhaust has a cool burbling tone that sounds much more intimidating than you expect. This car was equipped with the optional 6-speed auto-manual transmission, which at first I was disappointed with until I took it for a spin with the Sport Mode on.
With the car in Sport Mode the transmission shift points get more aggressive, the exhaust snarls a bit more and pops as the automatic transmission intuitively downshifts under braking and cornering. The computer shifts much better than you ever could in manual mode so just leave it in full auto and enjoy the point and shoot driving. The digital instruments ditch the ECO Meter... and replace it with a throttle position and G-force meters.
As tested this car is listed at $28.940 for more on this car check out Fiat.com
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