A macroscopic comparison of my 2016 Fiat 500 Abarth and my 2017 Fiesta ST

[Clint Beastwood]

Just a quick write-up after owning my FiST for a few months, and owning the Abarth for over a year. I'll be glad to answer any questions. I'm not here to knock either car, though Fiat as a brand is not my favorite company. My Fiat car was great, every single interaction with Fiat is downright adversarial.

- Abarth -
I preferred this car, but alas, it was not to be. It was by far the more fun car to drive, even though on paper and in reality it's the lesser choice. Each drive was an experience.

Pros

• Character. Every little thing creates drama.
• A little more head and leg room (front seats)
• The sound!!!
• Better steering wheel controls (more control available, buttons on front AND back of wheel.)
• More comfortable, more supportive seats. (compared to base ST seats).
• Gets attention (I guess it's a pro) everyone wanted to chat about it
• Sticky tires in stock size were crazy cheap
• Shorter wheelbase made car feel much more nimble and flickable. *Not "better handling", it just felt more agile.
• Smaller footprint - fits better in garage, has more room to move around in traffic and in lanes during canyon runs.*
• HVAC easier to use without looking.
• More fun. I would jump at any chance to go out in it - go get stuff at the store, go buy a USB cable, go see if a restaurant is open instead of using Yelp, take the car instead of a plane on a trip.
• Less front legroom and headroom. Wife is 6'1" tall, can sit with legs almost straight out in passenger seat.
• Boost gauge

Cons

• Absolutely terrible service and support. The dealerships are the downfall of Fiat.
• Aftermarket parts quite expensive.
• Poor build quality (measure 4 abarths under the hood, various distances will be different across all 4 cars).
• Most wind noise of any car I've ever owned with the windows down.
• Durability. I had a blown shock the day I drove the car off the lot. Front bumper repainted 3 times in the first 8 months. Spent 2 of it's first 10 months at the dealership.
• Value at MSRP (I paid 9k under MSRP brand new, so the Fiat was the better deal for me).
• 5 speed trans -> surprisingly bad economy if driven above 75mph or in a spirited manner.
• Sloppy shifter
• Odd interior layout (window switches in the middle, like a Fiero. Hard to roll both windows up/down at the same time)
• Boost leaks a pain to address. Too many clamps, hard to reach.

-ST-
I like it 90% as much as the Abarth, factor in dealer/manufacturer support and its the winner. Absolutely great, quick, though uninspiring daily driver.

Pros

• Build quality
• Fuel economy
• Slightly quicker than the Abarth
• More utility. The Abarth has a surprising amount of space with the rear seats down, the Fiesta has more. And 4 doors.
• Smoother, faster infotainment system.
• Much cheaper aftermarket (except mountune).
• Value at MSRP
• 6 speed trans
• Much better shifter
• Dealerships far more plentiful - means you have alternatives if you encounter a bad one.
• Sensible layout of interior elements (window switches... near the windows).
• Apple Carplay pro AND con - convenient for most things.
• Boost leaks easy to address. Everything is easier to reach.

Cons

• Lacks character (not completely, but it doesn't have the manic "meth puppy yapping and pulling at its leash" character of the abarth.
• Too quiet
• Symposer is annoying
• Base seats lackluster, factory recaros poked me in the shoulder blades.
• Less front legroom and headroom. Wife is 6'1" tall, has to sit with legs bent in passenger seat. - Her knee interferes with my shifting. not *really a con - the sloped dash vents mean I can't use my preferred iPhone mount.
• Apple Carplay pro AND con - navigation requires crapple maps on iPhone. Can't use Waze. - Wants to use voice input for everything, I would rather type while sitting at a red light.
• No boost gauge.

 

[ksvtguy170]

Really interesting--I've wondered how they compared in the eyes of someone who's had both. A couple of years ago, swayed by the looks and that crazy exhaust note of the Abarth, I thought about getting one when there were some low prices on year-end closeouts, but feared the Fiat experience and knew the FiST was a better car overall, the one I'd want to own as a DD. It's interesting to hear you think the ST lacks character in comparison--I find it bursting with "gotta go fast" character, so that Abarth must really be nuts.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Really interesting--I've wondered how they compared in the eyes of someone who's had both. A couple of years ago, swayed by the looks and that crazy exhaust note of the Abarth, I thought about getting one when there were some low prices on year-end closeouts, but feared the Fiat experience and knew the FiST was a better car overall, the one I'd want to own as a DD. It's interesting to hear you think the ST lacks character in comparison--I find it bursting with "gotta go fast" character, so that Abarth must really be nuts.

A couple years back, 11 bikes in the garage, I was rendered unable to continue riding at a very young age. I went out with a budget of 60k to find something that filled that "niche" in my life. Of everything I test drove, the Abarth was the only vehicle that left me grinning just from driving down the street. Going slow was exciting. Going fast was even more exciting. With the FiST I find I have to kinda push it in order to enjoy the car. The FiST is a *great* daily driver; the Abarth was 90% of riding a motorcycle though. The Abarth was like a daily driver designed by Michael Bay - just... ridiculous, in all the right ways. I also paid way under MSRP for the Abarth, I could've bought two Abarths for the MSRP of a loaded FoST.

