Abarth

The other day, early Sunday morning on the Royu Driveway, I had the chance to meet in person for the first time a follower I usually interact with on Twitter. This person owns an Abarth (manual transmission), and to my surprise, said, “If you’d like, would you like to try driving it? It’s a manual, but it’s easy and fun to drive.”

…No, no, no, no (-_-) I really appreciate the offer, but I thought it would be terrible if I scratched such a precious car, plus it’s a manual… so I initially declined.

You drive a BMW 320i manual every day, so I’m sure you’ll be totally fine!

They insisted, so I gratefully accepted and got behind the wheel.

The Abarth I test drove this time was a “2018 Abarth 595 (MT, LHD).” The body color was “Grigio Campovolo (such a beautiful standard color),” and it was equipped with a Clarion navigation system and lowering springs on the base grade.

When I asked the owner why they chose the Abarth 595, they said,

I was looking for a new car that was left-hand drive, manual, and practical for daily use, but at the time, the only options were basically Abarth or Peugeot Sport. I considered Peugeot too, but in the end, I decided to buy from a dealer I’d dealt with before, so I went with the Abarth.
The reason I’m particular about left-hand drive and manual is because I want to get used to it for when I eventually get a Cayman GT4.
…Though I ended up falling in love with the Abarth itself (laughs).

When I was considering buying a manual car back in April, readers of this blog also recommended, “Abarth is great!” and since I often see them around my neighborhood, I had been curious about them for a while.

By the way, the Abarth emblem is a “scorpion,” which is said to be based on the founder Carlo Abarth’s zodiac sign.

First Drive of the Abarth

The Abarth 595 I test drove had a body color reminiscent of Porsche’s Crayon—very beautiful. And above all, the compact body size was incredibly cute. I thought it was the kind of size and design that women would love.

For reference, the Abarth 595’s dimensions are “Length: 3,660 mm, Width: 1,625 mm, Height: 1,505 mm.” It looks like it would be easy to drive even in the city.

Opening the driver’s door first surprised me—the door felt much more solidly built than I had imagined. Since it’s a compact Italian car, I had the preconceived notion that “it might look nice but be roughly put together inside.”
(I’m really, really sorry for that impression…)

Also, the interior was stylish. As expected from an Italian car. The seats were neither too hard nor too soft, with solid construction. Despite being so compact, it can comfortably seat four people. That’s really impressive!

This Abarth is a left-hand drive manual. Usually, manual shift levers are located near the handbrake (like this)

but in the Abarth 595, the shift lever is positioned higher up on the center console. This placement allows you to quickly grab the shifter the moment you take your hand off the steering wheel, making manual driving easier.

I gave it a try a few times, and sure enough, it’s in a spot where you can grab it smoothly with just a slight hand movement, which felt very natural. Also, since it has a 5-speed gearbox, the reverse gear is where a 6th gear would normally be.

After receiving a quick rundown and adjusting the seat, I was ready. Since it was my first time driving someone else’s manual car outside my family’s, I was a bit nervous as I started the engine.

Wow—the engine made a pretty sporty and nice sound!

Next page → Impressions of driving the Abarth in 2nd gear, feel of the shifting, and engine sound…