First, let's start with...

Haase. Christopher Haase. The young German started his week in the United States off with a bang and a surprise, resulting in the first pole position of the GTD category going to Paul Miller Racing. A time of 1:46.973 rocketed the R8LMS to start first for Saturday's race. The cars which will be looking at the tailpipes of the 48 for at least the pace lap include the 63 Ferrari, 46 Audi, 65 Ferrari, and 007 Aston Martin.
Starting on pole for the GTLM category is the 91 SRT Motorsports Viper GTR-S. Marc Goossens put in a great lap of 1:44.506, only 0.076 of a second faster than last year's GT pole sitter, Nick Tandy, in a Porsche 911 RSR. Rolling off third will be the other Viper, of Jonathan Bomarito. The 4 starts fourth, with Corvette Racing qualifying only one of their cars, after the 3 suffered a problem in pit lane. 5th is the other Porsche, at the hands of Patrick Long.
Bouncing to the Prototype category, we have a familiar name starting first in the PC class. Colin Braun takes his 5th pole in a PC car in under a year. The young American driving the 54 CORE Autosport entry qualified 0.038 of a second ahead of Renger van der Zande, in the 8 Starworks entry. Following those two will be the 09, 38, and 08. Pole time for the PC category was 1:41.777.
Finally, we come to the man who will start first. Alex Gurney took the Red Dragon of GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing to the front with a time of 1:38.270. Starting second will be the fastest man of the weekend prior to this session, Richard Westbrook. The best qualifying P2 car was that of Muscle Milk/Pickett Racing, with a time nearly 1.6 seconds off the pole. The DeltaWing qualified eighth.

Night practice starts in about 30 minutes. While it won't be night right at the green flag, it should be full darkness by the time the chequered flies. For now, it's time for food!

Pictures Galore!

The first two practice sessions are in the bag. Times have fallen from the first session to the second, but Richard Westbrook in the Spirit of Daytona DP and Colin Braun in the CORE Autosport PC remained atop the charts for both.  In the morning session, the #3 Corvette Racing C7.R sat quickest with a lap time of 1:46.036. But in the afternoon, the mighty Viper GTS-R of Jonathan Bomarito took nearly a second off that time. GTD has been anything but constant, with 3 different cars holding the 3 top slots for each session. Olly Jarvis in the #46 Audi went quickest in the morning, but his time was beaten by Daniel Serra in the #65 Ferrari. Qualifying starts in under an hour. In the mean time, enjoy some pictures from this morning's sessions!

It's That Time Again

It's the most wonderful time of the year! No, not that one. Our respite from racing is about to come to a blissful end. In fewer than 72 hours, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona goes green and the Tudor United SportsCar Championship will kick off with a bang! Sixty seven cars are set to go for this first round of the 2014 season and what a grouping it is. In the P category, we finally see the DPs running against the P2s, and the gloves have been taken off.  What will surely flare is the unspoken rivalry of Grand-Am versus ALMS. Who will take pole? Will it be an ALMS car or a Grand-Am car to qualify first, win, or sweep both? PC also comes with an impressive line-up of cars, albeit one of the smaller classes. GTLM is where all of the manufacturer's eyes will be. Viper, Porsche, Ferrari, oh my! Throw in BMW, Corvette, and Aston Martin and we have a battle for the ages! All the fans will be watching GTD closely, and with 27 cars, how could you not?!

Quite frankly, it's too close to call with all of these categories. The 2013 defending champs have split their odds for the most part. Pruett and Rojas will share a car, as well as von Moltke and Alburquerque, but Jarvis, Norman, Lewis, and Canache jr. will all be driving separate cars. There are very few sure things for this weekend's race: A Chevy powered Oreca will win PC, great food will be served at Marion's, and fans at the track will enjoy some great racing. If you can't be at the track for this inaugural race of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship, follow my twitter @GearboxGirl closely for pictures and race week/day updates!  Ladies and gentlemen, let's start our engines!

