595 1.4 T-Jet 140 Tricolore Edition

Absolutely Great Fun! Rarer and Better looking than a Fiesta ST!

This is our third Abarth and fourth 500, the first being a FIAT 500 TwinAir that was written off.

The latest Tricolore one is one of the last before the facelift version that has just come out and is a "runout" model with "Formula" wheels, black stripes and red brake calipers. Inside there's a Italian Tricolore marker band on the steering wheel.

Otherwise its the same as the other two.

HJ has always said go for the 16"wheels, we've always had 17"s! The ride on the pre 2015 versions is harsher, but the later "140" engined versions and 595 badged cars have much improved damping and it doesn't bounce around as muchas the earler ones.

The ride is pretty good when you consider its a tiny car with stiff suspension and oversized wheels.

The performance and handling are much as you would expect, brilliant, its not even the fastest version! Its great fun and you can chuck it about.

The 140 engine is a big improvement over the earlier 135, the map is less harsh a throttle response change between normal and sport making driving motorways and towns in normal easier, Sport is just great, very responsive and the steering livens up too. I change between the two depending on road type and conditions, although most people leave it in sport all the time.

Fuel economy, based on sub-ten mile commute and the odd longer trip is around 33-35. On longer runs 40 is easy to achieve.

Inside, up front, very comfortable, everything comes to hand and its a nice place to be. You sit quite high, but you soon get used to it. In the back, 4 up is fine for shortish runs, look on it as a 2+2 and its fine. The boot isn't the biggest, but its a small car and the seats drop easily.

There has been no rattles and the dealer (Glyn Hopkin, St Albans) has been excellent.

As you can tell, I love this little rockets and will go for a Competizione next time.

Asked why didn't you get a Fiesta ST, simple. Don't want one.

They're rare, just get used to being stared at. people will stop you and talk about it.

You don't get that with anything else.

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