Opinions on a New York City Daily Driver
 

Living in the city, parking and driving a full sized vehicle is rather inconvinient. As a result, I am considering purchasing a compact DD that is easy to zip around the city, and park. But also has the flexibility of longer trips out to long island and such.

I prefer to have a car, as many of my friends live out on the island, and we go back and forth quite a bit. So no car, which is probably the smarter move, isn't an option at this point

I think I have narrowed it down to either the new Fiat Abarth, or the Mini Cooper Coupe.

What do you guys think? Which would you prefer? I realize they really aren't to everyone's liking (not 100% mine either). The fiat is about $3k cheaper at dealers around me, but also not as quick.


http://www.motorstown.com/images/min...r-coupe-04.jpg

or

http://editing2011.com/wp-content/up...on-945x630.jpg

whats up buddy! hope all is well man.

i'd go for the abarth... fits more ppl than the mini coupe

Abarth. To quote top gear, the mini looks like it had its hat on backwards.

If you buy the Mini with that roofline, Jistin Bieber will win and 1000 puppies will die

Abarth all the way. One of our club members has one and I love it.

Honda Fit with a K20a2 swap and boost!!!!

hey man, everything is going well. How's the new shop going? I need to make it over there again.

Seems like a no contest. I am glad, because I was leaning towards the Abarth.

Stopped in the dealer a few blocks from my office today and played around with the Abarth in the showroom (mouth noises while shifting through the gears). That was fun in itself, so Imagine with the car moving, it will be even more fun-filled.

Between the two, abarth.

Have you driven one yet? The sound is hilariously good.

I have not driven it yet, though I have seen a couple driving around. The sound is uncanny, definitley unexpected.

Going to head out to a Long Island dealership this weekend to drive it. Will be able to enjoy a test drive there much more than in Midtown Manhattan.

Why not Ford Focus ST? Or just a Ford Focus???

Focus is still considerably bigger than the Abarth. We have an ST... its a sweet car. But I'd rather have the Abarth in the city.

Yea, the Focus is a bit larger, same goes with the veloster or wrx. All nice cars, but I really want something I can park on the street. I see Fiat's parked here with their rear bumper facing the curb, perpendicular to the street, taking up all of 4 feet.

Smart Car isnt an option, really don't like it, and the GTI, is still a bit larger, and Im really not a fan of VW.

that left me with a mini, or a fiat.

Isn't Ford coming out with a Fiesta ST? Or just get a regular Fiesta?

It seems like I'm in the minority but I like that new mini! I'm sure the Abarth is a blast to drive though (I really don't know much about these cars), I just feel like its really bubbly. Either choice is great for living in the city though!

When i lived back home in Bklyn. I commuted on the "Iron Horse." My car was garaged and came out on weekends to collect tang... My advice is, If you planning on commuting in NYC daily? Dont drive, buy a metro card. :tiphat:

Reasons.
1. alternate side of the street parking
2. alternate side of the street parking
3. alternate side of the street parking
4. people will chill on your car and put their drinks on the hood
5. Many parking spots in business areas have meters.
6. Parking in manhattan iff u go to work there is $800 a month in a garage..
7. Alernate side parking at night raises your insurance premium by a lot.
8. you have a 1 in 5 chance of oyur car being stolen. need i go on?

If you still insist on DD'ing? buy a hoopty. So you dont cry every week from seeing a new scratch.

a 96 wrangler to defeat potholes.

Hah exactly why my younger brother is gonna get rid of his STi.

Truth. Whenever I need to head into the city, MTA is the way to go. And if you're out late night, just bite the bullet and call a cab.

Why no Honda Fit? Those seem pretty zippy.

Werd!

Abarth and the Mini both have a cooler image than the Fit. It will get more respect among Wall St. types. :tiphat:

And, IMO, they are more interesting cars.

If you have never lived there here is my 2 cents-Lived in Brookly and worked in the City.
buy the most reliable POS you can-just can't look nice.
realize that NY's consider the bumper a tool to push and move your car so then can squeez into the tiny spot. So yeah, they will **** it up the first time you park in a garage or on the street.
NY's (city folk) do not respect "your" vehicle as property. Its far game for anything they decide they need to do to find a parking spot.
Dont put in a stereo worth anything
Never leave anything in the car, including a full tank of gas
Dont expect NY's to respect your property-cause they don't
DO expect it to be beat to **** by the locals
If you have something better than them, they will deliberately jack it up.
Buy something to blend in.
OH, and yeah the NY city mechanice will cheat you everytime if you let them.- they call it "a game"; I called it steallling and lying. Ex. $450 for an oil change? After two hours of harsh word-the douche bag basically "called me out" so I gently pursuaded him after showing him the hood of my car-face first. Suddenly he's the nicest guy on the planet..They will rip you off if you let them.

