lord_galathon
Well-known member
Hammond a fait un review dans The Grand Tour s01e11 je crois.
124 Abarth what?
- Thread starter lord_galathon
- Start date
Hammond a fait un review dans The Grand Tour s01e11 je crois.
lord_galathon
Well-known member
Update - pas vraiment un review parce que pas mal tout ce qui pouvait etre dit sur la voiture est deja sur YouTube par du monde pas mal plus competent et avec plus de credibilite que moi.
Tout ce que je peux faire qui est peut-etre interessant c'est donner mes impressions et ce que je trouve est bon et mauvais sur la voiture.
To begin with the car looks absolutely fantastic from about any angle. Personally at first I found the visible hood from the drivers perspective a bit weird but I got used to it fast. The cockpit is neat and everything is within reach except the glove compartment which is behind you and a PITA to access while sitting down.
The radio is OK, not great. I have the mid-range sound system and it sounds fine. The car has navigation built in but no map so I can switch to navi screen but all I get is a compass and my GPS coordinates. Maps are available on SD cards from the Internet - they cost around 140US$ and the reviews are so-so. I'm actually waiting for the next update to the car's "infotainment" system that is supposed to have Android Auto built in. There is a hack available for it but for now I just have my phone on a Magic Mount in the air vent under the main display. Works well.
It has two USB charging/media ports and one 12V power outlet VERY well hidden waaaaaaay under the dash on the passengers side. Like WAAAAAAAAAY back at the firewall.
I don't really care for the dials on the center armrest. No idea how they'd hold up if it rains in the car, and the big one near the shifter is easy to push on with your wrist while shifting. Hasn't happened to me yet but I see how it can happen.
The ride is softer than expected. I thought it would be much harder but after driving it regularly for almost a month I can say it's smoother than the Volvo and much smoother than the Suzuki although it's far from being in the CTSs territory (nothing I have available is as comfortable.) The seats are good, they envelop your shoulders and give surprising support to your back. They do feel a bit weird at first, like a hammock.
I was weary of the 4 tipped exhaust as I'm not a huge fan of fart cans and was afraid it would sound like a lawnmower but no, it has a nice solid sound that's not too loud as to be annoying but loud enough to remind you of what you are driving. Occasionally it will backfire which sounds great. It will backfire mostly when the temperature is colder outside, or damp like raining, or when the car is still cold and hasn't reached its normal operating temperature.
It has a turbo so taken from the manual's PDF:
Forget about fitting a golf bag in there, it will not fit in the trunk nor on the front passenger's seat. I managed to fit mine by removing all the clubs and placing the short irons in the trunk CAREFULLY (they barely fit through the opening) and then the bag over them in the trunk CAREFULLY as it barely fits through the opening as well.
All the "woods" had to go on the passenger's side.
One thing that bothers me is that the trunk capacity could have been bigger. There is a foam/felt trim inside that ends where the arrows in the next picture are, but the trunk is much wider that that. The trim ends there but removing the trim would free up at least 6 inches of space. I'm not sure why all that extra space is left there but because of it, a golf bag does NOT fit in the trunk.
Having said that, you can easily fit 3 large grocery bags in the trunk no problem.
Inside it's all within reach and although with the roof up it's incredibly small, I got used to it quickly. Although it didn't happen to me, I've heard reports of people pushing the START/STOP button instead of the AC button as they are about 4" away from each other:
Speaking of buttons - and this one has happened to me - I turned on RECIRCULATE by pushing the button in the middle dial while shifting into 3rd... Only did it once but space IS tight there.
The body is aluminium except the rear fenders that are steel. I'm not sure why they would be any different except maybe for structural strength but I have no idea if steel is actually sturdier than aluminium. I'm also not sure of how aluminium would rust or not.
The Abarth model has something called a "noise dampening windscreen" and a "noise dampening roof" both of which add some weight but also cut some noise. Basically it's an extra layer of foam inside the soft top and the windscreen is slightly thicker. This adds some weight but to be honest it gives me a bit of hope that the windscreen is thicker because at the height it is it will definitely receive garbage from the road.
Speaking of height: The car is LOW. The top of the windshield is about the same height as the CTSs trunk. This is a consideration in traffic as people driving higher vehicles like pickups and minivans (women) usually don't see you (mostly because they don't fucking look) and will try to merge right onto you if you hang around besides them too much.
I also wish reverse were placed at the end after 6th gear instead of right next to 1st gear. YES it beeps and the reverse camera turns on when you shift into reverse but also YES it's easy to put the car in 1st gear and think you're in reverse only to move forward.
Lastly the car has no spare tyre and no run-flats. There is an inflating kit that comes in the trunk that consists of a compressor and a can of tyre goo so you can piss off whoever repairs your tyre...