 

[koozy]

I had a FIAT 500L, absolute garbage is the lasting impression it's left with me, I put 9k miles and ditched it. I'll be hard pressed to ever buy a Chrysler/FIAT product again.

A big turbo, supporting mods with a pops and crackle tune gives the FiST an absolutely new character that can rival the Abarth's character.

 

[ksvtguy170]

Going slow was exciting. Going fast was even more exciting. With the FiST I find I have to kinda push it in order to enjoy the car. The FiST is a *great* daily driver.

I guess it's all relative based on what we're used to. I had an SVT Focus that I loved, but it felt inert in daily driving, with not much torque and a heavier feel than the FiST (even though the weight is virtually the same). You had to really hammer on that SVT or get it on a twisty road to feel the benefits over a stock Focus. The FiST is bursting with excitement in comparison, and even my mundane commute at the speed limit feels lively. I may have to try to drive an Abarth someday...not to switch, just out of curiosity.

What was the Abarth like on the highway? Bearable, or too frenetic?

 

[M-Sport fan]

As tiny and 'cute looking' as some find OUR rides, I don't know if I could take the cutesy comments the Abarth would elicit from many passersby (especially in this area/nearby town), despite them being about 10,000x more common than a FiST here.
(Yesterday was the very FIRST other Magnetic FiST I've ever seen live, in the wild, at our local Giant supermarket, and I cannot even guess at the number of Abarths I've seen in that same exact lot during just the time I've owned this car!)

I do love that it's a 2 door, with a tiny wheelbase, and must be the very definition of 'tossable', and harkens back to the early 60's to early 70's original, rear-engined (but also RWD), 'stinger' exhaust equipped, 500/600/1000 racing TC Abarths, but that front end and headlight area is STILL way too 'cute' for me.

Although I kind of understand all of the ranting and raving over the Abarth's factory exhaust note, it would NOT be enough for me to 'have to have' that car (or even struggle to get that exhaust note itself), and I am more than just happy with the CP-E Nexus system's sound on even my factory turbo/downpiped FiST.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I guess it's all relative based on what we're used to. I had an SVT Focus that I loved, but it felt inert in daily driving, with not much torque and a heavier feel than the FiST (even though the weight is virtually the same). You had to really hammer on that SVT or get it on a twisty road to feel the benefits over a stock Focus. The FiST is bursting with excitement in comparison, and even my mundane commute at the speed limit feels lively. I may have to try to drive an Abarth someday...not to switch, just out of curiosity.

What was the Abarth like on the highway? Bearable, or too frenetic?

Drove the Abarth on a 1500 mile trip - no problems whatsoever. Very composed and comfortable. I was expecting it to be twitchy and darty but it was totally fine. Very comfortable. On the freeway the exhaust sound is barely noticeable unless you give it a little gas.

One thing that was noticeable was that the tolerances were so different from car to car. An intake would fit fine on one car but require bending to fit another.

The engine bay was hellishly hot, and veeeeery small to work in.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

As tiny and 'cute looking' as some find OUR rides, I don't know if I could take the cutesy comments the Abarth would elicit from many passersby (especially in this area/nearby town).

I do love that it's a 2 door, with a tiny wheelbase, and must be the very definition of 'tossable', and harkens back to the early 60's original, rear-engined, 'stinger' exhaust equipped, 500 Abarths, but that front end and headlight area is STILL way too 'cute' for me.

Although I kind of understand all of the ranting and raving over the Abarth's factory exhaust note, it would NOT be enough for me to 'have to have' that car (or even struggle to get that exhaust note itself), and I am more than just happy with the CP-E Nexus system on even my factory turbo/downpiped Fist.

Yeah I got the cutesy comments occasionally. My Abarth was powder blue, but I just rolled with it and stuck super Mario and cloud magnets on it - was the perfect shade of blue for it. Lots of young ladies wanted rides and to check out the car - I was ok with that, wife not so much. The Abarth was kinda like a Miata, you either get it or you don’t. Italian cars are great at making a production out of your daily drive. I don’t regret having owned it, and I’d buy another if they could be serviced at any dodge dealership instead of just fiat ones.

Also if the normal fiat 500 seems to cutesy, the Abarth is actually quite a bit different, with functional brake cooling ducts, front splitter, bulges here and there to make it less effeminate. I liked that it took the purity of driving and stripped away everything else that wasn’t there to enhance the experience. And driving the Abarth really reminded me of my old srt4, minus 100 horsepower

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Yeah the L was a turd. Their automatic clutch trans doomed the car. The aisin auto in the abarth was a delight- the ecu tuning made it backfire on downshifts, pop on upshifts. Silly and theatrical, but fun.

