500 1.4 T-Jet 135bhp 3dr Hatchback

Playful, angry and exciting!

This is my second car, upgrading from a 2003 Vauxhall Corsa Club. I have wanted to own one of these cars ever since before I started driving, and finally my aspiration has been realised! My biggest surprise with this car has been the start-up costs - thankfully I am yet to require any maintenance on the car, nor service or MOT - but with tax at £190 and insurance for a 19 year-old at £500, I couldn't ask for much cheaper start-up costs! I have driven this car quite zealously over the last few months, for about 2500 miles, achieving 39.5mpg with a mix of motorway, dual carriageway and town and country-lane driving I have found to be quite surprising, and remarkably similar to my previous car's achievement.

My car's specification includes the upgraded black leather interior, red Abarth stripes, checkered roof and interscope sound system. The vinyl additions add to the fun factor of this car - trying to take yourself too seriously when driving what is fundamentally a noisy and nippy Fiat 500 is quite difficult. I have been very impressed with the leather interior, despite being black it does not get overly hot in the sun, nor is it obnoxiously slippery. The interscope sound system is a must, the small underseat subwoofer leaves little to be desired in terms of bass, and the six speakers give fantastic mid and high clarity. The only time I have found the sound system to be less than excellent is at volumes above notch 25, with very powerful, low frequency, punchy bass - here the little subwoofer's lack of air movement begins to show as it rattles slightly and 'chokes' a little.

Now on to driving dynamics. This car is quick, really, really quick. The most surprising acceleration is 20-50 in second gear, the car feels hugely more powerful than it is, surging forwards and leaving anyone around quite far behind you. The quoted 0-62 time of 7.8 seconds for the 135bhp model is a little misleading. My father drives a Mercedes B200 (diesel) with a remap, boosting its 0-62 to around 8 seconds, making our cars - on paper - the same acceleration speed. The Abarth feels so much faster, the aggression, noise and fuss this car makes brings excitement to the forefront of the driving experience. Don't buy this car to race other people, it is slower than almost all other hot hatches (Yaris GRMN, Fiesta ST, 208 GTi, Fabia vRS, Polo GTi, Corsa VXR, etc.), buy this car for your own driving experience. There are other hot hatches (I have driven them) which feel more solid on the road and I'm sure would walk all over this car around the Nurburgring, but none that I have driven excited me as much as this little Abarth. The noise this car makes is unlike any other hot hatch I have heard, I can liken it only to a dummed-down Ferrari California T - the throaty, rattly exhaust makes cold-starts something I still leave my door open to listen to - everyone I have spoken to has been baffled by how good this car sounds stock. In conclusion of the driving dynamics, fun and noise are the two players in this category - the car is plenty fast enough to keep up with traffic on any road - including motorways - but flinging it from side to side down windy B-Roads with the windows down (or roof down if you're lucky enough to have the convertible!) is where this car truly shines.

Sport mode is a must, with sport mode deactivated, this car is basically a noisy Fiat 500. The throttle response is sluggish and way too far down the pedal, the steering is light and lacks any feedback and the hill-climbing ability of this car is pretty dire. Click that magical button though and all of these things are remedied, the throttle is sharp, steering wonderfully weighty and torque aplenty for climbing any hill. The TTC button activates an electronic limited slip differential, this with eat through tires and a little bit on the brakes, but really does put the cherry on the cake of driving experience. Surging out of corners, chucking the car into slides and spinning up the wheels right up through the gears is an easy pleasure and really highlights the purpose of this car.

In terms of living with this car, there are a few limitations. Obviously size is a restriction, I didn't buy this car for its backseat or boot space, although having four adults and four rucksacks is perfectly doable, providing the driver is under six foot - if you as a driver are taller, or like to sit right back from the steering wheel - fitting an adult in the back seat behind you will be nigh on impossible. Some gripes I have are as follows - if someone taller than five foot six is sat behind you as a driver, every time you pull or release the handbrake (or e-brake for the US readers) you will elbow their knee. If it is raining and you put on the wipers at speed, all the water will be sprayed down the drivers window as there is no real catching ridge around the windscreen to guide the water away. The head rests in the back might as well be made of granite as they're about as forgiving. The front seats are wonderful, hugging buckets - but the back is basically a bench so any zealous driving with passengers will result in them sliding from side to side (especially considering my seats are the leather option). The standard air-con system has really cheap turning knobs, kind of spoiling the otherwise very cute and Italian interior (upgrade to climate control to evade this). Despite having the basic, 16 inch alloys (which, by the way, I would recommend as the car handles beautifully with that bit of extra tyre cushioning), they stick out past the tyres, meaning they are really easy to curb if you're not careful. ALL of the front lights, apart from the dipped beam headlights, are nigh-on impossible to change if they blow or (like me) you wish to replace them with LEDs. Lastly, running a power line from the battery to the interior of the car is definitely a job for a professional - I have endeavoured for many hours but the only gromit I can find is near inaccessible and completely lock-tight, this along with a difficult to access fuse box makes what should be simple electric maintenance/modification quite difficult.

As you can see, there are a number of issues with this car, however I hope you can see that they are all very minor gripes and do not detract from the amazing driving experience that this little motor gives you. The other practicality elements are good - it is low enough to look good but I am yet to sc***e on any speed bumps or bottom out in a pot-hole. The boot is also a good size, especially considering the footprint of the car is about as small as they come - I can fit the enormous 12 inch subwoofer from my Corsa in the boot and that's the main thing really!

I conclusion, I love this car - I can look over any and all of its limitations because of the smile it puts on my face every second that I drive it. A quote from my close friend I think really sums this car up; "My face is starting to hurt as I've just realised I haven't stopped grinning since I got in this car an hour ago!". That really is what this car is about - for the same money you can buy faster, more practical, arguably better looking, more pedigree etc. But I would argue that you can't buy any more fun than this - not until you stray into rear wheel drive roadster territory - which for practicality and insurance cost is not really comparable. If you're looking for fun above all else and are a young/new driver or someone who doesn't want to put all their money into a car, this is the car for you - test drive one, new or old, you'll love it.

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