Advice needed on Abarth options

[AC43]

Hi all,

I'm planning ahead for the next city runaround as the wife's Clio is on its last legs.

The Mrs would like either Mini Cooper S or an Abarth 500. (well she'd like a Mini or a 500, I'd like to get a well specced S or Abarth).

I tried a Cooper S but found the ride to be like concrete and it was rubbish over speed bumps. Hoping an Abarth is a bit better. Obviously I'll have to try one but as I live in London Zone 2 there's no avoiding the bumps.

The car will only do something like 1.5k a year and as I tend cars a long time so would like to pay up to £7.5k for something with lots of bells and whistles like the one in the link.

So I'd like (in no particular order) bluetooth, decent sounds, leather & xenons.

I'd prefer a sunroof to a convertible but not sure you can get one so I'd consider a convertible.

Would normally go for a manual but would consider a semi-auto if it were DSG. So my questions are

(1) what's the ride like in an Abarth compared to a MCS?
(2) what's the optimal wheel size in terms of looking OK smoothing things out a little? 16 inch?
(3) what king of box is the semi-auto? ie is it proper dual clutch
(4) what's the convertible like to like with?

Here's the one that caught my eye;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thanks in advance

[Bungleaio]

The Abarth is brilliant and I much prefer them to the current crop of MINI's that are available.

The early supercharged MINI's were good but I've found the ride is a lot firmer than the Abarth. It has been a while since I drove one though. Regarding Cooper S' it was a factory free option to delete the sports suspension though so you may find one that's a bit softer. Another way to improve them is to have none run-flat tyres.

My Abarth is running 17inch wheels which are fine, going to 16's might improve things a little but I don't feel the need.

There are different trim levels on the Abarths, a Competizione will have a lot stiffer ride than the standard ones. A Turismo is the slightly more luxurious one as it comes with leather seats. I'm not much up on the older models but they had a lot less power than the current models too.

The gearbox gets a bit of a mixed press, it's a robotized manual rather than a true auto or DCT. I've not driven one but this might help you http://www.abarthownersclub.com/forum/index.php?to... The MTA cars are more expensive so if it's not something you need then I would stick to manual.

Sunroofs are available but they reduce headroom, I can't sit under one comfortable as my head rubs on the headlining but I fit fine under the convertible. I don't know what either is like to live with but I have a manual at the moment and a convertible on order. The seating position in an Abarth is quite unusual too, it's a lot higher than you would think, it's not an issue but it makes sitting in standard golfs etc feel like sitting on the floor.

Your decent sounds, Bluetooth, leather and xenon requirements are achievable. The head unit and speakers aren't the best but on the models up to the (current) series 4 the head unit can be swapped out and changed for a decent one. The was an opton to have upgraded speakers inc an under front seat sub fitted too. The older cars also use something called blue and me for Bluetooth connection, I've not used it but a lot of people seem to moan about it on the facebook groups that I'm on. Xenons used to be a standard fit item on the upper models but they have taken that away on the latest cars and it's now a £675 option.

Note that you only get a shelf rather than a glovebox on the series 3 cars and below.

Overall these cars are an absolute riot to drive and make a great noise but are still quite practical as long as you don't need to carry loads of stuff. They have a ludicrous turning circle, the same as a 5 series, it's fine when driving around but when you are trying to manoeuvre then you may need to do an extra bit of shuffling.

[AC43]

Thanks for all the feedback.

So I guess I'm looking for a manual Turismo with a sunroof then. On 16's probably. The roads in London are pretty bad in places.

I'm looking at 10/11/12 plates - what's that? A series 3?

Anyway, those ones had got 140 bhp-ish which is plenty for the intended use - ie zipping round town. In MINI terms I guess that's equivalent to a non-S Cooper with the non-Sport (more sensible) suspension. In Olde Worlde terms a warm hatch.


I have a 5.5 V8 Merc for the distance stuff. But I grew up on Sud's and I'm in Italy at the moment.

And I'm feeling the need to mainline an Italian city car.

[JKDesign80]

AC43 said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

So I guess I'm looking for a manual Turismo with a sunroof then. On 16's probably. The roads in London are pretty bad in places.

I'm looking at 10/11/12 plates - what's that? A series 3?

Anyway, those ones had got 140 bhp-ish which is plenty for the intended use - ie zipping round town. In MINI terms I guess that's equivalent to a non-S Cooper with the non-Sport (more sensible) suspension. In Olde Worlde terms a warm hatch.


I have a 5.5 V8 Merc for the distance stuff. But I grew up on Sud's and I'm in Italy at the moment.

And I'm feeling the need to mainline an Italian city car.

