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My Black '13 FIAT 500 ABARTH!

18K views 34 replies 11 participants last post by  Exel 
#1 ·
Hey everyone,


My name is Jason. I work at 500 MADNESS. I've actually interacted with a good handful of you under my work account, MADNESS Jason.


I'm happy to say seeing a lot of the cars on here and of course at work made me really want an ABARTH. It was time for a new car for me and well the timing was just right.


I was searching for a black ABARTH with relatively low miles around SoCal for a few weeks when I stumbled onto this one.. it was the one!

Here is what it looked like the day I picked it up:







Here is how it currently looks:







I saw the wheels at our shop when we first got them in and I fell in love with them. It was between these and a couple other ones but I decided to go with these.


I got a 1.4" drop on it but I'm not totally satisfied with it. It rides great but I want more low, specially in the back.
I'm thinking of doing the 2" / 2.5" drop or getting some coilovers. I'm not sure yet.


I'm curious to see what you guys have / use?
 
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#5 ·
Ahah, that's awesome!

Jason, I've saw your car at Madness yesterday and after the additional drop, and with those wheels, your car looks FANTASTIC!
Hey, thanks! I appreciate that. :)

Your wheels look great. More like fantasic.

I bought a couple those Hotwheel cars at Madnees last January.
Thank you! I really do love these wheels.

I'm really considering doing these:


And work on getting rid of most of the chrome.
 
#13 ·
Over the Holiday Break I finally got around to install some goodies on my ABARTH. :)

At this point I only had lowering springs, Pogea Wheels and Stubby Antenna.

What I installed were the following..
  • MADNESS GoPedal
  • SILA Concepts Ram Air Intake
  • MADNESS ECU v2
The Holiday Break comes around and I finally have some time to install everything. With the advice of MADNESS, I decided to do the mods in "stages," meaning I'd install a product a day and just really drive the car and see the differences each product made and how they worked together.


MADNESS GoPedal

I remember initially trying out the GoPedal and was like "meh." I wasn't too impressed with it. I figured I might be doing something wrong as pretty much every review online praises it and says it's a must do mod. So I talk with MADNESS and they take me on a test drive in my own car and the GoPedal installed. Let's just say I'm more than impressed. The biggest problem I had was I got so used to driving like a turtle because of my girlfriend that I never let the ABARTH get there.

The GoPedal is extremely easy to install as many of you know and it is the first thing I put on. Two connections and you're done. The hardest part I had was trying to figure out where I wanted to mount it. By itself, the GoPedal it is pretty impressive. I put it on the Sport + Mode with the curve all the way up.

I actually tucked the GoPedal away as I don't think I'm really going to mess with the settings much so I did not take any pictures of this.


SILA Concepts Ram Air Intake


I wanted an intake that kept the stock engine cover, provided more air, came with a good quality filter and I wanted to be able to hear a little more of a "woosh" sound because why not? :p

The SILA Ram Air Intake was the second thing I installed and it delivered on all four counts.

Installation of this was incredibly easy as well. All I needed was a screw driver pretty much. I removed the original parts and had this installed in under 10 minutes. It fit perfectly and looks pretty good, too.

Driving the ABARTH after installing this is definitely a lot funner! I can hear the car breathe and it feels faster and in my opinion sounds awesome. You don't get that over the top "woosh" sound but it's there and it makes me smile.







MADNESS ECU v2

This is the last product I installed on my ABARTH during the Holiday Break and I think it's the best one so far.

I wanted more power, simple as that.. and man did this thing deliver.

I was at a friend's house when I installed this. My friend is a mechanic and he has a lot of passion for cars. He owns a RHD Honda CRX, Mazda Miata, an older Volkswagen Beetle, and a BMW E46.

He's drove around in my ABARTH before I installed these mods. He thought the FIAT was "meh." He didn't think much of it.

So I'm installing the ECU and I finish up and ask him to go on a test drive with me.

We're in an alley that leads to a dead end empty street and I think to myself "here goes nothing."

I do a pull and we stop at the end of the street.. we look at each other and say "holy ****."

Keep in mind I'm around FIATs a lot but I guess it's just different when it's yours. I've been in ABARTHs with this ECU and other ECUs installed and more performance mods than what I have. I think because I did this in stages and because I already had a feel for my car, I was just totally surprised by it. It just felt so much more powerful and responsive.

Let's just say my friend is becoming a fan.





And I couldn't be happier.

 
#14 ·
Well,

Here's another update on my ABARTH. :D

I originally opted to go for a not so aggressive 1.4" drop for my car. Being as this is my daily driver and I live in a place that has very lovely roads (/s), I thought that would be OK for me. The ride was comfortable and it did look better.. but.. I wanted more loooowwww. I think the 1.4" is a great drop for those that are looking remove some of that wheel gap and want their FIAT to look a little sportier.

So a couple weeks ago I decided I wanted to get rid of the wheel gap completely, or as much as I could. I wanted to still have a pretty comfortable ride and not have to worry about bumps too much, etc. I was thinking of getting the more aggressive drop (2" / 2.5") lowering springs but after talking to some of my co-workers, Joseph and Art, which some of you know that have Coilovers on their cars.. I decided to just go straight to coilovers.

I figured.. they're adjustable, they'll get me low, and they rode pretty **** well. I rode in both their cars to see how it rode and I've got to say they ride nice.


FIAT 500 MADNESS Coilovers by V-Maxx

I've had these installed now for roughly a week. I'm pretty low considering my wheel size (18") and I've got to say, they ride really nice. I'm not low to the point where I scrape everything but I am pretty low. I was actually surprised as to how well the car feels, drives and honestly looks.

And of course, pictures.. :)






 
#26 ·
I haven't updated this thread in a while so I figure it's time for an update!


I've finally started getting around to removing the chrome pieces on my ABARTH.. actually did most of them this weekend.


Here's some pictures showing the process!


I started with the trunk handle..





You take this off.. easy enough.





Here it is removed.





Here it is installed!






If you notice in those pictures I also removed the ABARTH badge because I need to send that to get painted. This is actually really easy to remove. I actually just used a flathead screw driver w/ a soft rag over it and wedged it and slowly wiggled it until it pried / popped off.





Now onto the door handles..


Door panels off.






Peel back to gain access to door handle from the inside.






And it's off!





And new ones are on!






Now for the front whisker badge thingy.. and black headlights! I probably should have waited to source the other black lights but I couldn't help myself. :)


Time to remove bumper..





And it's off.







Headlights going to be put on..





Installed!








I apologize for the not-so-great pictures, I was using my iPhone and it was hot so I was rushing.. I need to go shoot my car again soon.



 
#27 ·
I haven't updated this thread in a while. Been busy with other projects and actually moving states!


Here's how my ABARTH sits right now:





I haven't done much to it recently. I left my rear badge back in CA so I finally got that all sorted and it's put back on! (Had it painted black - de-chromed)


Going to purchase some things on my list this week and will get them installed soon.


Thinking intercooler, short shifter, exhaust.. maybe some carbon fiber goodies for the exterior.. shift knob? hm.. :)
 
#32 ·
Here's some pictures of installing the Bonalume Short Shifter.

I haven't taken any "completed" pictures w/ the shift knob and shift boot combination because I want to take some nices ones with my nice camera.

But, here are some iPhone shots of the install. :)









I'll try to get the completed ones up sometime this coming week.
 
#35 ·
The MAXFlow Intake is not TOO loud. Something like the SILA Ram Air (Open air intake) will definitely be probably close to a plate.

Here's a project I decided to tackle on.. :)





**** trimming those vents. Virtually no vents, Texas summer is coming.. what am I thinking?
 
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