Talking to Carlo Dore changed my mind.
He owns a 2018 Abarth 124 Spyder automatic. Just a few minutes in I felt a cold pit form in my stomach.
Glad I sold my Mazda MX-5.
Carlo knows the sickness.
Both the Abarth and the related Mazda suffer a specific, annoying flaw.
Spherical bushes in the rear hubs fail. One bush per hub corner. Each hub has multiple bushes, really, but you don’t need many to die for trouble to find you. One dies the whole hub is ruined.
Unfit. Done.
Usually the MOT spots it if you haven’t already heard the clonking.
That hollow clunk-clunk on bad roads.
When it happens though there’s no simple fix.
Replacement OEM bushes don’t come loose. You can’t just swap the rubber. You have to buy the entire hub assembly.
Expensive. Cumbersome.
One failure kills the whole unit. No middle ground.
It makes the choice less fun.
Why buy the Mazda if you can have the Abarth?
Well, you buy the Abarth for the badge. You buy it knowing this.
The mechanic laughs when you mention the bushes.
Because that’s where the money goes.
Not to tires. Not to oil.
To a new hub because one little ring cracked.
Who knew