Video-mania!

Confession time: I'm a hoarder. Except I didn't know I was a hoarder. And I don't hoard objects.  I hoard experiences.  Let me explain.  My 2 and a half year-old nephew came over last week and, as usual, asked to watch videos of race cars. So we began to scroll through my various racing pictures and videos. After explaining the difference between Audi and Porsche, we found the mother lode of videos from ALMS races in 2011, 2012, and 2013. "Share?" Lennon asked.  He was asking me to share these videos with him. And that's when it hit me. I needed to share these videos with racing fans everywhere. I have more than 50 videos from tracks around the world. Yet, up until now, the only one enjoying them was a bored toddler. Thus, Lennon, a boy who can almost go to the bathroom by himself, has sparked the latest addition to the Gearbox Girl.

Tune in to my Youtube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ-jMsqFOpTv-wnhk1B5GMw, each week for new glimpses into what I've seen over the last 3 years. You'll visit Le Mans, Indianapolis, Mosport, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock, Road Atlanta, Toronto, Daytona, Sebring, Mid-Ohio, VIR, and more. Not all of the pictures are high quality but the sound is always mesmerizing. You'll find a minimum of one new video per week. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like I’ll be going to every TUSC event. But don't despair, I'll always find my way to a race track so there will always be new videos to hoard... I mean share!

End of the Roar

Well, the Roar has come to a close. It’s fair to say a lot was learned. Thankfully, in the incidents and red flags (of which there were many), no one was hurt and no cars damaged beyond repair. With the new regulations being released only hours ago, teams have plenty of data and rules to go over before returning to Daytona in about 2 weeks time.

On a personal note, I hope you’ve all enjoyed the pictures and notes! I’ll be posting a video sometime tomorrow, with lots of ambience and perspective from this great weekend. The Future may be here, but the Past hasn’t been forgotten. And as a sports car fanatic, it’s a fabulous thing to reminisce.

In the mean time, here are some notes and tidbits from the track learned on Sunday:

-Neither of Risi Competitizione’s regular season drivers, nor their endurance addition, was on hand for the Roar. Sources say one of the duos from last year’s ALMS season (Beretta and Malucelli) will not be with the team for the coming Tudor United SportsCar Championship year. A familiar face to WEC Ferrari fans will fill the second driving position. The endurance specialist will also be a WEC favorite.

-Mika Salo will again contest the 12 Hours of Bathurst. The Finn said he will race in honor of his teammate from last year, the late Allan Simonsen.

-Some of the biggest drama from last night came with a Ferrari driver who, after bringing out the caution, could not find his way back into the pit lane. His car, which did at least one lap around the track after regaining momentum, drove normally through the first section.  But the driver then elected to enter pit lane at the wrong end, traveling against the flow of traffic. Some members of IMSA jested that they “thought for a second [Kimi] Raikkonen was in the car.” As some might remember, Raikkonen had a famous incident of getting lost on track during a Formula 1 event in Brazil. Which leads to the point that…

Some drivers should be evaluated as to whether or not they can run during the race. There were a few separate occasions (and I’m not going to name names) where drivers took actions that can lead to bigger and more dangerous incidents. As a general rule, drivers should always check their mirrors, and gentlemen drivers should do so more often.

-Congratulations to Greg Pickett and the entire Muscle Milk Pickett Racing team, who announced yesterday what we’ve been waiting years to hear. Pickett, Lucas Luhr, and Klaus Graf will contest in the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year. The 2012 and 2013 ALMS P1 Champs will be racing in their Oreca Nissan in the P2 category.

-Ryan Dalziel deserves an award for heart. He WILLED the Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b around the track, pushing everywhere to be competitive with the DP cars. That isn’t to say the Honda powered machine isn’t quick on its own; it is. But Ryan had the car on the edge for a few sessions, ultimately ending up P7 overall combined.

