I'm About to Drive the New Fiat 124 Spider

Pricing:

$24,995 base price
$27,495 Lusso
$28,195 Abarth
$35,000 Prima Edizione (full loaded one-of-124, special blue color)

Huh, and 1/3 of Fiat sales are in California.

Features Summary:

Classica- equipped just any other base car from a few years ago. Bluetooth, cloth, no touch screen, no passive keyless entry, manual wipers, small wheels.

Lusso- Leather, passive key, touch screen, automatic lights and wipers, backup camera.

Abarth- Stripes, stripes, and more stripes.

It's worth noting that the goodies can be added to every trim if you'd prefer. Nice that you don't have to get the premium car if you just want satellite radio or something like that.

Yes, it has more cargo room than a Miata. Not sure how much yet.

160 horsepower and 184 ft-lbs.

The Abarth has sport mode, a mechanical limited slip, bilstein dampers, and a quad exhaust.

Uh, they put a GoPro on an eagle and are showing footage of it chasing a 124 Spider.

Okay, so it's probably computer generated, but that's pretty cool.

Things that are different compared to a Miata:

5" longer.
Every piece of sheetmetal.
Door panels.
Seat structure.
Soft touch materials.
8 points of noise cancelation changes.
Trunk larger.
Power train is Italian.
Calibrations.
Content ladder.

Tom Suddard wrote: Features Summary: It's worth noting that the goodies can be added to every trim if you'd prefer. Nice that you don't have to get the premium car if you just want satellite radio or something like that.

This is actually a nice touch, instead of having to buy a bigger package for just one or two features

Based on the blue car in that photo and the Abarth price this is rapidly becoming a "Shut up and take my money" situation. I LOVE the look of that car.

Wonder if the Fiat drivetrain will be immune to the transmission woes the ND is suffering from

That blue is drop dead gorgeous. Like the ala-cart options idea too.

I also dig the piecemeal options. How small are the small wheels (rallycrossers want to know) and did you get to ask them about the coupe or at least a factory hardtop? Again, rallycrossers, we need something hard above our head to play in the dirt.

Tom Suddard wrote: Design inspirations for the interior... Which I have to say looks a lot like the Miata's.

I thought it WAS the Miata's (which may have been your point). It makes you wonder if the guy standing there really thought a bunch of automobile journalists wouldn't notice that it was the Miata interior with some very slight changes.

Of course, the design inspiration could be referring to the original Miata one and they guy is a Mazda employee with a Fiat shirt on....

-Rob

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Wonder if the Fiat drivetrain will be immune to the transmission woes the ND is suffering from

It's obviously a different transmission. So if it has transmission woes, it will be for different reasons

Tom,
Put on your hat for Classic and critique the original, red 124 they brought.

Ask some questions about its restoration and other general questions that they won't know the answers to.

So, one of our guys found a Fiat in California and took some pics. Looks like there might be a guibo in the halfshafts to soften the hit of all that torque (ha!). Also, there's a small MOPAR logo etched in the glass.

And, as expected with factory delivered cars, the alignment cams are set in the middle position. A quick realignment should sharpen up the handling considerably. GRM guys, just max out the front camber and caster then reset the toe. You can do it in a parking lot with two tape measures and a couple of wrenches.

Okay, just got back from a day of canyon roads and autocrossing.

I can't tell you how it drives, but I can say that it made me Happy.™

I asked Fiat, and it is indeed a worked-over NC Miata transmission, which means the ND issues are a separate thing.

A few more observations:

The interior is the Mazda interior. Sorry, interior design dude, but you stuck Fiat's logo over the Mazda one and called it done. The Lusso does have more soft-touch materials, though.

The infotainment system is exactly the same as a Miata's (though they did find-and-replace "Miata" with "124 Spider" in the menus).

I can't tell you if it's any quieter on the road. The engineers did say it had way more sound deadening than the Miata.

Mopar sells an atmospheric blow-off valve. I drove a car with one. It made me Happy.™

That means that Flyin' Miata is already in the GPS database. So the car knows how to get home.

And here's what the trunk looks like:

whats the weight difference between the two?

this may be sacrilege but to me it sounds like the fiat is the miata to buy

Depending on trim, the Fiat is about 100 pounds heavier.

And the base wheel size is 16".

So Tom, if you were spending your money would you get the Fiat, or the Mazda?