Fiat 124 Spider is familiar, but fun
2017 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth: Just in time for spring, some topdown fun.
Price: $33,185 as tested (the Abarth starts at $28,195, and a base 124 Spider can be had for $24,995). A $3,995 Preferred Package was the only upgrade, and it added a blindspot and cross-path detector, and other features that come up throughout the column.
Conventional wisdom: Edmunds. liked the Fiat’s fun ride, highway comfort and easy manual top. It had problems with the automatic, but if you’re thinking of an automatic 124 Spider, go play video games or something.
Marketer’s pitch: “The true sports car is back.”
Reality: Starts with an MX-5, but punches it up. But the differences are there: Fiat insists it’s a different car — from its interior components to calibrations of the suspension, springs, shocks and bars, and steering calibration. And no one who looks closely can say they look that much alike. The Fiat has taller corners and bigger lights, and a more Italian flair.
Up to speed: The Fiat engine produces 164 horsepower (160 in sub-Abarth trims), where the Mazda 2.0 offers 155. But the Fiat has 184 pound-feet of torque, compared with Mazda’s 148, so the car has a more sprightly feel.
Shifty: Fiat says the transmissions are different, but the window sticker says the Fiat transmission comes from Japan, and the gear ratios are identical to the MX-5’s. The Fiat requires a more motivated driver than the Mazda, though.
Turbocharged engines generally give their best performance at higher RPMs, and in the 124 Spider, that translates into a juiceless second gear.
On the road: After learning that trick, I found the 124 Spider as peppy and fun, perhaps more so, than its Japanese counterpart. Winding country roads are a pleasure, as are slight inclines and descents.
Driver’s Seat: Mazda improved the MX-5 immensely in the latest incarnation, and the 124 Spider gets full benefit of that. The convertible is easier to enter and exit now. Friend and (just a little
bit of) stuff: If you’re bringing a companion, bags want to ride in the trunk. Headroom can be a challenge with the top up.
Inside: Almost everything else is straight-up Mazda — the dashboard, the gauges, the heater vents, even the LCD trip computer.
Play some tunes: Fiat benefits from the Mazda’s handsome infotainment screen and simple dial control. Even though the 9speaker Bose system came as part of the Preferred Package, the music sounded a little flat. Fra-gee-lay? Must be Italian: I cut the turn into my driveway a little wide, hit a six-inch pile of packed snow, and one of the trim pieces fell off. Yikes. Also, large highway seams would shut the cruise control off.
Fuel economy: I averaged about 31 mpg; it requires premium fuel.
How it’s built: Consumer Reports predicts its reliability to be average.
In the end: This car may be a souped-up MX-5 Miata with a bigger chance of breakage, but that wouldn’t stop me. Yee-haw!