Thinking Dart Bought Abarth
In the market for a fuel efficient car and couldn't beat the Dart in all around value. But if you don't need the size Dart offers but like a car that's a blast to drive and economical check out the Abarth. I did and bought one.Got a base one but it's plenty enough for me. I thought a fwd car couldn't be built with a smooth and fluid shifting transaxle and a clutch that does not ingage /disengage in the top two inches of pedal travel.It feels like a good rwd set-up. With no turbo lag that I coud detect you have to be able to shif fast. Having driven cars with turbochargers and manual trans a certain skill level has to be developed to go through the gears smoothly. Not the best car to learn to drive a manual,but if you have patience it will work out. The suspension and brakes are a perfect match for the drivetrain. The body is good and solid so the suspension can perform like it was designed. The driving position and visibility is perfect. Getting into the car for the first time caught my attention because the ride height is such that you sit in the car not like my sons Sebring which it feels like you sitting on the floorboard after a freefall and literally have the climb back out. It's easier to get in and out than my 08 Charger. I don't know if all the sheet metal same gauge thickness as the hood, that on most economy cars you could almost twist it like a wash rag,I couldn't even get the hood to give a little. The folks at the dealership refer to it as an Italian sports car. To me a sports car has to be rwd but I guess you could classify it as fwd sports car.The people at the ds claim the engine is twin turbo but isn't it single turbo twin intercoolers?
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If a sports car handles and drives beyond the limits and expectations of a car with a sports package than the Abarth must be a sports car. I 'am comparing it to my 08 Daytona Charger with performance tires and the Charger drives extremely well when pushed but has a harshness/crudeness to it. The Abarth flows like water with out any vibration in the steering and the slightest hint of road feel and very little roll, it feels like the driver is sitting up right all the time. The Pirelli all season performance tires give the best of both worlds. With the out put of the engine you get a generous amount of torque steer when hammered to the max and almost non existent otherwise probably due to the torque control function. In the sport mode all the benefits of the engine are present with tighter steering and no turbo lag to speak of . In normal mode the turbo boost is delayed from building up so the vehicle is more user friendly at lower speeds and in traffic. In normal mode in 1st. gear you can creep across a parking lot with out the car bucking. Do that in sports mode and you will be ops-checking your headrest. The Dart should be set up like this with the 1.4 I think the complaints about turbo lag would less. It also has full off ESC that I might try if I get into drifting. Being an aircraft mechanic I have a bad habit of comparing build quality or cars to aircraft standards. This by far is the best built vehicle that I have had because I can feel the engineering in the car. Sounds dumb,would have to be around airplanes for 30 years for it to make sense.Dr. Z said:
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http://www.fiat500usa.com/search/label/Safety Info on how the 500's is built with safety as the priority. http://www.fiat500usa.com/ General info
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The worst thing about the car is that I bought it to soon before the my14 and still had the same my13.Paid about 4k more than I could have. The car is fun to drive and I look forward to driving it every day. Hasn't been back to the dealer for any thing even the free service. The dealer has been there over a year and doesn't have a local telephone number or a receptionist. Put only about only 5k miles on the car and under my driving conditions the mpg average has been 33.2 and I drive it like you are supposed to. Coworkers the same age that I am(60) like the car enough to make their buying list. The tune on the Dart should have been what thee 500's is in sport mode that makes you want to drive it hard. Put the 17 inch summer tires on it and you have a sports car.
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