The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth Is One Surprising Little Cutie
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- When I first approached this funky little Fiat, I didn’t know what to think. They don’t exactly have the best reputation for reliable cars but this Abarth definitely helps the brand. The handling and overall performance were satisfying leaving me to believe that this would be a fantastic used option especially since there value sunk like a stone from MSRP.
As always, feedback is welcomed. I'm a RUclipsr in training, so go easy on me. Thanks for watching!
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Thanks to Fat Boy Fred for letting me borrow his cute ride.
“Altek” intro animation and video thumbnail by Gary Doodles.
“Altek” intro music by Tommy Sica
Equipment Used:
Video - Nikon D5600/GoPro Hero 3+/GoPro Hero 7
Audio - Zoom H4N Pro
Video Editing Software - Adobe Premiere CC
Who am I?
I’ve been an IT guy for the last 15 years with a serious passion for tech and all things automotive. From motherboards to combustion engines, I find happiness in anything that powers on or throws you back in your seat with the fierceness of a Greek god.
Got myself a 2015 last summer. It's a demonic street legal go-kart! 😁
The really nice thing about this car is that it's reasonably easy to work on it yourself. Granted, changing the oil is a bit of a challenge, and I dread the day I have to change the alternator, but the rest of the work can be done pretty easily.
The other nice thing is the number of aftermarket mods available. I installed a Neuspeed NEU-F rear torsion bar and a CravenSpeed short shifter. Huge improvements in handling and shifting! I'll soon be installing upgraded solid braces to replaced the stamped metal stock ones, stiffening up the car even more.
Next summer, I might "side-grade" the 17 inch low profile wheels and tires for 16 inch models if I can find a good deal. 205/45R16 sized tires are only 5 mm smaller in diameter than the stock 205/40R17 tires, and the extra sidewall should make for a more comfortable ride. Already, my 195/45R16 winter tires are much more comfortable than my summer tires.
Fun car! I'm really glad I bought it.
This guy is speaking what I think about my Abarth. It’s about the purity of driving, you, the car and the road as one!
My 2016 Abarth won the garage space over my 2020 WRX. Mine has been very reliable also. 90K miles so far and I only changed an o2 sensor.
Experience has taught me that my judgements towards Fiat, at least the Abarth models, has been pretty wrong. Seems like you got a fun garage, enjoy it bud!
I'm currently selling my 2019 stage 2 wrx to get one of these abarth lol glad to hear they are reliable
"The Germans invented the auto mobile
The Americans made it disposable
The Italians taught it to Dance & Sing!!!"
FIAT is an acronym; only those of us with passion for the Brand know what that is, all others return home to their Fix Or Repair Daily - "passions". See how easy that is?
....The Japanese made it dependable & reliable. Minor oversight I thought I'd fix for ya ;)
Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino
Fix
It
Again
Tom
@@Acord718 No, idiot ... FABRICA ITALIANO AUTOMOBILIE de TORINO .... I realize your intelligent quotient preclude you from knowing fact, but .. we know what you are.
Lets not forget about Catrinel Menghia. Those commercials lol
Hah Fiat has one smart marketing division
Your commentary was just as fun as the car was. Nice job.
as the owner of a 2012 Abarth, I agree with most everything you said, including the annoying beep to remove the key. However, I never get the feeling that car thinks it's a race car, it's more like a rabid chihuahua. I have never owned a car that eggs on hidden hooligan in every driver, and I have owned a lot of older fiats, lancias and alfas.
Haha, i don't disagree with your assessment at all. I guess i just thought the exhaust noise made me think the car thought it was a race car, but the performance overall can definitely be likened to a rabid chihuahua. Really is a fun little car though. Thanks for checking out my video!
I love this car! I want another one!
Great commentary! Looking forward to more vids. Loving the humor as well!
Thank you so much! I'm trying to find the perfect middle ground between funny and informative, I'm happy you liked it.
I have a 2015. And a 97 V8 exploder... I live in an area with harsh winters. I’m always excited to drive the Abarth on winding mountain roads in the summer, it’s been a blast to drive! Mechanic hates me when I bring it in for maintenance lol small hot hatch car means engineers made no room to work in 😂 overall, very happy with the car. I used to call it a clown car, honestly, deserves more. The little car that could 🥰
i might buy one tomorrow.. great video
My 2013 is at 101k no problems :)
It's certainly proving to be more reliable than my 2012 WRX. Enjoy it!
@@Altek1 i had a buddy with the same issue with his wrx! He did not drive his lightly tho. Thanks for the reply
I certainly enjoyed mine, but I don't think I beat the hell out of it. I also was diligent about my oil changes. It kinda killed my trust in the brand to be honest. And it's fun replying to the comments, the community is what makes this all worth it, so thank you sir!
