Frank Stephenson(sp?) lives on. I finally got to drive a new Abarth. Best stock exhaust note I have heard in years. Car was kind of cheeky and brought back memories of my old R53. For a car under 23k, I was impressed. I wasn't thrilled with the clutch and the stick probably needs a shorty. Didn't feel as sturdy as a MINI. I had forgotten how nice the ride is w/o run flats.
When I ordered my '05 MCS the dealer had very few. I was surprised that the 2 Dealers in Jacksonville each had around 10 Abarths.
I would like some members thoughts on any experience with the Abarth. I,for one, am not real thrilled with what I have seen and read bout the 3rd Gen MINI. According to Motoringfile a lot of tech stuff. If people have a tuff time parking a MINI, they would have had fits with my old '75 Chevy Impala. Look forward to some comments about the Abarth. Thanks.

 

I love the Abarth in white! I got to ride it once but it's not in the class with the MINI.

 

I like the Abarth much better than the 500, but I'm still somewhat disappointed. The MINI sits high, but I feel like I'm in an SUV in the Abarth. I love where the stick is--it's so close to the steering wheel, but I the gearbox itself feels cheap. As does the interior.

Still, for the price, it's hard to get too picky, it's a fun car to drive, but it feels a notch below the MINI. It should be, considering the price difference.

I'll stick with my R53 until it explodes.

 

I had a '10 Abarth as a hire car in the UK. The suspension was crashingly bad over bumps, it made it difficult to go over 45mph down b roads (this is from the perspective of someone who like the MINI's sport suspension option). Supposedly the suspension's been revised since then, but even if it were better there was nothing that would temp me away from a MINI. We also had a 1.2 for a while. Both were quite reasonable as European superminis go, but the MINI is better.

 

I have both: A 2007 MCS and a 2012 Abarth. They appeal to the same segment of car buyers in that we want a small, fast, fuel efficient car. In this respect the cars are the same. Also, we want to be seen on the road. We don't want a vanilla sedan. I tell people that my Mini is my "hot rod" of the two and yes it handles better. Even though I have non run-flats the suspension will still beat you up on bad roads. Along with the fact that you fall into and climb out of a Mini. This 71 year old body is feeling this more and more every year---but I love this car. The Abarth is a really fun car and it is solid as a rock. It has a great suspension as far as giving you a comfortable ride on the road. It handles great for a tall car and as far as being fast--what do you want from 1368cc. It will still take most everything on the road. It also has a superior A/C system (come on Mini!!) and more comfortable seats. As for the quality of the interior, that is in the eye of the beholder. Coming from the auto design world I'm glad that the stylists got their way with the Mini interior. Love it or don't buy it. I have two sort of complaints on the interior. I can't read the the sped/tach in the daylight. Having a black background is dumb. I get around this by programming a digital readout for the speedo. The other is the big plastic panel on the instrument panel. It is metallic black and always looks dusty because of it.
To sum things up, these cars are the same but different. I love them both equally.
Dale

 

I wasn't referring to design of the interior, but the quality of the materials used in the interior. MINI wins hands down here. But, like I said, that's to be expected given the disparity in prices.

 

I appreciate the comparison by dale who owns both. Sounds to me like you get what you pay for here. I can't imagine I'd like the Fiat anything, unless JLo was riding with me (and I'm guessing she's never been inside one either)!

 

She was at least for one commercial...