124 Abarth on The Grand Tour

Discuss everything about the "new" 124 Spider here! The good, bad and ugly, anything goes. But keep it clean please!
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phaetn
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Your car is a: 1974 Fiat Spider 1800
Location: Ottawa, ON Canada

124 Abarth on The Grand Tour

Postby phaetn » Sat Mar 04, 2017 5:34 pm

Not sure if anyone caught it (or if anyone cares) but the 124 Abarth was tested on the Jan 20th episode (ep.11) of The Grand Tour (the Clarkson/May/Hammond spin-off show on Amazon after the Top Gear debacle).

Hammy tested it and particularly liked the exhaust note, the limited slip differential, and ability to switch stability mode on the fly so as to make it more spirited. Some bloke (sort of a Stig replacement?) also took out in the rain at their new "home" text track and seemed to wring its neck pretty well in the wet.

Their consensus seemed to be that the stock 124 Spider is not better than the Miata (though some may disagree because of the different engine and suspension tuning) but they all agreed that the Abarth version is definitely more worth having than the Miata, even with its higher price tag. It's likely largely due to the limited slip differential so one can get the power down mid-corner...

FWIW, it truly is a puerile show: My nine year old daughter finds it grossly comedic, so we can see the effective level of humour. I'm not trying to make her a jingoistic Briton, just get her into car stuff. :)

Cheers,
phaetn

AndyS
Posts: 328
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 10:02 am
Your car is a: 1967 Fiat 124 Spider
Location: SF Bay Area

Re: 124 Abarth on The Grand Tour

Postby AndyS » Sat Mar 04, 2017 8:53 pm

Having driven the new Abarth 124, I will say it is an incredible sports car. its not one thing in particular, its a lot of things they did. the exhaust, the special dif, the overall chassis feel and steering response are all first rate. The base seats are supportive and super comfortable. they also just nailed the suspension tuning. nicest riding sports car i have ever driven, and yet it turns in like a jet . i don't know how it rides that good on 17 inch wheels and low profile tires. Its also not that hard to get them another 30 HP or so with some after market tuning (if you don't care about possibly losing your warranty) but in sport mode, its already plenty quick enough.
1967 Fiat 124 Spider
1964 Fiat Abarth 850TC conversion
1962 Abarth Allemano 1 liter Coupe


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