-Nick Tandy remains on pole for Daytona. Last year’s GT polesitter set the fastest overall time for the GTLM category. While the Porsche didn’t have a flawless weekend, spending a bit of time in the garage due to issues on Saturday, Porsche’s British factory driver managed to make the best of the weekend. Tandy will be contesting the full TUSC season, racing at many American venues for the first time.

-Many people have been asking what the relative speeds are like for the DP cars versus the P2 cars around the track. Honestly, it depends on the competitiveness of the cars themselves. For example, the 1 was able to easily pass the 50 on the banking, but the 50 was not running as it will be during the race. Conversely, at times, the 42 looked like was dragging a parachute as the 99 roared by. It also depended on the runs. Fuel loads were not always the same and there was not a clear example of one being faster than the other in equal conditions. So for now, I’ll say they’re both quick in their own ways and it won’t be until the race until we truly see who has strength.

-Audi continued to show its strong performance by being the quickest of all GTD cars. Flying Lizard Motorsports, which made the jump from Porsche to Audi, set the fastest time with the 45 machine. However, the sister car, the 35, should not be overlooked. Two of the 4 drivers who won the GT category last year, Dion von Moltke and Filipe Alburquerque, are piloting this car. Also, for the superstitious, the 35 car is in the same garage bay as the winning Alex Job Racing Audi had last year. Just saying…

FAST FOUR COMBINED

P- 5 Action Express Racing                                    1:38.630

PC – 8 Starworks Motorsport                               1:42.010

GTLM – 911 Porsche North America                   1:45.564

GTD – 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports                    1:47.981
 

A Blur of Color

Well, Day 2 of the Roar Before the 24 has ended in a most mesmerizing fashion. There’s just something about racecars whizzing around a track under darkness, lights aglow, that captures the imagination and puts total peace in a mind where worry can overwhelm. Today was one that teams used to prepare for what should be closer to race temperatures than yesterday.

I was able to take a lot of video today of track atmosphere which I’ll be able to edit and post online Monday. Until then, here are some notes accumulated from today's action:

9 cars total sat out the final session, including the “zebraflauge” C7.Rs. Corvette Racing was pleased with their results from the afternoon and did not run in the hour long night session.

The 01 and 02 of Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates team chose to end their testing early, electing not to participate in tomorrow’s test after engine issues caused them to spend time in the garage.

The 2 Mazda P2 entries also spent a significant amount of time in the garage today, but should be back out in the morning.

Both of Porsche North America’s entries, 911 and 912, were in the garage for longer than the team would have liked this morning. The 911 suffered a malfunction near the gearbox, said Porsche driver Nick Tandy, during practice early in the day. Damage to the front left of the car required a new nose to be put on.

Michael Shank Racing will not be a part of the test tomorrow. The 2011 winning squad had registered for 2 days of the Roar.

The End of Year banquet, which has traditionally been held the day after the final race in both ALMS and Grand-Am, will take place in New York City well after Petit Le Mans. Rumor is that drivers who cannot be in attendance to receive prizes will be fined.

Tune in for much more tomorrow!

FAST FOUR:

P – 5 Action Express

PC – 8 Starworks Motorsport

GTLM – 91 SRT Motorsports

GTD – 71 Park Place Motorsports

A Chilly Day in Daytona Town

First things first, I’m so happy to be back in a heated room. Today was COLD! Fully grown men with thick skin were huddled around propane heaters, begging for hand warmers, and grumbling about how it was colder when they left their northern homes. With a high temperature of 48 degrees today, Daytona International Speedway was populated with scarves instead of shorts. Drivers who would normally change into street clothes for lunch wore their firesuits, completely zipped up, in hopes of salvaging some warmth.  Days like these do not usually allow for much useful data to be acquired. Since the likelihood of this weather repeating in a few weeks time isn’t great, teams didn’t take away as much from this first day of testing as they would’ve liked. A few told me they are more optimistic about race setups for tomorrow’s sessions, namely the night session. Night at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is about half as long as the night during the 24 Hours of Daytona. Tomorrow’s temperatures are predicted to hover around 70 (thank the Heavens).

