Fiat 500, no threat at all

Discussion in 'Mid-Ohio Motoring' started by rigidjunkie, Jan 22, 2011.

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  1. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

    Jun 24, 2009
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    Ditto... :D
     
  2. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    Uh huh... It's all pretty in the pictures... Keeping it running is whole other ball game!
     
  3. minimark

    minimark Well-Known Member

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    Maybe it comes with a trailer....lol
     
  4. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
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    You know, you all keep going on about the reliability thing, but I don't think MINI is exactly top of the charts either......

    OTOH, there isn't a car made and sold today that isn't far better made and more reliable than anything from the 60's and 70's, where most are getting their prejudices, even a TATA Nano I'd bet.

    Point being, anything currently sold and running the streets is probably a pretty decently made, reliable car - including the new 500, and pretty much anything running around Europe, French or otherwise.

    Time to let go of those old prejudices and step into this century.....

    I also would like to see some more variety, so bring the Fiats, Alfas, Renaults, Citroens, Peugeots, Skodas, Seats and all thier brethern on in - and Welcome!
     
  5. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    So as long as they are more reliable than they were back in the 60's and 70's we are good? :confused5:

    Take a snapshot of cars on the road...

    Have you noticed how quickly GM and Dodge products really start looking like hell? It is almost immediate. They just don't build stuff that holds up, especially cosmetically. Ford tends to be better, which is why they survived. Their trucks also helped. I wish the bailouts would never have occurred because I would have loved to have seen what would have stepped up to fill in the void. As it sits, they are still here, still cranking out crap, all on our dime.

    The French and the Italians have NEVER been known for their reliable cars. Italian cars tend to have gorgeous designs, but are finicky, at best, on the reliability front.

    The Fiat looks like a cute, little fuzzy creature... A Tribble, so to speak. I would never own one. They are way too girly for me. No amount of modding would make that car look masculine enough for me to want it in my garage. No, I am not homophobic. I just like a car that doesn't look like something Barbie would have in her Dream House garage... :)

    The French, well, ugly and unreliable? There is a reason they stopped selling them here... Nobody wanted them or their headaches. I am sure they have improved, but how much? Even if they are 50% better than they were, that is still dismally unreliable.

    The Japanese have been, for the most part, reliable to the extreme, but most of their designs lack anything one would call exciting or awe inspiring... They tend to be very vanilla and very "safe" in their designs.

    The Germans are somewhere in the middle. German cars tend to be very reliable so long as you maintain them. Once you stop, they tend to break. Then they are expensive to fix once they do.

    Their styling is usually very well done, well thought out, and well executed. They used to have very bad paint back in the 80's, but they have really improved on that front.

    MINI's are definitely in this camp. BMW created something that is almost a perfect balance that can be tipped however the owner wishes. They can be as cute or as aggressive as you want them to be, and it works.

    This is something FIAT will not have until they quit making little bulbous, cute, fuzzy bunny cars. Their numbers were still almost 10K shy of the MINI's opening numbers. And they had over 10 years to study and to come up with something to compete with MINI.

    They failed. BIG TIME. And the guy running the show over there screwed up. It is good to be the king, because if that would have been any other person, they would currently be unemployed.
     
  6. rkw

    rkw Well-Known Member

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    http://www.media.chrysler.com/newsrelease.do;jsessionid=C2A6530CCB591E3DA929AE7899D4BAEC?&id=11881&mid=2

     
  7. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I guess I should put my nomex on, because to be honest folks the MINI is cute fuzzy bunny car. I see nothing wrong with that. It is fast like a bunny & turns corners & stops like one too. What is not to like?
     
  8. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    Not true. The MINI CAN be a cute and fuzzy bunny car... But it can also be a lean, mean racing machine.

    I don't care how many body and aero kits they come out with for that FIAT, it will never look mean... It'll be a bunny with teeth... Reminds of the great Monty Python and the Holy Grail movie and the killer rabbit. Might be bad ass, but it'll still be a bunny.

    There is an excellent ad for the FIAT 500 Abarth where there is a hot woman :drool fixing her stocking and catches a guy looking. She eventually turns into the FIAT... Which they then show sliding around a corner. It looks like a fuzzy bunny sliding around a corner. It doesn't look bad ass, even on the heels of a stunningly beautiful woman. Not even a little... And I am not discounting the handling, which I am sure is fine... It just looks like a girl's car.

    Not a woman's car, a girl's car.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpi2IAec9Ho"]The Ad[/ame]
     
  9. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Well..... Apparently this might be Fiat's only success with their whole venture of introducing the 500 in the US (so far)......:eek:

     
  10. rigidjunkie

    rigidjunkie New Member

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    99 % of cars sold today will last for 100K easily (this is part of the problem for manufacturers because people do not NEED to buy cars as often)

    For me I don't care how macho or girly a car looks I want it to be fun to drive. Everything I have read points to the Clio being the most fun front wheel drive car available. I just wish it was available here so I could try one out myself, well that and that they made a Cup chassis 4 door.
     
  11. jiminni

    jiminni Well-Known Member

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    I have to agree with Johngo here......after sitting in a 500 I cannot see how they can make this car look mean at all? Yea the Abarth looks better, but with the dimensions of the car....it just does not look right....if you know what I mean? I mean the track on it is only 2.5" less than a MINI, but being almost 5" taller really kills it. :idea:
     
  12. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    I wish they were bringing the Scirocco here... Saw a couple in Hong Kong and they are freaking cool.
     
  13. rigidjunkie

    rigidjunkie New Member

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    So you guys really hate the current Miata?

    [​IMG]

    But would love to own a Charger?

    [​IMG]

    Sorry I never got the I need my car to look mean thing. I did like the "its not cute its mean" sticker though.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    [​IMG]
     
  15. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    Actually, the Miata's are great cars to drive... I would consider one.

    Charger, no way. Chrysler junk. Sorry.

    MM, you are missin' a link, bro!
     
  16. Metalman

    Metalman Well-Known Member
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    Weird.... It's showing up on Forumrunner and my office PC.....
     
  17. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    It's there now... WWW = World Wide Weird...
     
  18. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    I would be all over the Scirocco R !

    ......and don't forget the Volvo C30R :drool
     
  19. Johngo

    Johngo New Member
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    The first Scirocco I saw was moving, and I had no clue what it was... I finally found one parked and was able to walk around it. Things are mean looking.
     
  20. rigidjunkie

    rigidjunkie New Member

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    Just our of couriosity have you driven a GTI? Or any Golf/Jetta in the past 10 years? I really like the GTI but just could not live with that numb steering. It is like they went out of their way to get rid of all feel from the wheel. Every time they make an update I go and test drive one with the hope that they figured it out but every time there is that same feeling.
     

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