That's about it. Love the car, definitely a head turner. Usually whenever I got a new car (used) I start noticing all the other cars of the same model. This one not so much, I haven't seen ANY other ones outside the dealer, not sure why. It should definitely sell more.
Tout ce que je peux faire qui est peut-etre interessant c'est donner mes impressions et ce que je trouve est bon et mauvais sur la voiture.
To begin with the car looks absolutely fantastic from about any angle. Personally at first I found the visible hood from the drivers perspective a bit weird but I got used to it fast. The cockpit is neat and everything is within reach except the glove compartment which is behind you and a PITA to access while sitting down.
The radio is OK, not great. I have the mid-range sound system and it sounds fine. The car has navigation built in but no map so I can switch to navi screen but all I get is a compass and my GPS coordinates. Maps are available on SD cards from the Internet - they cost around 140US$ and the reviews are so-so. I'm actually waiting for the next update to the car's "infotainment" system that is supposed to have Android Auto built in. There is a hack available for it but for now I just have my phone on a Magic Mount in the air vent under the main display. Works well.
It has two USB charging/media ports and one 12V power outlet VERY well hidden waaaaaaay under the dash on the passengers side. Like WAAAAAAAAAY back at the firewall.
I don't really care for the dials on the center armrest. No idea how they'd hold up if it rains in the car, and the big one near the shifter is easy to push on with your wrist while shifting. Hasn't happened to me yet but I see how it can happen.
The ride is softer than expected. I thought it would be much harder but after driving it regularly for almost a month I can say it's smoother than the Volvo and much smoother than the Suzuki although it's far from being in the CTSs territory (nothing I have available is as comfortable.) The seats are good, they envelop your shoulders and give surprising support to your back. They do feel a bit weird at first, like a hammock.
I was weary of the 4 tipped exhaust as I'm not a huge fan of fart cans and was afraid it would sound like a lawnmower but no, it has a nice solid sound that's not too loud as to be annoying but loud enough to remind you of what you are driving. Occasionally it will backfire which sounds great. It will backfire mostly when the temperature is colder outside, or damp like raining, or when the car is still cold and hasn't reached its normal operating temperature.
It has a turbo so taken from the manual's PDF:
Forget about fitting a golf bag in there, it will not fit in the trunk nor on the front passenger's seat. I managed to fit mine by removing all the clubs and placing the short irons in the trunk CAREFULLY (they barely fit through the opening) and then the bag over them in the trunk CAREFULLY as it barely fits through the opening as well.
All the "woods" had to go on the passenger's side.
One thing that bothers me is that the trunk capacity could have been bigger. There is a foam/felt trim inside that ends where the arrows in the next picture are, but the trunk is much wider that that. The trim ends there but removing the trim would free up at least 6 inches of space. I'm not sure why all that extra space is left there but because of it, a golf bag does NOT fit in the trunk.
Having said that, you can easily fit 3 large grocery bags in the trunk no problem.
Inside it's all within reach and although with the roof up it's incredibly small, I got used to it quickly. Although it didn't happen to me, I've heard reports of people pushing the START/STOP button instead of the AC button as they are about 4" away from each other:
Speaking of buttons - and this one has happened to me - I turned on RECIRCULATE by pushing the button in the middle dial while shifting into 3rd... Only did it once but space IS tight there.
The body is aluminium except the rear fenders that are steel. I'm not sure why they would be any different except maybe for structural strength but I have no idea if steel is actually sturdier than aluminium. I'm also not sure of how aluminium would rust or not.
The Abarth model has something called a "noise dampening windscreen" and a "noise dampening roof" both of which add some weight but also cut some noise. Basically it's an extra layer of foam inside the soft top and the windscreen is slightly thicker. This adds some weight but to be honest it gives me a bit of hope that the windscreen is thicker because at the height it is it will definitely receive garbage from the road.
Speaking of height: The car is LOW. The top of the windshield is about the same height as the CTSs trunk. This is a consideration in traffic as people driving higher vehicles like pickups and minivans (women) usually don't see you (mostly because they don't fucking look) and will try to merge right onto you if you hang around besides them too much.
I also wish reverse were placed at the end after 6th gear instead of right next to 1st gear. YES it beeps and the reverse camera turns on when you shift into reverse but also YES it's easy to put the car in 1st gear and think you're in reverse only to move forward.
Lastly the car has no spare tyre and no run-flats. There is an inflating kit that comes in the trunk that consists of a compressor and a can of tyre goo so you can piss off whoever repairs your tyre...
That's about it. Love the car, definitely a head turner. Usually whenever I got a new car (used) I start noticing all the other cars of the same model. This one not so much, I haven't seen ANY other ones outside the dealer, not sure why. It should definitely sell more.
lord_galathon
Well-known member
Yeah, the transmission is from the NC gen MX-5 so the MX-5 also has that feature. I had that on my Capri RS Turbo and HATED it. Broke my clutch by shifting into reverse at a rolling stop sign when I was 18 and couldn't afford a new clutch.
