[Turboaddict]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Good. Very happy that you have made a decision based on your own liking and not what many of us has to say about a car or any car for that matter of fact.

Looking forward to get another Abarth ownership review from you. Kanad has been doing an exceptional job to keep sharing with us his experience with the white Abarth and now eagerly awaiting from you.

Would love to see the pics of your Abarth as of the first day and probably also a write up with pics of your delivery process. It is not everyday that an Abarth is delivered. Vicarious feelings are been awaited eagerly by many of us.

I will definitely come up with a writeup. My colleague is yet to join teambhp, so even he will be doing it.

Got some sort of bad news from insurance. From now on all new cars and bikes need to be purchased with 3yrs of insurance coverage for 3rd party it seems. I guess this will add up to the cost by another 6k considering tjet is a 1.4ltr engine.

[Pferdestarke]

Originally Posted by Turboaddict

Got another update today.
Since we booked 1 white and 1 black, they need to put the white one to production now.

Congrats on that buddy! What's the final on-road price? Have you got the car delivered yet? Please update with some pics.

[blackwasp]

Continuing the story of my Abarth from where we left off…

Later in March 2018, a bunch of friends decided to head to Parsi da Dhaba at Talasari. It was a fun trip and empty roads were a joy to drive on. A well-spent afternoon:






When two special cars meet. The 1.6 Ikon is a classic:


On the second Sunday of April 2018, an outing was planned by fellow Fiat owners. We headed towards Karjat and had some photoshoot and a nice Maharashtrian style breakfast:












This surprise was waiting for me after leaving the office one day:


It wasn’t a puncture, but I felt the cut was significant enough to affect the safety of the car so decided to put the spare and head home:


Remember, I had set of 5 Ceat tyres with me, so decided that change all 4 instead of replacing only the 1 Apollo. The Ceat size is 205/55 R 16, while the Apollos were 195/55 R 16. Odo of the Abarth stands at 39,000 km:


At the 39393 km mark:


40,000 mark was crossed on 28th April 2018 on the way to Goa:


A friend invited me as they were having some classic Merc event in Goa, and I wanted a nice break from city life. Decided to go there for the weekend. These classic Mercs are just awesome. The best lot of cars ever made (in my eyes). Someday I wish to own a W123 or a W124:




Hehe, I never miss a chance to take a picture of this sign when in Goa:


On the way back, decided to take a detour to this spot. This is an abandoned tank (google maps location) which makes for a nice picture opportunity. Sadly, time was short so had to do with this single picture. I plan to revisit this place soon:


Also crossed the 41,000 km mark just as I was reaching home. Did about 1250 km in 2 days. This was a solo trip so even more satisfying. Overall FE was 12.4 km/l due to the ghats and the weekend traffic between Kolhapur Pune section:


May 2018 was coming up and it was the car’s second birthday. Decided to pamper her with a spa session at Aquatint Pune. Also decided to get rid of the stickers as some of them were damaged. Also completed 41,500 km in 2 years:




Here’s the non-stickered look. I kinda like it:


Meanwhile had to house-sit a friend’s Abarth too! Both white and black Abarths in the house:


In 2018, decided to upgrade my foglamps to HID projector units from Aliexpress. Picked up Sinolyn branded 3.0-inch size with white colour bulbs. Installed them with the help of BHPian noelnelly:










Here is a combination image of the light output. From left to right - only fogs, fogs+low and fogs+ high. The main beams are already 90/100 bulbs, so this setup is perfect for night driving. Just the low beam is usually enough, and I keep the high beams for flashing along:

[blackwasp]

The 70,000 km update.

Thanks to the 15,000 km service interval of the Abarth, visits to the workshop for the service have taken place at 14,000, 29,000, 44,000 and the 59,000 km marks. Apart from the usual services, I've had to also replace the alternator (under partial goodwill) and the front bumper & bonnet (under insurance, due to a minor fender-bender). The alternator issue was a strange one, but I'm happy that FCA supported us even without the car being under warranty.

So, after about 4 years and 70,000 km, here are my observations of the car. The engine has nicely got run-in and now runs much smoother when compared to new. this car is made for the open roads and performance is just phenomenal. Apart from the powerful engine, it's the overall package that makes the Abarth such a wonderful car. The hydraulic power steering, its perfectly sorted suspension and the fabulous chassis gives the Abarth its superior driving dynamics. The cornering is brilliant and body roll is well controlled as well. In fact, mom and aunt prefer the Abarth as the default highway rider. My uncle's diesel Honda City used to be the default choice due to the larger boot. Long trips are very comfortable and we reach the destination without any fatigue. The range of the car is around 600+ km on the highways. The car has done multiple Mumbai-Pune / Kolhapur, Mumbai-Goa and Mumbai-Surat trips over the years. As a driver, I have got used the fantastic brakes of the car, and even now I can proudly say that they are the best amongst rivals and then some more. Rear brake pads were replaced at ~50,000 km and the front at ~69,000 km (not a typo).

A common complaint with the Fiats has been about its gearbox - or how it shifts. While I will say that over time, we have got used to it, the 5th gear selection as well as the quick downshifts (especially 3rd to 2nd) have some scope for improvement. To this end, installed a short-shifter back in 2019. Now, what this short-shifter did was to reduce the travel range of the gear lever and improve the 5th gear slotting. The downside is that you need a slightly more effort than the stock lever to change gears. While this may not work out if your drive is primarily in the city traffic (frequent gear changing), for us it has been fantastic as we use the Abarth mostly for highway trips only.

