Okay, last week I took a wicked little car on a test drive. I've always preferred pure horsepower over handling (it can be very expensive if you want both). For example, my daily driver is an AWD 340 HP 300C and my fun car is a Mustang GT. Neither one of those cars is known for being very nimble, but they can accelerate like mad.
Anyway, I test drove a Fiat 500 Abarth. The base Fiat 500 has 100 horsepower or something, there is a Turbo with 130 horsepower, then there is the Abarth with 160 horsepower. 0-60 is nothing to write home about at
6.7 seconds, but peppy for sure. I think this is one of those cars that the 0-60 doesn't do it justice, though.
It's a blast to drive this thing. Corners are fun, the sound is cool (the exhaust snaps, crackles and occasionally backfires), the interior is fun and roomy enough for a 6'3" dude like me. It's only available in stick, which is awesome. I think you can get into one for less than $30K, although I'd only buy one used in a few years for ~$10K.
Pic:
Commercial with hot chick:
Exhaust clip (I promise this doesn't come close to doing it justice):
In a way, I think it'd be more fun driving this around town in a relatively legal fashion versus driving a super car around town using only about 15% of its potential. What do you guys think of this thing? Any other fun little cars like this that you'd probably get more out of than something that is technically better on paper?