Arbarth 595
 

Anyone driven / owned one of these? Looking at the 160bhp model


Debating whether to chop in the Twingo 133RS for something newer / more powerful as my run-a-round. Love the handling of the Twingo, but due to the lack of power, overtaking is sometimes an issue.


Was thinking of a Fiesta ST, but recently saw a 595 advertised somewhere, and it looked pretty good. Think the everyday model is a bit girls, but in Turismo guise, it looks pretty good. Interior and seats look good too.


Looking at second hand, not new. Has anyone owned one? what are they like for handling / pace etc? Any major faults or bad experiences?


Cheers

Missus had a 500, decent cars. Lost a fair whack of money on it when she traded it in though. But the abarth's are much nicer than an st and twingo.

I was going to buy one last year. Test drove it, was very impressed, but for me, there was one big issue. The seat (the part that you sit on) I found was to short. My knees came well over the edge and it didn't feel nice at all. Didn't matter how much I tried to adjust it, it was just to short.. I'm 6.0" on the dot so not massively tall or anything.

I looked at this setup also, looked at the compitizione model and fiesta ST etc, I still love these they just look nice and not very heavy so shift

don't know about faults though but as Fiat goes they do seem pretty good.

But you didn't buy one then? What was the reason? What did you buy instead? The Fiesta?

No I went and got the Mini JCW, I was buying new and I think the fiat was coming in at 18k ish the JCW was around 23k but the residuals on the Mini were very good so it was near as cheap on the PCP finance.

The Minis a good buy if you can find one for your budget, very nippy the new ones.

I detailed one for a client a few weeks back. Had the carbon backed sports seats along with pretty much every other option. Ex demo with only 600 miles on the clock. Paid £6-7k less than list for it from memory.

Lovely little styling touches and design I really liked it.

I've seen a nice one at a dealer with 1000 miles on it. Looks superb.


It's a couple hours drive away from me, so may go have a look in the next couple of weeks. Might try Car Wow, and see if I can get a new one for the price of a second hand nearly new one.


The Fiesta would be the default choice, but I quite like it's not that common, and a bit quirky.

The new Twingo RS looked like it was fun on Top gear a while back, Citroen C2 Vts or VTR not sure which one is the fastest but they weigh bugger all so should be fun.

Neighbour just bought a Fiesta 120 bhp version and loves it.

Love those little Abarths, didn't they do a 'hot' one with a clicky box and some other trick bits ?

I do too many miles with work to have a fizz box but would love to have something like that for tearing about

You can spec up the compitizione with flappy box etc, 180BHP, then theres the 33K one the Biposte no rear seats light as a feather.... bet that shifts...

There's a gearbox upgrade that's £6,000 I think.

What ! You could buy a spare car for that!

My ex has a 500. Nice car,and nice alternative to a mini. It's not the fizzy version, but it's a bit tinny

And I think they are Fiat Pandas in a different guise. I don't have anything against a Panda either! Think their 100 bhp one is good fun !

Yup, there's a dog box on the option list for the biposto. :lol1: If i had the money to play with then i'd be seriously tempted, the biposto sounds like an absolue scream.

I had a 500 for a few weeks before the problems started (done 9000 miles) - gearbox leaking from the gasket (sealant i think), air con rad leaking - dealer wouldn't fix it so he just refunded me :(
I put the TMC tuning box on which took it to quoted 165bhp - much better

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Had a look at one for my wife, Too small, Ended up with a Mini Cooper S.

Remember a 20 mile trip we did in the original 500 , circa 1982 , 4 adults - tight to say least

he kept what remained of it going on absolute shoestring , including fashioning wooden flywheel

I think it had about 40 hp

Wife bought one brand new in January and we both absolutely love it. Its quick enough and sounds superb, gets some right looks as you potter through town or when you go past stuff on motorway. Its great fun to drive, in fact I will go as far as to say its more fun than my A45.