Still, not all was lost for today. Here are some notes and tidbits learned today around the track:

The Mazda P2 car had some growing pains today, spending several hours in the garage. One car, being driven by ALMS and Grand-Am standout Tristan Nunez, recorded only 8 laps in the second session.

Corvette still hides their new C7.R livery from public cameras. The car’s look, which is to be unveiled at the Detroit Auto Show, is rumored to have a paint scheme almost neon in color. No matter the livery, today both Corvettes showed great speed, topping the charts in the first session in a proper 1-2 fashion.

Corvette driver Jan Magnussen will not be able to attend his son’s first and much anticipated Formula 1 start for McLaren; the Australian Grand Prix falls on the same weekend as the 12 Hours of Sebring, where the proud dad will be trying for a 4^th class win.

The Snow Racing entry had to be rebuilt after suffering issues entering Turn 1 fairly early into the first session. The Porsche 911 GT America logged only 4 laps before what looked to me like a tire failure under severe braking. The car, which lurched and jumped on the brakes in front of me, swerved and hit two cones, which caused the front end to explode in debris, showering the exit of the pit lane. The car skidded and avoided 2 other cars before coming to a rest in the grass where cars rejoin the oval. Snow Racing rebuilt the car for the second session, where it was 12^th quick in class.

SRT added Rob Bell and brought Ryan Hunter-Reay back to the driving line-up. Bell, a factory McLaren GT driver, is no stranger to endurance races. He finished 2^nd in class at the 2011 Rolex 24 Hours and is a 2-time ELMS champ. Hunter-Reay, the 2012 IndyCar champion, returns to the SRT line up after racing in the 2011 Petit Le Mans, where he finished 8^th.

Most drivers added to new teams (with the exception of Chip Ganassi Racing drivers) were wearing either white or team firesuits. One noticeable standout was Alexander Rossi, who wore his Caterham overalls instead. Rossi is a reserve driver with the Caterham F1 team and raced last year in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series for Arden Caterham.

The closing speed of the DPs on the P2 cars out of the tri-oval and into Turn 1 is astonishing to see. While the P2s are inherently faster through the infield and the DPs are designed to be faster on the oval, to see these principals put into action is something special. Before today, I thought the DPs had a big mountain to climb to be competitive. In fact, the balance falls more the other way. The top 3 times of the day went to Daytona Prototypes.

Which leads me to class leaders:

P -  90  Spirit of Daytona

PC – 87 BAR1 Motorsports

GTLM – 911 Porsche North America

GTD – 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports

Happy New Year!

It's 2014 at last! For us racing fans, the new year means a lot more than a new calendar. With this changeover comes a new racing series, the end of the off season, and new cars. Naturally, I'm talking about the start of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship.
The Roar before the 24 kicks off in less than 18 hours (but who's counting, right?!) and sadly there is no broadcast coverage of this event. If you want to know what's going on, you have to be there. Watching timing screens at home just wasn't a good option for me. So, this morning, I got in the Car of the Week (a very nice Toyota Prius) and ventured up to Daytona. For the first time in my life, I bought tickets to a racing event. While $15 per day isn't unreasonable, I hope to be permitted into the garage area so interviews can be conducted as well. If not, well, I might have to find a way in. It is an injustice that this new era is starting, yet there's no way to enjoy it unless you're here. My goal for this weekend is to change that.
I will be tweeting early and often, pictures, quotes, and tidbits, to try and share with you what I experience here. Someone should share the magic of this beginning, right? Everyday, after the track activities have finished, look back here for a complete recap of the day.
If there are any questions you'd like me to ask particular people, send them to me @GearboxGirl. I'll do my best to act as your proxy and give you a glimpse into what happens at the track and hopefully you'll feel like you're in the garage too!
Keep on shifting!
-Gearbox Girl

