Another positive of the 124 is it uses the old Miata NC manual transmission box which is proving to be much more reliable and stout than the NDs box. Very well done review, you brought points to buy that I never thought of by simply looking at the spec sheet. Very well done
Great review! I drive a bmw z4 and i LOVE the convertible hard top. If fiat gave us the abarth 124 GT with the hard top, then this would totally be my next car!! But they don't sell it in the US :(
Remember that you can also easily tune the 124 to have even more than 200 torque, that will make it more fun and exciting than the Miata. Don’t know why you would buy the MX5...looks worse, doesn’t sound as well, is more common, can’t be tuned for more power easily, transmission breaks on ALL model years...only reason to get it would be linear acceleration and 100 less pounds which you can’t even really feel...beats me.
You say EASILY tuned....short of a handheld device tuner by say eurocompulsion or tork, quite a few pro tune shops do not work on the multiair engine. Why? They say its finicky and very particular to what it was set at originally.
"Easy tuning" will break your car. ;) Engineers are tweaking the engines years and years on the testbed just to see what it can handle in power output, reliability and emissions. And then some neighboorhood low life walks into his backyard shop and "tunez" the ECU by simply increasing the boost of the turbo. And then he claims that this is the power the car should have, and it is totally save and the car will get even better with fuel consumption. Lol. You buy the MX-5/Miata simply because of the better engine and because of the price. The difference in price is not too big anymore. I bought my Abarth 124 Spider for around 26,000 EUR (including tax). So I thing I got a good deal. You buy the Abarth because of the looks (its a Miata, but not a Miata), and because of the noise. :) Mine is all black and this makes it very elegant. Not so much a fan of the white coloured with the red "lipstick".
@@Gentleman...Driver Are you kidding me? "Easy Tuning" will break your engine? What a joke. Mild tuning does not break your engine. That's what Abarth's whole business is based on. He was an independent tuner and later joined with Fiat to tune their cars under the corporate banner. Same for AMG, BMW M, Audis quattro, Porsche Sport, Toyota TRD, Ford's SVO, Mazda Speed, and Mopar's SRT. These are tuner companies and brands that do this for a living. All have qualified engineers who spend years and years modifying these engines. Including Fiats. You call Callaway, Alpine and Shelby neighborhood low life's? Then what are you? I didn't buy my Abarth for it's looks but for Abarth's tuning of the soft Mazda chassis and for the better transmission, LSD, and turbo engine which can be easily tuned. Maybe you buy it for it's lipstick color but not the rest of us. We buy it for its performance # R-GT wins over Porsche and Alpine and because its the chosen power plant of F4 race cars. And tuners do not say that multiair is finicky. Squadra tune, Multiair, Ferraris, Madness, and others tune these engines every day and they are reliable and solid.
I usually hate soft top convertibles but this car does something for me, I really love it. The value is nearly halved second hand so when I but it will be second hand but I'll still get to own a beauty like this one
Totally agree it’s wayyyyyy too expensive for what it delivers, and dealers seem to be stuck ie won’t negotiate much generally. $50k is more than a Golf R! Or a lot of other nice nice options. I like the 124 looks and have been shopping used, the forums are full of discussion about modding a less expensive trim or model up to 200+ hp.
its the worst selling car in the states. im looking to buy one this winter. im betting here the deals would be great. ive already seen a new abarth for $28k US.
I got mine brand new at the dealership for about 26,000 EUR including taxes. The price differences are not so much of an issue right now. But yeah, it is selling bad because no one knows that the car exists.