On the tyres front, I'm not too happy with the 205/55 R16 section tyres that are running on the car. There is more wear on the tyres (especially the front) compared to the stock 195/55 R16. Infact, I would go and say that a downgrade to 195/60 R 15 would be better. The ride will be better + 15-inch tyres are much cheaper than 16s. Also, the rear tyres do rub on the wheel arch lining on some instances. Have checked for weak suspension and other issues but turns out thanks to the mix and match suspensions of the Fiat cars, the Indian Abarth has suspension thats neither similar to the Indian Punto, not the international Abarth.

The Abarth has long since been discontinued and I'm happy to say that we picked her up at the right possible time. Even today, the car brings a smile to my face after every drive. Yes, there is some apprehension about the future support by FCA, but so far, it's been going great.

This is our first car to cross the 50,000 km mark, has introduced us to road trips, and most importantly, reminds us what great cars are supposed to be like. Yes, the car has a lot of flaws, but once you get on the drivers seat, you tend to ignore everything else.

I have been asked about future plans for the car in terms of mods, but there are no plans as of now to get a remap or any performance updates to the suspension. I love the car the way it is. However, I want to get the intercooler and cruise control installed this year (have them both lying at home).

Until the next time...

A random pic:


Early morning Aamby Valley run with friends:


Somewhere on the Mumbai Nashik highway:


Flaunting new stickers:


On the way back from Alibaug:


Random picture:


At the Fiat meet in Mumbai:


Stopped for a chai break on Pune bypass:


Customary pic at the workshop:


Mumbai roads early morning...


Two very special cars:


Minor offloading in Khopoli:


Somewhere near Ajara, Maharashtra on the way back from Goa:


Morning drive to Charoti with friends:


On a trip to Pune:


Much needed pampering session:


Picked up this Palio last year. Its a 1.6L no less. A nice garage mate to the Abarth. While a lot of things need to be done, this will be a long-term project:


IOCL Pump in Karnataka, on the way to Dharwad:


Favourite pitstop on the Pune-Kolhapur road (Sai International):


Off-road in Lonavala:


Trip to the Statue of Unity:


Start point of the Recent Mumbai-Pune Team-BHP meet:

[Night Raven]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

The 70,000 km update.
A common complaint with the Fiats has been about its gearbox - or how it shifts. To this end, installed a short-shifter back in 2019. Now, what this short-shifter did was to reduce the travel range of the gear lever and improve the 5th gear slotting. The downside is that you need a slightly more effort than the stock lever to change gears.

Hello Blackwasp,

Can you please share more details about this? As you rightly said over time we get used to the longer throws of the gear shift, but I always felt a shorter stick would be nice. So I am curious to know more. Was this done at FCA workshop or some other FNG? Where did you source the shifter from? Please post pictures also if possible.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by Night Raven

Hello Blackwasp,

Can u please share more details about this? As you rightly said over time we get used to the longer throws of the gear shift, but I always felt a shorter stick would be nice. So I am curious to know more. Was this done at FCA workshop or some other FNG? Where did you source the shifter from? Please post pictures also if possible.

This is the one I have installed. Its custom made by a fellow Fiat owner. I can't seem to find the pics of the install, but will make a video of the gear throw soon. Price varies as its made in batches based on number of people opting for it. Installation was done by my local Fiat workshop. Infact they too were keen on it and we did some testing as well after the install. Its been about 3 months since the install and I'm happy with it.

https://youtu.be/6HBATm1Wmtg

[swiftnfurious]

I believe even sidindica has a shortshifter installed in his Abarth.

Good to see the car munching miles. As much as I'd love to pick up one, cant really live with the ergonomic issues with the later bunch. Now that you have the 1.6 as well, you probably noticed the gear shifts are far smoother in the Palio.

Enjoy the car - as you mentioned, this is definitely a GREAT car and will be a collectors item.

[GTB]

Lovely car. Excuse me, Moderators for posting this. As this is not adding anything to this thread and I cannot stop myself from writing.

The more I read about this machine, the more I want to buy it, right now. Shame that it is been discontinued and unfortunately, I couldn't afford it when it was. I would closely watch our classifieds, hope some Bhpian would sell it.

[KPR]

Excellent car deserves excellent ownership report like this. Congratulations from a fellow fiatian. Since you've done Spiti in Abarth I need your first hand information. In our family, we have a Punto evo 90 and an Abarth. We are planning to take one car to Leh Ladakh (if Covid conditions subside) this September. Which one do you recommend? How well the underbody scraping contained in an Abarth as compared to raised GC of Punto evo? Heart says Abarth and mind says Punto to explore those terrains. Your input will help us in choosing one. Not to forget we have to cover close to 8000 km here from TN that includes lots of NH Highway rides and beautiful mountains that invite a scorpion steering wheel.

[blackwasp]

Just posted a quick update on the car here https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/other...ml#post5035072 (Independent Garage - The Mechanix Automotive (Pune))

Meanwhile here's a teaser pic:

[blackwasp]

Well, it's time to update this thread. The Abarth has been sold and a new car has come home. I won't say that the new car is a replacement for the Abarth but changing needs at home required an automatic.

Will be posting about the new car soon.