«This car is absolutely brilliant»: He loses a piece of roof at full speed on the Nürburgring... and prefers it to a Toyota GR86

Some test drives turn out to be fiascoes. And then there are those that become instantly memorable precisely because one small detail turns everything upside down. That's exactly what happened to Misha Charoudin during his test drive of a Abarth 124 (a 124 GT to be precise, with its carbon hardtop) at the Nürburgring. As he attacked the Nordschleife at the wheel of the little Italian roadster prepared to produce over 200 hp, a strange noise was heard during full acceleration. A few seconds later, it was clear: a piece of the carbon roof had literally flown off at high speed.

And yet, despite this unlikely scene, Misha Charoudin will spend a good part of the video covering the’Abarth 124 of praise.

“Good news. This car is really great.”

The sequence begins almost as a joke. When Misha gets out of the car after his fast lap, he discovers that a part of the roof is missing. With his usual sense of humor, he announces to the owner: «Good news. This car is really great.» Then comes the bad news: «A piece of the roof has come off.»

The youtuber then joked that the car was now “lighter”, before pointing out that the blown-off piece could probably be found somewhere around the German circuit. But this little incident doesn't seem to have spoiled his experience at all. Quite the contrary, in fact.

A lightweight sports car that takes you by surprise

Under the hood, this Abarth 124 features a modified 1.4 turbo engine with specific intake and engine reprogramming. The result: just over 200 horsepower in a small, lightweight rear-wheel drive roadster.

From the very first corners, Misha Charoudin was surprised by the car's handling. He describes extremely direct steering, a highly communicative chassis and excellent overall feel. «The car's handling and chassis dynamics are incredible. It's phenomenal.»

Despite its relatively soft suspension, typical of a car designed primarily for the road, the Abarth 124 gives him a great deal of confidence. In particular, the youtuber explains that the chassis feedback is exceptional, to the point of making the car a lot of fun even on the Nürburgring. He also points out an important advantage over a Toyota GR86: the torque of the turbo engine. Where GT86s and GR86s are often criticized for their lack of power at low revs, the Abarth offers more acceleration and a livelier character.

A small roadster... but not a radical pistarde

All is not perfect, however. Under full attack, the brakes equipped with EBC YellowStuff pads quickly begin to show their limits. You can even see smoke coming out of the brakes after heavy braking. Misha also notes that the suspension is becoming the main weak point on the track. The high degree of roll complicates rapid mass transfers and makes the car less precise when it starts to stall.

But he insists on one essential point: this Abarth 124 was never designed to break records on the Nürburgring. «It's not a car designed to break lap records, but that's not its vocation either. And that's precisely what he likes about it.

A pleasure car in pure Italian style

As the tour progressed, the youtuber seemed to fall under the spell of the little Italian roadster. He appreciates its looks, its personality, the fact that he can drive with his hair blowing in the wind, and above all its unfiltered fun. At one point, he even utters a phrase that perfectly sums up the spirit of the car: «Really nice. An ideal car for the weekend.»

For him, this Abarth 124 isn't an ultra-serious chrono machine. It's a car made for having fun on mountain roads, enjoying the turbocharged engine, hearing the exhaust crackle and simply having fun behind the wheel.

And even after losing part of the roof at full speed on the Nordschleife, his final verdict remains extremely positive: «Overall, I really loved it.»