Ma che cazzo fai 2 : 'Borrowed' Fiat 500 Abarth road test continued

Just a minor update on the Abarth road test.  I took it back to my brother's house (he is flying back home as I write this) but this time my sons accompanied me. I put their booster seats in the back of the car and packed my 8 and 5 year old boys in there with explicit instructions not to touch anything with their grubby hands. They did in fact fit in the back of the Abarth......but adults would be a different story.

On other note, I noticed that the car still has the factory installed protective plastic on the carpets!  My brother has had this car for a while and has managed to leave the plastic perfectly in tact!  Makes me want to let loose with some stereotypical comments about our Italian aunts who would buy special plastic covers for their new sofas and plastic hallway runners to protect the carpeting in their homes.

Classy!

Ma che cazzo fai : Impromptu road test of a Fiat 500 Abarth

We are well through our second straight week of near triple digit temperatures here in Connecticut so working on my Cougar has been daunting.  To add insult to injury my brother is gallivanting around Italy while I'm left hear to periodically check on his cat and take in his mail.  Today, however, I made the most of the situation.  My brother happens to own a Fiat 500 Abarth which is sitting dormant while he is away.  And wouldn't you know it, the same set of keys he gave me to feed his cat (Paulie) happens to include the keys to the hot hatch.....what's a guys to do?

While making my rounds today I left my VW in his driveway and sped off in the Abarth.  First thing to note, as I expected, my brother left the car with nothing but fumes in the tank!  So my generosity continued as I filled his tank.  The metallic black (or should I say nero) car was filthy.....so I even washed it! Then I went for a ride.

Is there a cooler emblem out there?

If you read my very first post you'd know that Fiat's are special to me.  Heck, while everyone was driving around in American land yachts in the late 70's my mother was driving us around in a Fiat 124A sedan.  When I found out that Fiat was coming back to the states a few years back I couldn't wait.....especially since I was in the market for a fuel efficient car at the time.  Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out (I couldn't wait for the delayed Fiat offering)  and I went for the Mk6 GTI.....however as soon as my brother expressed that he was in the market for a commuter car I urged Abarth all the way.  

I took the car for a quick spin when my brother first bought it but nothing long enough to really form an opinion about the car.  Today I spent a descent amount of time with the car (I actually still have it with me since he isn't due back for a couple days).  My brother lives about 25 miles away from here so I spent some time on the highway, in the city and on eventually on some fun curvy wooded lanes.  This was my first chance to really compare the Abarth to my Mk6 VW GTI. 

So for some perspective...I love my GTI!  I've had it for almost two and a half years and have already logged over 70,000 flawless and spirited miles.  My daily commute is roughly 130 miles round trip and the GTI has made the hours fly by.  The GTI still impresses me in its ability to be (and feel) sporty and yet serve a multitude of practical functions.  I use the car to lug my two sons to soccer. I routinely make airport runs to NYC (or all over New England for that matter) with the hatch stuffed to the gills with luggage (and sometimes fireworks).  It even moonlights from time to time as a wannabe boy-racer.

The Abarth is not as practical as the GTI due to its size....but then again the Fiat 500 is a smaller class of car.  I actually make that statement with a grin since my non-car guy colleagues don't understand how I can drive my turbo'd 'Golf' with low profile tires and stiff suspension as much as I do.  However, the result of its diminutive frame is that it is a hell of a lot sportier feeling that the GTI!  First there is the exhaust note.  Upon start-up the thing sounds like a small outboard motor.....once the idle settles it is fantastic to think that a company would have the balls to build something that sounds like that for 20-something grand.  Coming from the GTI I had to get used to the shifter position (and only having 5 gears) and the torque curve of the little 1.4 turbo (the 2.0T of the GTI is much more forgiving when you find yourself too lazy to down shift).  It also took me some time to get used to finding 3rd gear.....but once I adjusted to the car it was a blast to drive.  The biggest difference in the ride quality between my GTI and the Abarth is you definitely feel the effects of the Fiat's shorter wheelbase...as you would with something like a Mini Cooper S. However, it was very surprisingly tame and comfortable. There was plenty of leg room for the driver (head room would be questionable for a taller driver....I'm 5'9") but the back seats are tiny. All things considered, I'd have no problem battling though my 130 mile commute in this thing.  

By the way....my brother is in the furniture repair business and managed to fit 3 4'x8' sheets of plywood in his Abarth......but first he turned them into 8 ottomans:

Abarth delivers!

What the Tour de France has to offer car guys

Its been a while since I posted something on here. I'm making progress on revising the front suspension on the Mercury Cougar so you'll be seeing it on here soon (thanks to my new GoPro). But I wanted to take this opportunity to write about something that's happening that car guys may not pay attention to but probably would appreciate....the Tour de France.

The Tour de France is the cycling's most famous grand tour. The Tour goes on for three weeks, during which the riders cover about 3,500km in a rough circuit of the country. It is divided into 21 days of racing, with each day's 'stage' lasting up to five and a half hours and covering up to 225km. Some stages are relatively flat, some tortuously mountainous. Each stage has its own winner and offers points for the first 15 riders across both the finish line and and intermediate line around halfway through.

But forget trying to understand what all the colored jerseys mean and the controversies surrounding the riders. The event is a bicycles race.....yet we never talk about the the bicycles. The amount of engineering and design that goes into these two-wheeled wonders is remarkable and could easily be appreciated by any gear-head   Perform some web searches on racing bikes over the years and you'll see an evolution on par with F1 technology (and ingenuity).  Current models employ all sorts of exotic materials and composites and leverage the most advanced aero technology . Long before swoopy carbon fiber frames became the rage handmade frames made from light steel tubing joined by intricate lugs were works of art.  The old two wheeled-racers used the same methods as their 4 wheel counterparts to shave weight...like drilling holes where possible. 

In my opinion, current and historic racing bicycles have the same purpose-built beauty as any race car because the guys who built them were both part scientist and part artist with the same desire.....to go faster than the other guy.  Here's a couple photos illustrating what I'm talking about...

Fast bike tech back in the day (a far cry from you clapped out Huffy)...

Fast bike tech today (these bikes cost more than your car)...