500 Essesse really that bad?

[dema]

Just read some reviews, and most seems to find the Essesse to harsh for the UK roads making it unstable on uneven roads, not able to put the power down and generally becoming uncomfortable, most reviewers compare it and prefer the Mini JCW(some said the Twingo Sport is better than the Essesse too).

Would be good to hear from owners and people that did test drive this particular model

[Zato]

I test drove a standard Esseesse and the suspension was awful and I would not buy one. Then drove an Esseesse with the Koni FSD upgrade and drove it home an hour later Koni FSD is about £700 and transforms the car.

[dema]

Thanks Zato.

Am I right thnking that the Koni FSD are standard on the 595/596?
I spent 1K on suspension on my car, £700 seems resonable!

Did you try the normal Abarth? I wonder if it is woerth buying a standard Abarth,wuith a lower mileage and better state for thesame money as an SS and add brakes, exhaust and remap later.
End result should be the same

[jacklewisno1]

The SS ride is hard because its lowered but has standard dampers. Like Zato said the Koni FSD is a good upgrade, also fitting coupe bump stomps or trimming the standard ones down improves the ride as well. Ive just picked my Koni FSD today, cost £570 without fitting.

My car is a standard Abarth but has a tuning box with a bigger exhaust and soon to have the Koni. It should be producing around 160-170BHP. So yes you could just upgrade a standard version and achieve similar results without too much difficulty.

I suggest you take a look on one of the Abarth Forums such as Abarthisti or the Scorpion Club. All yours answers are waiting there!

[Zato]

Koni is standard on 595. Have a look at angel tuning package. About £1200 and mirrors esseesse package. Angel have a good rep.

[Fantuzzi]

I think its never been considered a 'bad car' by any means, I think it lacked the power of rivals when it was new (about 40bhp down on the clio cup) and lacked a poise compared to the mini or clio, but then the car was praised by the amount of fun it was, and I think the car was never really meant to be aimed at that 200bhp crowd, and still isn't really.

I suppose it depends on whether you are looking for a 2nd car, or as your main bit of fun, I've heard good things on here about the Koni kit, if the 595 has the koni kit, get down to a dealer and see for yourself, I think comfort is such a subjective thing in cars, Ive found certain cars really niggly while others found them silky smooth and vice versa.

Evo did a good review of the standard Abarth 500 with heavy reference if the essesse kit was worth it over the base model

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/2774...

(the answer was no, it was a better car as standard incase youre lazy...)

[dema]

That's one of the first reviews I've read and the reason for my original post came form the last comment.
As you said, I would have to test drive both the SS and the 595 to better understand the difference.

Just an thought for now but, if it materialised, this will be the only car in the household, just 2 of us for now and don't really use the boot that much, but, the extra folding rear seats would be a must for the odd occasion we do need the extra space

[jacklewisno1]

Test drive is the only way to find out the truth. Ive been a passenger in an SS and it felt more composed. The ride didnt seem too bad either, but it was on a flat surface. Its a hard ride because the suspension bottoms out so easily.