Just my 2 cents on the City and the local areas. Of course not all of NY is like that. The state of NY is stunning. I would recommend just using the subways. It's free intertainment and you get to see and smell NY's finest!

I agree here 100% I"m telling you, they will destroy the car and make it worthless in a matter of months. They don't respect other peoples property....use the $ for metro and your rent.

Oh, the Fiat 500 Abarth is the coolest one. Since Fiat is relatively new back in the North American market, how is the brand's reliability & service?

Other cool small cars:

-Audi A1:stylish,easy to drive-MTM aftermarket parts

-Honda Fit: has been winning awards w/ praise

-Scion FR-S w/ automatic transmission: small sports car

***I've never been into Mini's so wouldn't push ya towards that one.

Lots of other small cars to try out, Volkswagen Golf GTI is really fast . . .

I understand what NYC car ownership is like, however I am using this car mainly pleasure purposes. The building I reside has its own garage and I commute via the subway everyday. The reason for wanting a car is for those trips (which I make nearly every weekend) out to long island or to any of the neighboring cities which nearly all of my friends live (Boston, Stamford, Faifield, etc..). I just like having a car on hand to be able to get in and go.

Regardles, I am still in a city environment and would like a little car. Fun fact: many parking garages around here charge 1/2 for Fiat's or Smart Cars.

Leaf. And then steal someone's power outlet.

That's cool>^^<

So I picked out a fiat, put a deposit down and all, however would like some peice of mind from you folks. The car is a 2013 abarth with 28 miles.

Does 28 seem like a lot for a brand new car?

That's about right.


You can't expect car like that to have never been with another driver. ;)

:icon17:

Agreed. 28 miles is normal. A few test drives.

Probably only one with a better driver than you.


Just one.


But she'll remember it forever.

Too late, but they just started building the Fiesta ST in Europe, will be here soon.

If your car is for going out of state? Then why worried about size? And thats not what you said in the beiginning.

Yeah but the Abarth is still way more chic.

lol... Ur serious???:icon18: J lo sold u huh...

Haters gon hate... but they know I'm fabulous.

J Lo didn't drive the Abarth in the commercial.

Also, :yum:

hahahaa.. but she put the name on it. I don't hate on the Abarth, but Chic? Really? That's subliminal advertising that caught you there. lol.:roflpuke2:

Shyt at least the abarf is a turbo. lol

It is chic bro! Very stylish.

I test drove both cars extensively. A couple times in different environments. To me the Mini Cooper S is way more practical and build quality is much much better. Mini also is much bigger inside. Granted Mini coupe doesn't have back seats but Mini is wider and front leg room is better. Abarth is very crowded inside to point if you are bigger person your up against door panel on one side and rubbing your passenger on other. guess thats cool if you are out with hot looking chic but if you need to give a Bro a ride its less cool. Abarths shifter is awful and feels cheap and vague. Abrths doors have lightweight tin feel when you close them as opposed to german engineered Mini doors.

Also the Abarth has no low end torque. You have to rev the crap out of the car to get it moving. Unlike the Mini which has nice thick power band. In city driving good torque is a must if you want to easily squirt around situations. In Abarth you will need more room to run at things as its really only happy over 3200 rpm while mini has decent amount of grunt from 2000 on up. While on paper the Abarth might be close to Mini in acceleration the way two cars get there is much differnt. And I can say without a doubt Mini will do faster sprint consistently. abarth takes more work to move fast.

And to me Fiat 500 styling makes it look like a clown car. No escaping the fact it's tall and short. Handling wise the fiat feels tippy to me. Have to admit Fiats handling surprised me but it still feels more like a small city car that's been hotrodded rather than well sorted and capable chassis and suspension of the mini. fiat feels short when you go over bumps though. still can't tune out that short wheelbase.

I liked Mini Dealers better too. Went to 3 mini dealers and 2 fiat dealers. Fiat dealers didn't know much about the cars they sold and it was typical dealer customer feeling. Mini dealers knew their product well and one I went to is associated with BMW dealer next store and quality approach was very nice.

This is what ended up in my driveway

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ct...1287246DAB.JPG

I haven't test driven them but I've sat inside them at the state fair auto show and the dallas auto show. :iagree:

The mini is way more manly and respectable as well.

Heres a new york classic ride. :tup:

http://z.about.com/d/4wheeldrive/1/0...kiproject3.jpg

And the theme music to go with this ride. :nutswinger:
EPMD - Strictly Business - YouTube