A BA, MA, and PhD was good for something then, I guess.

Will argue back on that. Italian car manufacturers expect their cars to be driven hard. Spoke to someone who worked at Abarth, and he said they are disappointed in seeing their cars being babied. I have an Alfa Romeo, and it loves to be driven like an Italian. If you baby it, it is not happy. You can drive your car…

If they made a manual car I actually would want to buy, i would buy it. But they don’t. So 10 year old used cars it is.

What would you have me get? A WRX? A Corolla? A Civic Si? “Insert obvious car here?” Fuck that. Also, you can get a tidy one for like $5k. Perfect.

amen

The people who like them and the people who buy them are not the same people.

Agreed. Their attitude of “meh, that’ll do” has ruined many people to the brand. Remember any of the following as anything but utter garbage?: The Malibu Maxx? The Optra? Captiva? Epica? Spark? Cavalier? Cobalt? Sunfire? G3 or Wave? Terrible. GM, you can do better...but you just don’t care enough to try.

The Volt actually is the perfect commuter car for today, but GM failed to market it whatsoever. Family loves ours, they are the best built GM car in the last 20 years, and average 1.0L/100kms. Great commuter for today while also looking towards tomorrow.

it is, wish the editors spent more than 30 seconds researching a car...but hey they have a busy schedule so cut them slack?....

It isn’t CP if it is a list of mods I was planning on doing anyway. Shopping for a Mini JCW right now, and pre-done “widely accepted” mods save a lot of money.

the transmission was ruined because vapebro flat-shifting with that giant shifter destroying the synchros

See, finally someone with some sense. The writers I swear sometimes just look at the CL post and write based on preconceived notions and guesswork. I still say CP, but not by a huge margin.

200hp is easy with the 1.4T with bolt-ons.

Looks like a cheap Chinese knockoff. Also, gaping grills are lazy design and very ugly. Stop it!

I totally agree with your answer. It is all trending and marketing. These vehicles are actually not good at anything, but mediocre at best at a bunch of things.

it does. 160 standard

The NA Abarth got the “SS” kit from Europe as standard. The 133hp Abarth was Europe only, and also only in its first few years. Somebody was lazy with their google search...

Guys, the Abarth 500 is not bad for reliability. Driven many, never broke. Friends gets thrashed and never missed a beat. It is perhaps the most reliable Fiat in a long, long time.

The brand has not the best reputation, but the Abarth 500 is the most solid of them all. Friends say it is their most reliable vehicle.

Yep, I am with you on that. I love the 500 Abarth...but this one seems too beat up.