I can't remember if the S2000 was like that. Probably.
lord_galathon
Well-known member
Three months in and around 4500kms.
Nothing to report, so far so good in terms of reliability my worst fear. Nothing went bang in the night and there still isn't a single scratch on the car although there is a tiny chip on the drivers' side front calandre above the headlamp. Also the interior is getting more scuffed than I expected: The leather where I lay the left elbow on the door as I drive, where the wallet goes under the HVAC controls and sadly, behind one of the headrest/arches where the soft-top seems to rub sometimes there is some scoffing on both the soft-top edge and the arches:
Notes to add: It's comfortable enough for medium road trips. Went to Thousand Islands (5h round trip) and have nothing bad to say about the level of comfort EXCEPT that it's noisier with the top closed than open even at highway speeds. Something about the exhaust refracting on the ceiling, it gets tiresome after a while. Drone is it?
Mixed fuel economy has stabilized at 7.6l/100km which is fantastic for such a fun little car. I get around 6.3 on highway at 115km/h but it will go up to 10 in traffic or the city if driven spiritedly.
I'm still "learning" the transmission. Especially since I still occasionally drive my only other standard transmission car: The Sidekick - which has a cable driven clutch right out of the 1980s and of course bites completely differently than the NC Mazda 6sp transmission in the 124.
The clutch on the little Fiat is more abrupt when shifting up/down through the gears but it's more gradual when engaging first gear from a stop which is fine, I'm just not a huge fan of how hard it bites down when shifting up/down as you drive it moderately hard. It's not gradual, you ease up and it bites, dragging the whole engine revs down with it so if you don't keep your shift points on par you'll bog down the engine "pre" turbo boost.
Also not a fan of the hill start assist system. Does it work? Yes. Is it needed? No. Does it bother me that sometimes on hills I can't pull off gradually because the hill assist keeps the brakes on a split second too long and thereby the car takes off like a bat out of hell? Yes.
Sport button should be the norm. I only drive it in normal mode either by mistake because I stopped somewhere and forgot to turn it back on, or because it's raining and I don't want to skid out (Sport mode allows you to play a bit before it engages the ESC/Anti-skid.)
In fact normal mode kinda sucks. TBH I don't imagine myself driving a "regular" non Abarth, non Sport mode 124. It has literally no torque under 2000RPM in normal driving mode and to be quite honest if the car is in normal mode the engine bogs down in second gear when driving 34km/h up my street's hill for lack of torque.
Lastly it's a bit of a pain to drive in traffic as 1st is geared too "short" to be left in gear with the clutch depressed, and second is WAAAAY too long so you're constantly shifting between 1st and 2nd at 15km/h to keep the car rolling in traffic.
Still incredible how much attention it attracts. This is both a positive and a negative. You can't really be an "asshole" behind the wheel (not that I'd want to) of this car because it's very recognizable and since there aren't that many the "chest bras" guy you cut off in traffic this morning will definitely see you coming next time.
Oh, I "tweaked" the infotainment system - I might have mentioned it before - it's a similar firmware as can be found on the Mazdas so there's a lot of programs available for it. Enabled the extra fancy speedometer and information screen, enabled touch after 5km/h and enabled the video player I'll never use again after testing it out. (It works but I don't see myself sitting in the car to watch a movie - makes no sense...)
I still love driving this car. Would buy again. 10/10...
Nothing to report, so far so good in terms of reliability my worst fear. Nothing went bang in the night and there still isn't a single scratch on the car although there is a tiny chip on the drivers' side front calandre above the headlamp. Also the interior is getting more scuffed than I expected: The leather where I lay the left elbow on the door as I drive, where the wallet goes under the HVAC controls and sadly, behind one of the headrest/arches where the soft-top seems to rub sometimes there is some scoffing on both the soft-top edge and the arches:
Notes to add: It's comfortable enough for medium road trips. Went to Thousand Islands (5h round trip) and have nothing bad to say about the level of comfort EXCEPT that it's noisier with the top closed than open even at highway speeds. Something about the exhaust refracting on the ceiling, it gets tiresome after a while. Drone is it?
Mixed fuel economy has stabilized at 7.6l/100km which is fantastic for such a fun little car. I get around 6.3 on highway at 115km/h but it will go up to 10 in traffic or the city if driven spiritedly.
I'm still "learning" the transmission. Especially since I still occasionally drive my only other standard transmission car: The Sidekick - which has a cable driven clutch right out of the 1980s and of course bites completely differently than the NC Mazda 6sp transmission in the 124.
