Abarth 124 spider

[Harold Shaun]

this was the colour of the mirafiori I had....

View attachment 97162
It had twin overhead camshaft engine, when all my mates had Mk 4 cortinas. It would run rings around them
There was an advert at the time with the F1 music as they changed the cortina into one.

found it on t'tube

View: https://youtu.be/QdTZCJCkkyA


I loved that car.

My late father owed quite a few Fiat 131's, back in the day.
When I was learning to drive he would take me out in 131 and even in my mother vw bettle,
I will admit the 131 was nicer to drive.
His last 131 was the supermirafiori 2.5, I had just passed my driving test and I got to drive it
It's a pity that you don't see many around cause they just rusted away.

 

[Tfp]

So a little update now that I've driven it a bit.

On the way home it averaged 49.8mpg.

I'm pleased to say that it's now down to a respectable 38mpg.

It's a very good car, along with the MX5 it's probably the closest new car you'll get to our Z3's which is what I wanted.

The Lsd will take a bit of getting used to, I'm no rally driver.

It's cheap to run, insure, and tax unlike my last few cars that were much quicker, and far, far more expensive.

Compared to those this car's a bargain and will probably stay with me for some time.

It's light at 1060kg, and you can tell, panels, doors, don't have the same quality feeling as the Z.

The interior is great, lots of nice Abarth touches, Alcantara, Bose, Nav, heated seats, modern infotainment system with voice command so calling people no problem on the move.

Nice to have a proper handbrake, I still can't fall in love with electric handbrakes.



I'll update again after 6 months of summer use, but so far so good.

The Monza exhaust borders on hooliganism, no idea how they got it past noise limits.
But it's one of the great features of the car. And proves to me that I'll never get excited about an electric car.

 

[Althulas]

Thanks for reporting your insights. I hope you have an enjoyable summer with her look forward to the updates.

 

[Tfp]

The red mirrors didn't grow on me.

So changed for some shiny black ones.



Just waiting for some black vinyl for the red front bumper trim, my first dabble at vinyl.

How hard can it be?

 

[Slam]

That looks so much better !! I don't know what fiat were thinking with the red livery.

 

[t-tony]

That looks so much better !! I don't know what fiat were thinking with the red livery.

Me too, a bit too much Citroen.

Tony.

 

[Mint]

The red mirrors didn't grow on me.

So changed for some shiny black ones.

View attachment 100050 View attachment 100051

That does look better Tim. Doesn't shout 'look at me' as much now

 

[Tfp]

That looks so much better !! I don't know what fiat were thinking with the red livery.

The red's not coming back, had quite a few positive comments since.

 

[Slam]

It looks terrific , subtle yet sporty.

 

[Tfp]

That'll teach me to buy an Italian car.

It's dumped coolant on the drive.

Looking on the forums it likely to be the duplex pipe whatever that is, big job apparently.

Luckily it's got warranty til September.

 

[Dino D]

That’s not great, lucky it was only on the drive...

My Z3 has been know to let off some steam on occasion (cracked thermostat housing, failed viscous, failed water pump etc). It was nearly 20yrs old by that time so has some mitigating circumstances

I don’t think it’s just an Italian problem, for some reason modern cars from various manufacturers are having troubles managing their fluids (Ford ecoboost, BMW EGR coolers etc).

Hope it’s fixed soon.

 

[MalcQV]

That'll teach me to buy an Italian car.

It's dumped coolant on the drive.

Looking on the forums it likely to be the duplex pipe whatever that is, big job apparently.

Luckily it's got warranty til September.

Not nice but at least you're covered

However I've had six Italian cars (still own one) and the only car that dumped coolant was my Z3 The coolant reservoir, but was relatively cheap and easy to fix. I had the radiator out in 20 minutes.
The Italian cars have not been perfect though.

 

[Tfp]

Luckily just the water pump they say.

And they'll replace the cambelt also as it's been covered in coolant I guess.

Hoping to have it back by next weekend.

Reading various reports it seems they are no longer importing these cars into the UK.

 

[Slam]

Luckily just the water pump they say.

And they'll replace the cambelt also as it's been covered in coolant I guess.

Hoping to have it back by next weekend.

Reading various reports it seems they are no longer importing these cars into the UK.

Not importing anymore , maybe because the engine won't meet tighter emission laws. Going to be a fairly rare car then.

 

[Tfp]

Not importing anymore , maybe because the engine won't meet tighter emission laws. Going to be a fairly rare car then.

That's what I've heard, the multi air engine has been dropped from the Jeeps also.

I guess in a few years time most new cars will be at least part electric, we should buy our dirty fossil fuel cars while we still can.

 

[Bmbards]

Just seen this post, I’ve had an Abarth Spider from new for 18 months. I can only say it is a superb and fun car to own and drive. Much more enjoyable in real world driving than the E92 M3 that it replaced.

Absolutely trouble free over 4500 miles. I cannot fault it, yes I’d love a bigger engine and more power, but the balance with the chassis is about right. You can really throw it around pushing the back end out. Who knew a roundabout could be such fun.

The exhaust note I love, but not sure about my neighbours. The manual roof is a joy, so light and easy to operate. Seats are lovely to look at and supportive. Manual gearbox is slick. At the first service (£130) I saw under the car and it was mint.

I can’t compare it to my Z3, both roadsters but very different. The Abarth feels featherweight and of course the turbo gives a different experience. The Z3 feels more sturdy, but from another era. It is though a 2.0, but I’ve driven the 2.8 and the same comment applies.

A seriously fun and charismatic car, one of the very best I’ve owned, and I’ve had nearly 50 cars. I’d be surprised if it didn’t become a modern classic in shorter time than usual. The engine issues and dodgy relationship with Mazda might result in a very short production run, in particular for the much preferred manual box.

 

[Tfp]

Keep a close eye on your levels.

I've had the water pump replaced under warranty.

It's going back in again on Monday as I've noticed some drops of oil.

I think I might be one of those nightmare, anal, customers.

 

[Tfp]

A seriously fun and charismatic car, one of the very best I’ve owned, and I’ve had nearly 50 cars

I have to agree, it's got so much character, the noise certainly turns heads, even at slow speed.

I have some mods planned for later in the year once the warranty problems are sorted out.

I'll let you know how they go.

1. Lightweight OZ wheels.
2. Remap to 200bhp
3. Slight lower 30mm

 

[Bmbards]

I have to agree, it's got so much character, the noise certainly turns heads, even at slow speed.

I have some mods planned for later in the year once the warranty problems are sorted out.

I'll let you know how they go.

1. Lightweight OZ wheels.
2. Remap to 200bhp
3. Slight lower 30mm

View attachment 106987

The remap will be interesting, have you approached Veloces for that?

I like the black mirrors, mine has the red seats, so I was happy with the red exterior add-ons.

I got mine on a lease, so it will be going back soon. Silly money at £220pm including the options. It’s that good that I’ve considered buying it, but having bought the Z3 and having the X5 I wouldn’t get to use it much.

I’ll keep an eye on your progress. I can see myself buying one down the line, as I’ll miss it when it goes.

 

[Tfp]

The remap will be interesting, have you approached Veloces for that?

I didn't know Veloces did them.

I've been recommended a company called AHM, I think they're also known as Alfacare.

The map works on the sport button, so normal power without the sport button pressed.

It seems many people are wiring the exhaust valve to be permanently open, that could upset my neighbours.