The Turismo has always come with 17" wheels as standard, 16s have only ever been on the base model as standard. So might be rare to find one where someone who has changed them on a Turismo. The 16" wheels do crop up on eBay quite frequently however if you did want to change.

Series 3 will be pre facelift which came about in 2016.

[AC43]

JKDesign80 said:

AC43 said:

Thanks for all the feedback.

So I guess I'm looking for a manual Turismo with a sunroof then. On 16's probably. The roads in London are pretty bad in places.

I'm looking at 10/11/12 plates - what's that? A series 3?

Anyway, those ones had got 140 bhp-ish which is plenty for the intended use - ie zipping round town. In MINI terms I guess that's equivalent to a non-S Cooper with the non-Sport (more sensible) suspension. In Olde Worlde terms a warm hatch.


I have a 5.5 V8 Merc for the distance stuff. But I grew up on Sud's and I'm in Italy at the moment.

And I'm feeling the need to mainline an Italian city car.

The Turismo has always come with 17" wheels as standard, 16s have only ever been on the base model as standard. So might be rare to find one where someone who has changed them on a Turismo. The 16" wheels do crop up on eBay quite frequently however if you did want to change.

Series 3 will be pre facelift which came about in 2016.

Thanks. I'm sure I can live with 17's.

I stumbled across a Fiat dealer here in Italy today and took the opportunity to sit in a new 595. Really liked the interior although I see what people mean about the high seating position.

I'm in a hired 500X at the moment and the first thing I did was to drop the seat right down.

Can you change the seat rails on the normal 500's to drop them down a bit?

It's not a deal breaker but if there was a cheap fix I'd probably have it done.

[Bungleaio]

If you wanted a Competizione then there are new rails available for the Sabelt seats but there is nothing available for the standard seats.

It took a little for me to get used to the elevated position in my car but I really like it now. It's part of what the car is.

[AC43]

Bungleaio said:

If you wanted a Competizione then there are new rails available for the Sabelt seats but there is nothing available for the standard seats.

It took a little for me to get used to the elevated position in my car but I really like it now. It's part of what the car is.

Thanks. It's not a deal breaker. I'm sure id get used to it.

[Gmlgml]

I have a 2010 convertible fitted with the esssesse kit (Bigger wheels 17” and uprated suspension) as a dealer/factory mod. I can’t comment on the standard abarth suspension but this variant is worse for ride quality than a cooper S on runflats that I had.

It’s not the most common variant as it was an expensive option, but I definitely recommend avoiding it if you do lots of city driving; it’s bone shakingly hard.

I would recommend the MTA gearbox with a few caveats.

Left in auto mode it’s awful. Sluggish, jerky and slow.

It’s 1000% better in manual mode. I tend to use the paddles to go up the box whatever the driving conditions and I only let the box come down itself in traffic (which it will default to even in manual mode- it will only let you hold a gear so much.)

It’s much better used like this as the only real foible is if for example you are in 3rd gear and want to take a sharp turn. Use the paddle to select 2nd and at the same time the box may also decide it wants to come down a gear. You end up like a learner, lurching round the corner in 1st gear.

With mixed driving (weekly involving motorways, B roads and traffic, plus some childish use of the sports button) it returns 35mpg.

The seating position is an acquired taste. The seat doesn’t go down very low and I’ve not found a modification for it (the later sabelts you can get a lowering kit- google TMC motorsport). It’s made worse by the lack of steering wheel adjustment. I understand you can get a boss adapter that makes a big difference (seems to get rave reviews on some of the forums) but I’ve never tried one personally.

You end up either long arms or bent legs. I got used to it in the end and have done a number of long journeys with no adverse affects.

If you can get xenons they make a big difference.

The convertible part of it is fine. You can manually set a small opening, or it defaults to roof back (with rear window up) or fully down. I never have it fully down as it’s unbearably noisy. Roof back window up is fine. The wind deflector on the windscreen surround is tiny so you do get a lot of buffeting.

It’s much better with the rear wind deflector in place (which is an accessory part): readily available on line for about £100.

Roof up it’s perfectly refined. Easily hold a conversation (in person or phone) at motorway speeds.

Do be aware of the scuttle shake though with the roof down. It’s bad enough (certainly on rough roads) that a Sat Nav or phone on a windscreen mount is unreadable as it moves around so much.

If I had my time over again I’d probably look for the same car but with a sunroof rather than the convertible top. The sunroof fully back isn’t much different to the roof in the rear window up position.

The blue and me is pretty rubbish and doesn’t really get on with newer smart phones. You can get a 60 adapter or do what I did and replace the head unit.