I know I could mod the fist to have the character, but the point for me was the fiat had it bone stock

The looks do kinda grow on you. I didn’t care, I’m not image centric - I’d ride around on oprah if it was fun.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah I got the cutesy comments occasionally. My Abarth was powder blue, but I just rolled with it and stuck super Mario and cloud magnets on it - was the perfect shade of blue for it. Lots of young ladies wanted rides and to check out the car - I was ok with that, wife not so much. The Abarth was kinda like a Miata, you either get it or you don’t. Italian cars are great at making a production out of your daily drive. I don’t regret having owned it, and I’d buy another if they could be serviced at any dodge dealership instead of just fiat ones.

Also if the normal fiat 500 seems to cutesy, the Abarth is actually quite a bit different, with functional brake cooling ducts, front splitter, bulges here and there to make it less effeminate.

I never said, NOR do I actually think it looks "effeminate".

And YES, especially with the 'correct' wheels (like those optional Superturismo lookalikes or such - or are they actually THE OZeds??) it can really look downright MEAN, and race-like purposeful.
With big box flares on it, it would look more wicked than even those full-on Group 2, early TC 1000 Abarth race cars!

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Normal 500

Abarth

 

[mdude58]

I had narrowed my choices down to the Abarth and the FiST when I bought my FiST. The Abarth has (or had) the better warranty but based on the crap reviews of the local Fiat dealers I decided on Ford. If I have a bad Ford service experience I can just go to another local dealer. Not so easy with Fiat.

 

[Bluedrank]

[*]Apple Carplay pro AND con - navigation requires crapple maps on iPhone. Can't use Waze. - Wants to use voice input for everything, I would rather type while sitting at a red light.

[/LIST]

Upgrade (your life) to an Android phone. Then you can use Android Auto (better) AND use Waze. Waze integrated into the dash is the best 12 hour road trip experience I've ever had.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I have to say, I'm really impressed - on both sides of the fence (here and the abarth forums) everyone's been really into this post (i posted it on both) with no bashing at all.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Upgrade (your life) to an Android phone. Then you can use Android Auto (better) AND use Waze. Waze integrated into the dash is the best 12 hour road trip experience I've ever had.

I've done the android dance and I have a few tablets around for development, but I got frustrated with spec and version skew so I went iOS for my phone. If I wanted to tinker with my phone I'd go android, but I don't have the time and just want it to work and to be able to use the apps I've been accumulating for years. Not a knock of android, different strokes/folks, you know how it is. I also worked for Apple for a long time and am a shareholder, so the "apple way" is a little more ingrained. For my Android devices though, always Nexus, I don't want reflavored/skinned versions of the OS, just pure android.

What I'd *love* to do is get HDMI input for the stock screen and do obd monitoring with a raspberry pi, but I don't think HDMI in is going to happen.

 

[Bluedrank]

I've done the android dance and I have a few tablets around for development, but I got frustrated with spec and version skew so I went iOS for my phone. If I wanted to tinker with my phone I'd go android, but I don't have the time and just want it to work and to be able to use the apps I've been accumulating for years. Not a knock of android, different strokes/folks, you know how it is. I also worked for Apple for a long time and am a shareholder, so the "apple way" is a little more ingrained. For my Android devices though, always Nexus, I don't want reflavored/skinned versions of the OS, just pure android.

What I'd *love* to do is get HDMI input for the stock screen and do obd monitoring with a raspberry pi, but I don't think HDMI in is going to happen.

Well, just so you're aware, somebody made an Android auto OBD2 app that displays the gauges right on the dash. It's really nice.

 

[TDavis]

I can see the "Too quiet" for the ST being a thing. Cannot compare to the stock exhaust of the Abarth lol

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Well, just so you're aware, somebody made an Android auto OBD2 app that displays the gauges right on the dash. It's really nice.

Yeah I have torque on an android tablet, I more just want to play with potential applications for a built in raspberry pi- I have bajillions of the things. A practical application like obd interfacing would give me a reason to practice programming in python

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I can see the "Too quiet" for the ST being a thing. Cannot compare to the stock exhaust of the Abarth lol

Hah yeah even non car people always wanted me to rev my Abarth for them - probably the dichotomy between looks and sound - I might try a resonator delete to add a little character while still looking stock. All the aftermarket exhausts are gorgeous, but they’re all obviously aftermarket. I need stealthy and not loud, just a lil bark

 

[Plainrt]

I owned a 500 sport before my Fiesta. I couldn't stand the upright seating that could never get in a good position. Shifter sucked. Didn't really have any problems in 50k miles other than seat cracking and clear coat on wheels. Oh and the thing burned good amount of oil. Tried to autocross it one time and it was so boring i decided to not even do all my runs.



I got a laugh at this when saw this while looking into new Sth autocross class.......been doing autocross 3 years with mine and yet to have one abarth even come close to my times.