I had a sit in one a couple weeks ago, and the driving position is very very high. Was hoping to be able to sit low in it, but sadly not.

Yes I find the seating position too high but my wife (whos car it is) is only 4ft10 and she loves the seating position.

I've got a modified 500, KW v3, Quaife LSD, Brembos, Monza exhaust, Sabelts, FMIC, remap, it goes and handles well but would prefer it a bit more tail happy. You have to trail brake hard mid bend to get it to turn on all fours. Ride quality could be improved and I am thinking of fitting 16s with 45 profile tyres instead of the 205/40/17.
The seating position can be lowered by about an inch, you still sit high compared with e.g. a Subaru though.
The Twingo must be a lot of fun, no? It would be good to meet up, I was thinking of a Twingo at some point.
Typical problems are front suspension top mounts getting worn and rear wheel bearings but OEM parts as cheap as chips. Sorted these when I got mine and have done ~18k trouble free miles since then.
The good thing about them is they return 40 mpg easily on motorway commutes due to the 1.4 engine and are. Have your pie and eat it :)

The Twingo is extremely good fun. But then again, it's made very cheaply, and has an interior to suit, which doesn't really bother me too much. Has loads of kit as standard.


Due to the steering wheel angle and the fixed seatbelt strap position, the seat has to be higher than I'd like. It's really that and the fact it could do with an extra 40bhp which made me consider swapping for either a second hand Fiesta ST, or Arbarth 595.


But having sat in the 595, I think I would rule it out. In no hurry, so may hold on to the Twingo for another 12-18 months and let the price of the Fiestas drop a bit further.

Agreed, the standard seating position doesn't do it any favours.
You need to seat in one that has the lowered seat frame, it's still not perfect but a major improvement.
I've driven a Fiesta and really liked it, it just looks 'boring' but when prices drop I may be tempted for one myself, I like the 200bhp one.

The Fiesta ST is just sublime if you like driving. With the mountune upgrade it has enough poke without having to do silly speeds. If I don't floor it everywhere I can get fairly decent mpg to the point where I am not visiting the petrol station every five minutes. My 2 year PCP finishes in Spring next year and I had always planned to chop it in and buy something else but I am struggling to find something I want that is significantly better without jumping to the next hyper hatch level. For the money, it is an absolutely stonkingly fun runaround :D

Downsides? the ride is very firm although I have got used to it and if you are a bit of a porker then the Recaros might feel a bit tight. I've lost 20 pounds and fit just fine now though :lol1:

When I test drove it I wasn't blown away by it but after a few weeks of ownership I considered it to be one of the best cars I have owned for sheer fun without major expense. The Mini JCW is probably the only other car that I would think has any chance of being as great an owning experience.

How does the Fiesta behave on a bumpy B road?
Is it bouncy or planted?

I have to agree with the seating position in the abarth. I was considering getting one last year, but decided not to because of this reason. I also found the seat part itself (the bit you sit on) was very short, so my legs above the knee where 'hung over' the seat, it was very uncomfortable! I liked everything else about it though.

I've owned a lot of hot hatches over the years, and without doubt, the Cliosport 200 I had was by far and away the best, no competition! it had the cup pack (wasn't an actual cup) and recaros. In the right hands, it can make mincemeat out of far more expensive cars around corners. Great free-revving engine aswell! The recaros are an absolute must to anyone considering getting one!

The best hot hatch I've owned was my 205 GTi. I really regret selling it.
Regarding modern cars I really like the handling and feedback the Renaulsport Meganes have.

Most of the roads I drive on are fairly flat but even on bumpier B roads I wouldn't describe it as bouncy. It's in the wet when things can get tricky as it seems to lose traction fairly easily when pressing on which I put down to the Potenzas.

IMHO a LSD is a must in a turbocharged FWD car.

What about a Renault CLIO RS 200??
Some of those with the full kit, leather Recaros etc look like they'd be a blast to bomb around in.