The only other things to look out for a two really common faults.

The door handles snap and the ESP system throws a wobbly. Both easy fixes.

The door handles are really noticeable when they are on the way out, they go very loose and don’t click back into place easily. Caught early it’s a five quid clip and about 30 minutes of faff to fit (have to distmantle the door card etc.) If it snaps it’s circa 100 for a new handle.

The ESP is even easier. 10 quid sensor that simply clips in to a housing under the passenger dashboard. 30 seconds of work.

Edited by Gmlgml on Wednesday 15th August 11:56

[ecsrobin]

AC43 said:

Hi all,

I'm planning ahead for the next city runaround as the wife's Clio is on its last legs.

The Mrs would like either Mini Cooper S or an Abarth 500. (well she'd like a Mini or a 500, I'd like to get a well specced S or Abarth).

I tried a Cooper S but found the ride to be like concrete and it was rubbish over speed bumps. Hoping an Abarth is a bit better. Obviously I'll have to try one but as I live in London Zone 2 there's no avoiding the bumps.

The car will only do something like 1.5k a year and as I tend cars a long time so would like to pay up to £7.5k for something with lots of bells and whistles like the one in the link.

So I'd like (in no particular order) bluetooth, decent sounds, leather & xenons.

I'd prefer a sunroof to a convertible but not sure you can get one so I'd consider a convertible.

Would normally go for a manual but would consider a semi-auto if it were DSG. So my questions are

(1) what's the ride like in an Abarth compared to a MCS?
(2) what's the optimal wheel size in terms of looking OK smoothing things out a little? 16 inch?
(3) what king of box is the semi-auto? ie is it proper dual clutch
(4) what's the convertible like to like with?

Here's the one that caught my eye;

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Thanks in advance

At your price point it will be a series 3, they only came with xenons on the Competizione I believe. Bluetooth is blue and me which is considered awful.

[AC43]

Gmlgml said:

I have a 2010 convertible fitted with the esssesse kit (Bigger wheels 17” and uprated suspension) as a dealer/factory mod. I can’t comment on the standard abarth suspension but this variant is worse for ride quality than a cooper S on runflats that I had.

Wow - I didn't that that was possible! :-)

Gmlgml said:

It’s not the most common variant as it was an expensive option, but I definitely recommend avoiding it if you do lots of city driving; it’s bone shakingly hard.

I'm quite happy with the concept of the standard 130bhp "warm hatch".

Gmlgml said:

I would recommend the MTA gearbox with a few caveats.

Left in auto mode it’s awful. Sluggish, jerky and slow.

It’s 1000% better in manual mode. I tend to use the paddles to go up the box whatever the driving conditions and I only let the box come down itself in traffic (which it will default to even in manual mode- it will only let you hold a gear so much.)

It’s much better used like this as the only real foible is if for example you are in 3rd gear and want to take a sharp turn. Use the paddle to select 2nd and at the same time the box may also decide it wants to come down a gear. You end up like a learner, lurching round the corner in 1st gear.

Sounds a bit like the Alfa Selespeed system. I'll probably end up with a manual as they're much more common but if not I now know how to get the best out of the system.

Gmlgml said:

The seating position is an acquired taste. The seat doesn’t go down very low and I’ve not found a modification for it (the later sabelts you can get a lowering kit- google TMC motorsport). It’s made worse by the lack of steering wheel adjustment. I understand you can get a boss adapter that makes a big difference (seems to get rave reviews on some of the forums) but I’ve never tried one personally.

Gmlgml said:

You end up either long arms or bent legs.

LOL. Nothing's changed in small Italian cars then

Gmlgml said:

If you can get xenons they make a big difference.

OK

Gmlgml said:

If I had my time over again I’d probably look for the same car but with a sunroof

I'll try for the sunroof. Really want to be able to use it as a hatchback TBH

Gmlgml said:

The blue and me is pretty rubbish and doesn’t really get on with newer smart phones. You can get a 60 adapter or do what I did and replace the head unit.

OK thanks

[BMWBen]

Nothing to add other than definitely avoid the competizione if you're worried about ride quality. It's brilliant for handling but brutal in the comfort stakes!

Sounds like you want a Tourismo for sure.

[Bungleaio]

I have one of the steering extenders, it made a massive difference to the comfort of my car.

[AC43]

BMWBen said:

Nothing to add other than definitely avoid the competizione if you're worried about ride quality. It's brilliant for handling but brutal in the comfort stakes!

Sounds like you want a Tourismo for sure.

Thanks

[AC43]

Bungleaio said:

I have one of the steering extenders, it made a massive difference to the comfort of my car.

Ta