Ode to the Celica

On September 30^th, a Monday afternoon, I was asked to go to Publix. Instead of taking the Car of the Week, as is standard procedure, I grabbed the keys to my 2003 Toyota Celica GT.  Raider, as he was named, chirped twice happily when I pressed unlock. He was saying “Hi, friend.” His engine fired immediately, despite having not been driven for nearly a month. When we arrived at the end of the street, we faced a choice: left for the quick route, right to drive along the beach. I opened the sunroof, put down the windows, and flipped the turn signal up.

            This was to be our last drive together. The next day, October 1^st, I received a phone call from my father while I was in the Atlanta airport. Someone was interested in buying Raider and for a decent number. Months before, I’d listed Raider for sale. It hadn’t dawned on me that he would actually sell, and especially when I wouldn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye.

So this is my farewell to a best friend, a loyal Celica, my first car.

            January 11^th, 2007 was a pretty great day. No homework was assigned, which for junior year was a miracle. My soccer game had resulted in a 4-0 shutout, which as a keeper means I was a spectator for most of the match.  Upon arriving home, I found a lovely bouquet of flowers from my high school sweetheart. So when my Dad asked me to turn the light out in the garage, I didn’t even consider the strangeness of that request. Without complaining, I walked to the garage, and cracked open the door. To my immense surprise, the garage was not occupied by only one car as normal…there was a second.

            It sounds cliché to say that I burst into tears and fell to my knees. But it’s true. Good thing I was still wearing my shin guards too, because I collapsed on the threshold to the garage, about a ten-inch drop. What sat before me was more beautiful than the thousands I’d stared at longingly online.  This one possessed sleek lines, aggressive body paneling, and an inexplicable feeling of soul. This car had a personality, one that shone through its headlights. It seemed to smile at me, as if saying “Hi! You want to drive me!” I walked like a zombie over to my car. As my fingers hesitantly grazed the polished roof above the passenger door, the Celica chirped twice. What was merely my dad pressing unlock on the keys seemed like a proclamation of a bond which had been formed, a friendship for years to come.

            That night, I was only permitted to do one lap of the block, not even engaging second gear. Dad made it very clear that while this car was mine to drive, I would have to learn everything about it before getting miles under my belt. On the Saturday after, I woke up bright and early to begin my education. Before even turning it on, Dad had me take the brake off, roll it out of the garage, and wash my new car. Once the 2-hour fluff and buff was complete, I looked to Dad for permission. He shook his head. It was time to learn how to change a flat tire. So, for the next hour, I used the jack that came with the car, a pathetically small scissor jack that looked as if it couldn’t hold me up, to change all four tires. Two at a time came off at a frustratingly slow pace while a hydraulic jack stared at me from the garage. When that task had been completed, I was sore and greasy but ready to drive! Nope. Pop the hood and learn how to change the oil, add fluids, check fluids, disconnect and reconnect the battery, change spark plugs, and clean every nook and cranny (A note: one thing Dad didn’t show me that day was how to change a headlight bulb, a feat I had to learn how to do on my own a couple years later). After the engine work was complete, Dad had me use a leather treatment on the interior. He then informed me that we needed to let that dry and so driving the Celica would have to wait for another day.

Raider had the privilege of parking
beside some beautiful cars.

Raider carried me throughout high school…literally. Together, we ventured to senior field trip, 2 proms, countless soccer games and theater performances. Most importantly, Raider got me to graduation.  After high school, the next place Raider would take me was college. But he wasn’t allowed to stay.

