As thread title really,

Has anyone tried / know anyone with the essesse factory tune?

Lunchtime bump

????

Just got a ‘normal’ abarth 500 and its great fun to drive- in the sport mode its fast enough to make the cd’s fly around- the essesse upgade is largely about handling upgrades as well as a few more bhp- not sure if its money well spent myself- comes in a really cool wooden crate though!

you can get chip upgrades for alot less if its a power thing- tmc seem to have a good reputation

comes in a really cool wooden crate though!

It doesn’t really sound like it’s worth the extra £5-6k to me however, the more important question is did they let you keep the wooden crate? If so, what is it being used for now?

mrs rkk01 has a “normal” Abarth 500 and it is good fun, in the style of the 80s / 90s hot hatches 😀 Not hugely powerful, but an absolute hoot to drive at legal(ish) speeds.

However, at the w/e we were parked next to an essesse version. The main visual difference was the cross drilled discs. mrs rkk01 (not me, honest 😳 ) was interested to know a bit more about the factory (dealer) tuned version…

Cost seems to be £2.75k, fitted, incl VAT

My best mates got an abarth 500, it’s a right laugh. I went with him to look at an Essese in the Abarth garage at ellesmere port, he didn’t think it was worth the extra money so spent a bit on his instead. I’m quite envious of how civilised it can be but then stupid quick if you mess around. Worth noting ‘sensible Mike’ has picked up 6 points since owning his and he’s called sensible mike for a reason.

£300 at tmc will get you the upgrade power wise- with wheels, discs, shocks etc youre looking at around £2k – but no crate!!

Alternatively go for the ultimate – gives 230bhp- a snip at £8k

From what I have found out, most of that 2.75k goes on suspension upgrades and new 17″ wheels with PZeroNero tyres.

mrs rkk01’s car already had 17s with the better rubber straight from the factory, and by many accounts the upgraded suspension makes the car a lot more uncomfortable without any discernable handling benefits 🙁

So, nearly 3k seems like a lot of money for a chip and an air filter (135bhp to 160)

going off the fact you havnt actually bought one yet can i suggest a mito Cloverleaf? Still ‘cute’ but you can get a bike in one
170 bhp

Or if you really are keen on power, see these boys, 215bhp:

http://www.monzasport.com/alfa-romeo-projects-sussex.asp

Doh, looks like youve already got one!

how do they get all those bits in that crate? love the 500 abarth cant wait to get one! any problems with them from the owners?

Mrs Pop loves hers – so much I very rarely get to have a go!
Ours is a 10k mile second hand one and all is well at the moment – 3 months in so far- she had a 500 pop before for 3 years and that was pretty much trouble free- just not as much fun and I love the exhaust tone

Just been looking at these on auto trader as i was parked next to one in Warwick, some are £35k and more, lot of cash

I’m sure on Fith Gear recently they actually said the small Suzuki thing was a better drive.

I love the exhaust tone

Yep, as sad as it may be, just starting it up is great. Little car sitting there sounding like it has no silencer on it.

Quite easy to get the twin exhausts to pop and burble on the over-run 😆

I’m sure on Fith Gear recently they actually said the small Suzuki thing was a better drive.

They may well have done – but where the A500 scores is on fun

My mate has one (used to post on here as hot_fiat due to his love of small fast italian cars!) and he let me have a play on it.
Fastest, funnest car I’ve ever driven, made me drive like a hooligan though, doubt my license would last a month if I had one.
The power just keeps coming, the exhaust just shouts ‘GO FASTER’ all the time and then you get a glorious popping backfire when you lift off.
Corners appear very quickly, bit scary at times as the car is so short but it goes round them well.

And you can get 2 bikes in the back…get one! 🙂

There’s an ‘essesse’ in our village, it looks amazing,
with the word accross the boot. Gotta love the Italians.

For £35k it will be the special edition ferrari jobby- defo in the more money than sense category I would say

Hamann Largo … 265hp 😈

Don’t buy one in yellow. Everyone will think Noddy’s moved in and has a new car.

Don’t buy one in yellow. Everyone will think Noddy’s moved in and has a new car

That’s easy – Not available in yellow…

Red
Black
White
Aircraft Primer Grey

Reminds me of the strada 130 abarth I had tuned to 150bhp. Which at the time which I have just realised is 20 years ago!!! was a very quick car. Sounded great, looked great, loved it, that cool scorpion badge. Italians know how to style a car.

Not driven one but we have the 500 100BHP 1.4 Sport which is an absolute blast to drive. Makes me grin ear to ear evry time I floor the throttle.

Would love to have a shot in an Abarth EsseEsse. I saw a black one in Austria in July and it looked the DB’s and sounded better.

Oh and you get to keep the EsseEsse crate.

Pop, yes it is the Ferrari edition, very nice with the carbon and leather seats, paddle gears and so on, the Hamman is nice but it not a Ferrari now is it, didn’t see a price for it either.

Still a lot of cash though 12k for a second hand little run around.