Again, another good review.
Much appreciated!
All they need tondo is change the head lights and that front bumper and bam theu will look amazing
First time on the channel. Great video & review. You have a new subscriber.
Thanks bro! I appreciate the subscribe, glad you enjoyed what I put together.
In Europe this car is a stylish “Everyman Ferrari” with Ferrari Tributo Versions, Maserati editions, as well as Essesse which is slightly lowered with Brembos and looks better. This car offered a track day when new but poor marketing by Fiat America didn’t do the little car Justice. I have a red with white wheels slightly lowered and tracked it impressive and fun as hell lol. Manual driven cars that feel all the road are a dying breed. Future classic for sure even the legendary Michael Schumacher owns one. That exhaust note puts a smile on your face ).
Hey Alex what’s up?! Glad to see another awesome review with a history lesson behind it!!!!
Bro I was losin’ it when you said the car’s saying “am I a race car?!”.....I remembered Guido from Disney’s Cars movie!!!!
😂😂😂oh man, his character was always dying to be in a pit crew in the movie. I think he was a tiny little Fiat too. I could be wrong it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.
Dude how did you get 50k miles out of ur Subaru and it went bad?! Aren’t they made to last like Hondas?
My man! I always try to give some history, learning is fun after all! That car pretends to be a little racer and it really does its best. I'm glad you get my humor. And I don't remember the Cars movie much but I just looked it up and you are spot on!! Haha! It definitely looks like a little Fiat.
As for my Subaru, it's a known issue with the engine. They used cheap parts so me and many others had a rod knock around the same mileage. I bought it because I trusted it like a Honda, clearly I made a mistake. It killed my love for the brand, but I'm going through with the rebuild to give the car one last try to redeem itself. Oh yeah, you're going to see a video on that beast once it's done.
I got something big going on for my channel tomorrow, posting a video on the 93 Integra I picked up last month. Scotty Kilmer is going to be posting it as well so I'm hoping it helps. Fingers crossed!! As always brother, thanks for the support!
Altek Dude that’s horrible! I can’t believe it! They need to back their product bro. See if they can compensate you because it’s a known issue.
It should’ve been a recall and due to that cheap part it’s putting a hole in your pocket. You should contact them man, don’t let these slime balls get away with stuff like that.
I know that Honda did the same thing with the transmissions on the early 2000’s accords.
They used the same transmission for the V-6 as they did for the inline 4 cylinder engines. Apparently the transmissions failed and they had to pay people to rebuild them or they recalled them.
I hope you don’t have to pay out of pocket and they stand behind their product, they can definitely afford it. Search online and see if there’s any info on getting paid because that’s not your fault. And 57k miles is ridiculous.
I’m looking forward to the video bro! I wish I had the means to get me an Integra and have it as a fun project car , but someday my time will come lol
Glad you liked my reference for the fiat too lol! 😂
There's a class action lawsuit again Subaru for the problem from what I read, they may pay out up to $3800 for anyone who had the problem and needed to fix it. I actually had Geico's mechanical breakdown insurance which helped a great deal towards my upgrade. My car was entirely stock, so you're right, slime balls is a great definition for them. At least Honda owed up and did the right thing in the end. Subaru is pretty much denying the problem.
You're gonna like the Integra video! If I ever feel like selling it, I know who to reach out to. Let's try to make that dream of yours a reality. Stay tuned bud! You da man!
Well done Alex! John R
Thanks for watching John!
5:52 tell me he doesn't sound like the boss from tower heist
happy to be so early subscriber. will be interesting to see your journey to you first million of subscribers. You are very good at reviewing cars.
Thanks so much buddy, it's been quite the fun journey so far. The thought of a million subs makes me anxious but let's do this! Thanks for the support!
I...like...the seats of that car lol
Haha if you drove it, you'd be impressed, I promise.
Thanks for the upload, I always enjoy the videos, keep it up 👌
Will do and thanks for the support buddy!
You’ve got to hit the sport button before you even buckle your seatbelt get it out the way
I completely agree. That was a fun car to bounce around in, and it's still more reliable than my 2012 WRX 🙄
Altek I own a 2013 Abarth and it’s incredibly fun to drive every time, but the sport button is mandatory lol
Cool little car....I wouldn’t own one....but cool car lol.
Hah, I'm noticing a genuine distaste for this car with most people. Interesting. Stay fresh JB!
Altek great review as always!
I have one of these. The best description I've heard of driving it is "farting on a barstool". It's a blast to drive (dropping it into Sport mode actually DOES something), but reliability is positively HORRENDOUS.