            If you don’t know the carrying capacity of a Toyota Celica, prepare to be amazed! For one 500 mile trip, Raider held 2 suitcases full of clothes, 3 plastic containers, 1 lacrosse stick, 1 comforter, 2 sets of sheets, 1 laundry bin, 1 wake board and toe rope, and that’s just the big stuff. Oh, and did I mention the front seats weren’t mashed up against the dashboard? And I still got roughly 35mpg averaging 75mph? That’s when I learned the secret of the Celica: Ferrari F40 exterior with a Ford Excursion interior.

            I took a picture of Raider parked in the FSU lot nearest my dorm and vowed he’d live with me some day. Mom unpacked my room and helped me set up the TV, a generous donation by my uncle. We found SPEED, which was showing a Grand-Am race (at the Glen if memory serves). Quietly, she snuck out with my car keys and took my car away. Freshman year was miserable to say the least, and I know having my best friend there could have appeased it.

            The following year, Raider and I ventured out together on our first big road trip alone. Safely, he took me back to Tallahassee, to a new roommate, new classes, and with a new outlook on my new town. Tallahassee was a very different place when I had a car to explore it. We drove down to the coast a few times, to Daytona (not for spring break but rather a HSR race) and explored the Georgia border. All in all, we drove 4,000 miles that year…for fun!

One of our adventures that years was
to Daytona International Speedway.

            But the best times I ever had with my little Celica came in Canada. Twice, he and I drove up in caravan with my parents. The first time was when I was leaving Tallahassee for good, having served my time and been promised a sheet of paper with my name on it. The night before I left was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After staying up the whole race, my body clock was a bit skewed. When I loaded my kitten in the car, our journey toward a new life began. Raider drove on one tank of gas all the way from Tallahassee to Jacksonville (where we met up with the parental units), and continued on to South Carolina. My parents were driving an M3, which was thirstier than a frat brother on St. Patrick’s Day.                      The BMW needed gas when I was only at half a tank. Part of that could have been my drafting strategy, but that’s another tale.

Raider helping to launch our old boat...by posing for pictures.

            Anyhow, once we finished the 1769-mile journey and arrived at the cottage, the true fun began. Anyone who says the best driving in the world isn’t Peninsula Road in Muskoka, Ontario is just wrong. That road in a Celica is a 40-mile loop of joy.  Ups and downs, sharp curves, apexes galore! The whole drive, Raider’s entire ownership, my realizing what pure bliss behind the wheel of a car, culminated in the first trip we took. A year later, when I didn’t really need my own car in Canada, Raider and I drove up just to tackle that road over and over again.

My niece learning about a clutch...at age 2

            So now we come to the sad part of this tale. Since that last summer, Raider has sat for the most part. His odometer increased 200 miles in the span of 6 months. And I felt very guilty for this. Here, I owned the best car in the world. And all he was doing was sitting. Thus, Raider was listed for sale.

            I never expected that he’d sell while I was gone. Alas, on October 1^st, Raider went to a new home. He lives somewhere down here still, to be used by the crew of some yacht while they’re at port in Fort Lauderdale.  I never imagined our drive on September 30^th would culminate what has been such a meaningful and important relationship.  Raider was stability, put a smile on my face when there had only been tears. Raider made sure I kept traveling this road of life at a decent speed. He was the car that brought my kitten home for the first time, the car that I sat in and cried to when my heart was broken for the first time, the car that I wanted to have in my garage when I’m 90. If I’d had any inkling that our final drive would’ve been our last, I would still be driving. 

A few thank yous are in order: First, to my parents who bought Raider all those years ago. Dad, you looked for months to find the perfect car and you succeeded. To Jaime Galceran, who first suggested a Celica would be my car-soulmate, and who always offered to help fix any issue. To Rachel Somers, who tolerated a very long drive with me when Raider’s power steering pump failed and struggled with very weak arms to navigate the roads. To the Township of Muskoka Lakes for maintaining Peninsula Road. Please, please can we shut it down for a day so I can just one lap at speed? And finally, to Toyota, for building the perfect little sports car.

