Am I weird for thinking a tweaked and turbo'd Yaris hatch, especially from about 2006 or so, would be more fun and probably easier to live with than a 500 Abarth?
Am I weird for thinking a tweaked and turbo'd Yaris hatch, especially from about 2006 or so, would be more fun and probably easier to live with than a 500 Abarth?
One thing about the Abarth, it, like most Italian cars, actively encourages you to drive like a hooligan. While it tolerates being driven "normally", It's happiest when wound out to redline or blipping up and down through the gears. The backfires are addictive.
I had no idea that they were still making the Yaris, and I spent a lot of time in Toyota dealerships last fall when I was buying my truck. Maybe Toyota should do more to get the word out.
I will miss the Fiat.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Am I weird for thinking a tweaked and turbo'd Yaris hatch, especially from about 2006 or so, would be more fun and probably easier to live with than a 500 Abarth?
No, as there's the added disadvantage of being seen in a Yaris. Making your self a laughing stock doesn't sound like easier to live with to me. 
Woody said:I had no idea that they were still making the Yaris, and I spent a lot of time in Toyota dealerships last fall when I was buying my truck. Maybe Toyota should do more to get the word out.
They aren't currently. Al new Yarii are made by Mazda
But as far as I know you could still get a 2dr manual trans Yaris last model year, though it had that hideous Toyota grill
In reply to Suprf1y :
Does that mean the new Yaris will be rusty in 5 years?
In reply to Adrian_Thompson :
For the last ten years in Columbia Heights there has been a guy bombing around in Yaris hatch with nice rims a noisy fart-can and a Pizza Boli's light on the roof. Yep.
Come to think of it the Italian 500 would be a better fit for the name Boli's. 
Maybe this one would be ok?
In reply to spitfirebill :
Why do you have to be like that?
It's closer to three
mad_machine said:One thing about the Abarth, it, like most Italian cars, actively encourages you to drive like a hooligan. While it tolerates being driven "normally", It's happiest when wound out to redline or blipping up and down through the gears. The backfires are addictive.
Yup. My 2013 bought March 2014 with 114 miles has about 67k now, and no more issues than any other car I've owned. Some axles and a ball joint really. And that's with 3 trips to the Dragon, a few track days, numerous autocrosses...
(And SWMBO loves her 2017 500X)
Adrian_Thompson said:pres589 (djronnebaum) said:Am I weird for thinking a tweaked and turbo'd Yaris hatch, especially from about 2006 or so, would be more fun and probably easier to live with than a 500 Abarth?
No, as there's the added disadvantage of being seen in a Yaris. Making your self a laughing stock doesn't sound like easier to live with to me.
Yeah okay there guy, whatever.
In reply to Jerry :
Going through "some axles" in just 67k miles doesn't sound like normal, expected wear to me.
They seem to be a hit-or-miss car. I know Wally's wife had a bunch of miles on her regular 500 with no trouble. My friend Chris has an Abarth that he beats the daylights out of and tracks all the time and has some mods done to, and hasn't had a lick of trouble. Then my friend Scott's, Abarth which was mostly a DD with the occasional autocross when the weather was too bad to run his K/Mod, was a nightmare. Transmission that got stuck in gear all the time and was repeatedly towed to the dealer but they couldn't duplicate, janky shifter that he was told was normal, BCM that up and forgot all the keys and cost $2500 to fix, a bunch of other stuff. And it depreciated faster than he could pay it off. He got out of it when somebody tried to pass on the left while he was turning left and totalled it out.
Been into Fiat's my whole life and although I like the 500 I just don't feel like paying that kind of money. Italians are great at two things on cars. The motors and bodies they have been for years. The things that they should be band from ever touching is electronics. Having dealt with all the 60's and 70's era fiats and the bs that I fixed then was mind numbing. With all the electronic crap in cars now I wouldn't even want to touch a Fiat.
I saw an Abarth today with the vanity plate RAF 601 with a Union flag surround. A little out of place. 
STM317 said:In reply to Jerry :
Going through "some axles" in just 67k miles doesn't sound like normal, expected wear to me.
Two. One each side, replaced the same time. Over 5 years, I shrugged it off. I've seen a rallycross friend change that many in an event.
brad131a4 said:Been into Fiat's my whole life and although I like the 500 I just don't feel like paying that kind of money. Italians are great at two things on cars. The motors and bodies they have been for years. The things that they should be band from ever touching is electronics. Having dealt with all the 60's and 70's era fiats and the bs that I fixed then was mind numbing. With all the electronic crap in cars now I wouldn't even want to touch a Fiat.
Honestly, not a single issue on mine. Granted it's a 2012 with only 15,000 miles on it, but still, time should have taken a toll if the electronics were going to go bad.
Ours was a base Pop but in 150,000 miles all it needed beyond regular maintenance was a pair of rear wheel bearings. As for being fun in the snow with snow tires it was a ball to throw around. One day I left work just as the governor closed all the state roads so I had pretty much 80 miles of parkway to play rally driver. I could use more commutes like that.
I agree on the snow bit. Last winter the starter on my Disco died just as the weather turned nasty for a storm. I had to take the Abarth to work, on it's summer tyres. Under normal conditions I turn the traction control to partway off.. but that day I left it on. It was very interesting feeling the car use the brakes to counteract any slippage. Eerie yet assuring to know it was working as designed.
In reply to mad_machine :
With snow tires it became a blast.
How could anyone not love this happy little car?
Escaping from New York:
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