Another great review. Looks like a fun little tossable car.
Ive heard rumors fiat was pulling out of usa market. Reliability issues gave it a bad rap and its sales numbers tanked.
What happened to the wrx that trashed the engine?
It really was a blast. I'm not surprised to hear that, this guy was the only person I've known that actually bought one.
As for the Subaru, I spun a bearing and let me tell you, I babied that thing, maintained it like a champ and kept it all stock to make sure it would last me forever. There's currently a class action lawsuit against them for the issue since it's been happening to a lot of owners. Geico covered me since I had the mechanical breakdown insurance so I'm building the engine up like a tank. Realistically though, I'd never trust Subaru again.
Fiat has the ability to jimmy the seat upward and downward. Just adjust the thing dude.
Turbo lag is non existent. Driver's fault regarding shifting/rpm's
Thanks for the review! I love my 2013! Canyon carver and it thinks it's a Ferrari 🙂
How many miles on yours? About to get a 2016 with 51k mi. Good idea you think????
@@pathological-liar Mine has about 42k and runs great. I've seen some with 130k miles, so should be ok as long as previous owners did maintenance and didn't over-boost the turbo with electronic trickery as mine had. I still love mine.
i actually really like fiat. hope they don’t pull out of the us
They need to be on point with build quality, a car built in Serbia might not give potential buyers a good feeling about longevity. I haven't driven others, but the Abarth felt on point.
Altek I’ve never been in an Abarth model, but i have been in a 500 lounge and I drive my dads 500X. And dang those 124 spiders are slick 😫
The 124 is super slick looking. And even though I know it's a Miata, I'd still take that look and especially the Abarth over it.
This thing sounds like my straight pipe fa20dit lol
Hah it's an amazing sound for such a tiny car. I definitely made fun of people for owning it before I drove it, now I'm slightly jealous. Just slightly.
@@Altek1 carvana is gonna pick up my wrx this week, I'm looking for an abarth :)
Interesting swap you're doing there. What year WRX did you have? I assume the Fiat is in good shape as well?
i would never in a thousand years buy something so dorky....that being said im sure its enjoyable to drive. lil baby cars make you feel the low speed more lol
Haha dorky! I didn't think of that word but it works well with it. Yeah, the ol slow car fast concept really works with this little guy. The handling was nuts
And then you reflash it... 200hp and under 2500lbs. Sounds like a whole lot of fun.
Definitely but then my only concern would be running stock internals that much harder. Something tells me it would be worth it though.
Altek Stock internals can handle way more. There is a drop in turbo with modified internals pushing power up to 250hp. Not much but for such a small car, it’s surprisingly quick. There have been bigger turbos pushing over 300 already.
An extra 100 horses in that thing must be a blast. At least with most of the weight in front, you'd probably be able to put down most of it from the get go.
And it is theft proof because it is a manual
Is this your car?
Nope, it's a friend's, he let me borrow it for the video.
It sounds good but I don't really like it. Good review though!
It's definitely one of those cars you need to drive to appreciate. Thanks for watching buddy!
Consistently Americans don't get it when it comes to cars. It might explain why European car manufactures are so far ahead....sadly though it is all a matter of "so what" because now the American market is dominated by Euro design and engineering. Turn the clock back to the 50s and some of the 60s and the USA were in another league.
Fiat = Fix it again tony
fuck you again mike
If only I had a dollar for every time I heard that :) I could retire before 30
Kills me that none of you reviewers ever figured out the seat height adjustment. Its right there under the left knee. Just sitting there. All the while, every reviewer misses it and bitches about the ride hight.
Silly me for missing it but I can't say I bitched about it, I just noted I was perched up high like an eagle.
No you didn't. Its just funny. Its only the American cars. The other Abarths around the world have different seats. So American reviewers always miss it. Its not obvious. The handle is a piece of the side trim. It should be marked. It blends in pretty well.
It didn't make me dislike the car any. Good to know though in case I ever find myself behind the wheel of one again. Still impressed by its reliability though, the owner still has it with zero issues.
@@Altek1 I've had mine a year now. Got it with 67k on it. Up to 75k. No real issues. The diverter valve did get replaced. Nothing too major. Just gotta take the battery out to get to it. An F150 was my daily before. So the size difference was the big adjustment. Since the cars cabin is pretty roomie. You forget there isn't 10' of truck behind you.
Woah! F150 to a Fiat is a big jump! I've never driven an F150 but I have to imagine it isn't hugging corners like the Abarth. You're right though, it has a weird amount of head room giving you the feeling of a bigger car.
The rims on the 500 Abarth is ugly.
Funny, I found that to be one of the better looking parts of the car