Abarth 124 GT

Recently I’ve kindly been provided with an Abarth 124 GT for a few days, so I could write a review about it. Here I am then. Writing my first ever review about a car. How hard can it be?

What is it then?

It is Abarth’s take on the reincarnation of their iconic 124 Spider. Sort of. Because if you look beneath the historic Italian exterior, it shares the same platform with the Mazda MX-5. The 124 is actually built at the Mazda factory in Hiroshima alongside the MX-5, which should result in a reliable and well put together car. The major things the Italians changed, are the marginally wider and longer body as well as the engine. Instead of a naturally aspirated one, the 124 gets a 1.4l turbocharged unit.

What you get then is: Italian passion and performance paired with Japanese precision. Sounds very promising so far.

But the car you’ve been driving is not a regular 124, right?

Correct. The one I was given to, is the GT variant made by Abarth. The GT gets a bump in power, providing it with a healthy 170HP. On the outside, it comes in a small variety of different colours, available with or without the rally inspired matte black bonnet and boot. You’ll also get a carbon fibre front lip, a pair of carbon wing mirrors and most noticeably a full carbon hardtop.

I personally am a huge fan of hardtop convertibles, even though on this one you’ll have to detach the roof manually and leave it at home. The car also comes with a fabulous set of black O.Z. “Ultraleggera” wheels, Brembo brakes and Bilstein suspension. It’s also fitted with a Record Monza exhaust. A very, very nice one in fact. But more on that later.

The interior too, looks and feels quite premium. You’ll get a sporty leather steering wheel, some alcantara here and there and a nice pair of two toned leather seats.

Does it drive as good as it looks?

My initial impressions just after picking the car up, weren’t that positive to be brutally honest. That mainly had to do with driving the car from Zurich to Basel, which in itself isn’t that interesting. The first and overall biggest mood killer was the gearbox, which happened to be an automatic. Obviously, I would have preferred a manual on such a car, but I got what was available. Automatic it was then.

Of course, you can take things into your own hands by using the paddles, which let you decide when to change gears, but even then, it is not as engaging as you’d expect it to be. I was hoping that at least in sport mode it decides to change gears a bit quicker. What it does instead is think that you want to go quick and therefore keep the revs higher for longer. I figured out, that the combination of sport mode, which additionally gives you increased pedal response and power delivery, paired with manual shifting, was the most desirable combination for casual driving.

Doesn’t sound very promising then?

As for slow city driving, the gearbox does its job and gets you to wherever you want to be. Parking is relatively easy due to its small size and surprisingly good visibility. However, I didn’t manage to park it completely straight most of times. Maybe this has to do with sitting rather close to the rear wheels and further away from the front ones. Or maybe I’m just bad at parking.

Would you say it is a good daily?

The short answer to that would be: No. Of course, you’ll be able to fit a few groceries in the boot and there’s enough space for 3-4 smaller bags. The word “practical” however, isn’t really what springs to mind. In the driver’s cabin, there’s not much storage space either. And when I say not much I mean literally none. You don’t get a glove box, or even some side pockets in the doors. The only place where you can store something, is on the rear wall of the cabin between the seats. It’s got enough space for the car’s manual and that’s about it.

In terms of spaciousness for the passengers it actually isn’t too bad. At 1.85m tall I didn’t feel cramped at all.

So what is it good for then?

Obviously, it is a small two seater RWD sports convertible. Meaning that it wasn’t designed for taking it to the shops or be any good at moving houses. What it’s made for is driving. Simple as that. It’s only purpose is to put a smile on your face whilst enjoying some fabulous piece of road.

Just after arriving at home from the motorway journey, I decided to take it for a proper spin at my local favourite road. Once the road was clear and I gave it a bootfull, it all started to come together. With the foot planted to the floor, it will take 6.8 seconds until it hits 100km/h. The turbo starts kicking in at 2500rpm and delivers a pleasant surge of torque. Even the gearbox decided to finally come alive and deliver sharp gear changes in the higher rev ranges. Just like I hoped it would initially.

But the car’s main strengths don’t lie in straight line speed. Where it shines is the corners. And I’m certain in saying that I’ve never driven a more enjoyable car on some small and curvy roads.

Considering the road was damp and the car was running on winter tires, it blew my mind with how well it coped going around bends. The combination of RWD, very little weight and the Bilstein suspension makes it go around corners like a stabbed rat. Once out of a corner, the Abarth charges for the next one to attack. To bring it back down to decent cornering speeds, the Brembo brakes not only provide you with a sublime braking feel. They also got some serious stopping-power.

The seating position and the phenomenal steering allows precise control and gives loads of feedback. The limited-slip differential copes nicely with bringing the power down. However, that doesn’t mean that it won’t let you misbehave. When deliberately driving it on the edge, you’ll easily get it out of shape. Not “hitting-the-nearest-tree” kind of “out of shape”. More like the “pulling-some-controllable-powerslides-out-of-hairpins” one. Result: grinning from ear to ear.

What about the sound?

Now the sound this little thing makes, probably is one of its main selling points over a standard 124 or even the MX-5. The Record Monza exhaust unarguably is its most Italian feature. Mainly because it is very loud and never ever shuts up.

During start-ups, you can feel the vibrations and the exhaust resonating below your seat, which already gets the excitement going. After putting it in gear and pulling away, you instantly notice its raspy, burbly tone. With the windows down a little, and some modest acceleration besides some wall or a line of parked cars, you’ll notice that indeed it is very loud. Meaning that in tight and resonating areas, it will automatically transform you into a yobbo.

When properly driving the car, the exhaust isn’t that dominating anymore. Mainly because you’ll be busy processing all the other sensations and the sound becomes less important. At higher speeds, the burbling tone transforms into a raspier one the higher you rev it. But as it is with most nice sounding cars, the downshifts are the ones making your spine tingle.

Well that seems to have taken a good turn. What’s your final verdict then?

I’ll try to sum it up as briefly as possible. Is it a good car? Absolutely. Italian character and performance paired with Japanese built quality. You can’t go wrong with that combination. Once you look past the minor imperfections, you’ll end up with an amazing small and characterful sports convertible.

Would I buy one personally? Maybe. If I’d be in the market for an exciting small sports-convertible, I would definitely have an Abarth over the MX-5. The Italian styling, paired with the ridiculous exhaust and the heritage just makes it a bit more special than its Japanese counterpart. I wouldn’t get the GT though. Even though I prefer it over the normal 124 Abarth and I think that it’s the best-looking and most special variant of it, I just wouldn’t be willing to pay the extra money “just” for some carbon bits, a fixed roof and some other small improvements. Even though I’m a sucker for unnecessary extras like these, I would rather get a cheaper but well-equipped and most importantly “manual” 124 Spider Turismo.