                                

500 Percent Approval

We’ve all seen the commercial before. A gorgeous woman, who hasn’t eaten dessert for a year and a half, is innocently sunbathing on a beach. Enter the black scorpion. Is he going to attack her? Will someone swoop in to save her from this poisonous demon? Nope. The scorpion simply uses a claw to snip off her bikini top. This isn’t an ad for Playboy or some reality show on Bravo. It’s for Fiat. More specifically, the Fiat Abarth.

Last week when I got the call that a Fiat would be delivered to my doorstep, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. To clarify, a year and a half ago, I drove a 2012 Fiat 500 Cabriolet from Orlando to Miami. To me, the car felt twitchy. It was seemingly swayed onto the shoulder by every truck, semi, or even minivan that drove past. And that was hardly the only shortcoming.  The iPod jack was in the glove box, making it nearly impossible to charge and talk on your phone at the same time. And, even if you could use your phone, the convertible roof contributed to a deafening amount of road noise. On the positive side, the power to weight ratio was good, and so was the car’s functionality. The 500 seemed better suited for a ride through the small towns of Europe, where super highways are substituted for winding country roads.  Thus, my opinion of the Fiat 500 was not the most flattering, until last Wednesday when I met Phoebe.

Phoebe is a 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth. She is white with white wheels and red mirrors, a black leather interior including bucket seats, a subtle yet stylish rear spoiler, and shockingly aggressive looking exhaust pipes. These allow for the deep, raspy voice that sounds like it should be coming from a Jaguar XKR-S or a Corvette C7. The first time I turned the key and all 4 cylinders fired, I looked around to see what gorgeous sports car had wondered down my street. Then it hit on me: I was already in it!

Shift it into gear and Phoebe the Fiat roars to life! The torque output is surprising, with serious whip lash for first timers. Seriously, those not ready and non-believers might feel a bit sore after feeling that acceleration. With only a 1.4L I4 turbo charged engine, some people might be turned off to the idea that this car is here to play. But those people need to be reminded that this is a Fiat, so it only weighs just over 2,500 lbs! To put that into relative, the Scion FR-S weighs 2,758 lbs, the Mini Cooper S Roadster 2,635lbs, and the Ford Focus ST is a whopping 3,223lbs! With performance to equal if not surpass these rivals, the Abarth can stand proud.

I will admit, my first time taking Pheobe on the road was not what I had hoped for. Her steering was too sensitive and twitchy and I had flashbacks to that Fiat of my past.  But, thankfully, a check of the tire pressures showed the culprit was a lack of air and not a deficiency of design.  With a quick stop at the gas station and a fast flick of the sport mode switch, Pheobe roared into action.  Sure, the powerful sound of her exhaust and the whistle of her turbo meant the radio had to be turned up to 10 to hear. But hey, that’s all part of the experience, and it did make me forget about the road noise!

My only complaint, after a week of driving, may seem a bit petty. I’m a traditionalist and having a gear leaver coming out of the dashboard, where the air conditioning controls usually are, seemed unnatural to me.  What’s more is that the leaver is actually on a slight angle toward the driver which looked more like a mini-van than a sports car.  Even so, by the end of the week, I had adapted.  And, given how many issues I usually find in cars through my much-suppressed inner pessimist, Fiat should consider this one small complaint a major victory.

When this Wednesday rolled around, I had to say goodbye to Pheobe and I was honestly sad to see her go.  That little car surprised me in so many ways. I was expecting something average, fuel efficient, and boring. But what I found was a car that reminded me why driving can be so much fun!  Off went the little Abarth rocket ship, and in drove a Lexus ES350. A vehicle, that after driving Phoebe, seems to be the size of the moon!  Ah, those preconceived expectations.  Here we go again!

JUDGEMENTS:

Fun: Fourth grader after consuming a bag of M&Ms

Looks: B

Performance: A

Cost: Less than you'd think...starts under 23k

Seats: Look great but meh to sit in

Worth it: For the price, can't beat it!