Just finished driving a Fiat 500 base model at work. Almost hate to say it, but that is a great little car!

This was the most basic one, with an automatic transmission. Still pretty peppy It's one of the lighter cars on the market so that explains a lot. Felt a lot like my old Mark-1 VW GTI. Lots of torque through gearing and not much weight so the car really jumps of the line. The short wheelbase makes it really easy to rotate the car in a corner.

No complaints about the brakes, the suspension could be sprung a little stiffer, but I'm betting that's handled on the sport model.
When you drop the back seats, the car becomes cavernous inside with around 30 cu ft of storage.
With 40MPG on the freeway, this is damn tempting as a daily driver.

The Arbath (turbo) has an extra 35% more horsepower....
hmmmm
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I rented one in Canada and drove it for a week... I must say that I too was impressed with it. I am 6'5" and somehow fit rather comfortably...

 

u guys ever driven a mini or mini s? if so how does it compare?

 

I drove a 6 speed mini coop, don't remember if it was an S or not but boy, I had the time of my life. Felt like a go kart... Little zippy. It made me wnt to own one, but it'd have to be an extra car, I need my Subaru

 

Actually not a fan of the mini... Feels lethargic and dead...

 

I have spent a bit of time driving both. The Mini is a much more substantial, solid and heavy feeling car. The Mini also has pretty amazing leg room for a tiny car (6'7" dude at work has one, loves it). The 500 feels smaller inside, but it was fine and comfortable for my 6' 200lb frame. The 500 is much lighter on it's feet, and incredibly tossable. The Mini will corner "flatter" than the 500, but again, they are very different cars and on very different tires (fitted stock, of course).

Lowend - I felt the same way when I first got the 500 rental. A friend was all excited about it, but I was trying to talk him into a Mini as I just spent some time driving the newer turbo S model. Before I drove the 500, I thought it was a fashion trinket for ladies and boys who like ABBA, but it's a seriously fun little car. Actually had a ton of fun in it on CA freeways from LA into the Bay Area, and then drove it over 80 into Reno.

Did you try "sport" mode - the button on the dash? It actually holds the tranny in gears which makes it probably one of the most fun automatics I have driven.

I would love to get a chance to drive an Abarth for a while. This one was the basic "sport" model with an automatic, rented from Enterprise @ the Burbank airport. The Minis I drove were a 2004 Cooper S on Thunderhill for a track day, an "extended test drive" in a 2009 Cooper S, and then lots of quick drives in a friend's 2007 Cooper S. I really like the Mini, but it's a much larger, heavier, more complex and "upmarket" car IMHO. It's also nearly 2x the price.

Also note that at the time (late 2011), the 500's were going for ~$15,500 for the base model, and I think the Abarth was going to be around $24k. When I looked at it, the 2009 Cooper S was going for $32k at the Mini dealership in Mountain View.

 

I'm interested now that ppl taller than me say it's comfy... I'd definitely try a 500 out for a better DD. I have to try really hard to keep the wrx over 27 mpg on a tank.

 

That's the car my wife wants... I've been trying to talk her out of it, but you're not the first person to give it a great review. How safe are they?

 

IHS gave it a top pick rating in crash testing
IIHS-HLDI: Fiat 500

It's probably a good car for you guy, there's a ton of headroom in front

 

The abarth has a nice exhaust note...I think id only get a fiat if it was an abarth

 

I sat in an Abarth/500 at the auto show and it was pretty nice in and out. If I had to choose, I'd go MCS. I've been browsing northamericanmotoring.com and a R56 is on my list for next possible car.

 

San Jose lot? Been looking at the Abarth sitting at Fremont, almost considered a test drive just for giggles.

 

The rental branch I keep my office at has a couple in fleet. I commandeered it to go get lunch today. Look the long way back from the burrito place