The clutch on the little Fiat is more abrupt when shifting up/down through the gears but it's more gradual when engaging first gear from a stop which is fine, I'm just not a huge fan of how hard it bites down when shifting up/down as you drive it moderately hard. It's not gradual, you ease up and it bites, dragging the whole engine revs down with it so if you don't keep your shift points on par you'll bog down the engine "pre" turbo boost.
Also not a fan of the hill start assist system. Does it work? Yes. Is it needed? No. Does it bother me that sometimes on hills I can't pull off gradually because the hill assist keeps the brakes on a split second too long and thereby the car takes off like a bat out of hell? Yes.
Sport button should be the norm. I only drive it in normal mode either by mistake because I stopped somewhere and forgot to turn it back on, or because it's raining and I don't want to skid out (Sport mode allows you to play a bit before it engages the ESC/Anti-skid.)
In fact normal mode kinda sucks. TBH I don't imagine myself driving a "regular" non Abarth, non Sport mode 124. It has literally no torque under 2000RPM in normal driving mode and to be quite honest if the car is in normal mode the engine bogs down in second gear when driving 34km/h up my street's hill for lack of torque.
Lastly it's a bit of a pain to drive in traffic as 1st is geared too "short" to be left in gear with the clutch depressed, and second is WAAAAY too long so you're constantly shifting between 1st and 2nd at 15km/h to keep the car rolling in traffic.
Still incredible how much attention it attracts. This is both a positive and a negative. You can't really be an "asshole" behind the wheel (not that I'd want to) of this car because it's very recognizable and since there aren't that many the "chest bras" guy you cut off in traffic this morning will definitely see you coming next time.
Oh, I "tweaked" the infotainment system - I might have mentioned it before - it's a similar firmware as can be found on the Mazdas so there's a lot of programs available for it. Enabled the extra fancy speedometer and information screen, enabled touch after 5km/h and enabled the video player I'll never use again after testing it out. (It works but I don't see myself sitting in the car to watch a movie - makes no sense...)
I still love driving this car. Would buy again. 10/10...
lord_galathon
Well-known member
Not much bodyroll on the Abarth with the Bilstein shocks and strut tower brace the car is solid.
Specs here:
https://21stcenturyfiat124spider.wordpress.com/specs/#susp
Really interesting read.
lord_galathon
Well-known member
One year and 8000kms in and still no regrats although the car has a few nicks now. Notably self inflicted like the time I opened the door right on the cement wall under the carport. No dents but a few white dots along the ridge of the door. It also has at least two chips from road debris. Nothing too noticeable but I'm shopping for touch up paint because I can see them.
Everything else is holding up normally. No issues to report from a reliability standpoint except occasionally the infotainment system will take a while to "warm up" and display a black screen for a minute or two after startup.
No idea why, seems random.
Still considering a tune but at 1000$CDN to add 35HP and probably void my warranty I'm not sold yet.
Two months ago Abarth announced the GT version (hardtop) and now it looks like they're working on a GT4 version?
We'll see.
Everything else is holding up normally. No issues to report from a reliability standpoint except occasionally the infotainment system will take a while to "warm up" and display a black screen for a minute or two after startup.
No idea why, seems random.
Still considering a tune but at 1000$CDN to add 35HP and probably void my warranty I'm not sold yet.
Two months ago Abarth announced the GT version (hardtop) and now it looks like they're working on a GT4 version?
We'll see.
Jelly_Belly
Active member
imagine if for the gt4 fiat sources the twin turbo v6 from the alfa romeo...
unfortunately thatll never happen tho.
unfortunately thatll never happen tho.
Jelly_Belly
Active member
oh i forgot about that engine! people have tuned those engines to get some pretty decent figures too if i remember correctly i think one company got 310bhp out of that unit.
AlpineWhiteDub
Well-known member
Better then Danny review
Trupower Distribution
Well-known member
Muffler delete that shit already.
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La tune Cobb OTS sur la FiST donne 20whp et 50wtq pis ça coûte 700$ ( incluant le APV3)
Peut être que le 1.4t de la fiata est déjà proche du maximum qui peut faire
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Rejjy
Active member
J'ai jamais compris pourquoi le monde cache la plaque sur les pics ,
quand tu roule avec , quand t'est d'un parking de restos, centre d'achat etc tout le monde la voit ta plaque ...
Y'é automashit ou manuelle La Fiat ?
lord_galathon
Well-known member
Le max juste avec un tune de ce que j'ai vu sur youtube c'est ~210whp au dyno. On peut aller chercher ~250 avec une combo intake, turbo plus gros et exhaust.
Sauf que l'auto pèse pas gros et déjà le 170 qui est dedans si on désactive le TC avec le LSD ça devient tricky à contrôler avec les pneus minces. Ça prendrait des pneus roues plus larges pour améliorer la traction.
Comme c'est la si on pousse l'auto à tendance à virer à gauche.
Pis est manuelle. J'aurais jamais acheté une Abarth automatique à moins d'être handicapé.
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