I have had an Abarth 500 EsseEsse as my daily driver for 7 months and it has been great. I do 40 miles each day over A and B roads so no motorways. As Housey said these cars are not made for motorways. There is no 6th gear and due to their shot wheel base and stiff suspension they can bounce around a bit in standard form.
There were quite a few performance options offered with the Abarth:
1)The EsseEsse Pack – This offers a BMC air filters, re-mapped engine (to 155bhp but most will make 160bhp), 17” alloys, drilled and vented front discs, drilled rear discs, brembo pads, lowering springs and some tyre pressure sensors. (~£2750)
2)Koni Dampers – Adds Koni FSD dampers to each corner (~£700)
3)Monza Exhaust – Mild steel sports exhaust which supposedly adds 5bhp through the rev range but does not increase peak powers. It also sounds quite nice. (~£850)
4)Sabelt Seats – Bucket seats in both cloth and leather (~£1300 and ~£1800)
The general consensus is that if you get an EsseEsse the suspension is just too hard. I drove a standard EsseEsse and also found this which is why getting one with the Koni upgrade was essential for me. The Konis smooth out the ride and make the car much nicer to drive as well as giving it a lot more control when cornering.
Sport mode in these cars is great as it actually does something. The weight of the steering is increased, the engine map completely changes and throttle response in increased. The turbo comes on much quicker so you can get quite a bit of wheel spin if you are not careful. For driving enjoyment I actually prefer this to my old Z4 coupe.
Build quality wise they are pretty good. Mine feels well put together but the plastics that are not in immediate view are quite cheap. I personally would go for one with cloth seats as they will hold you better (the bolsters in the standard seats are not very big and you will slid about in the leather seats). Luggage space is fine for my needs but as with a car of this size the boot space is quite limited. The rear seats can however be folded down to make much more room if required.
One of the main things to look for when buying one of these (as well as all the usual used car buying stuff) is that the car has been serviced correctly. As the car has a small engine producing a relatively large amount of power for its size (96bhp per litre standard/114bhp per litre EsseEsse) it needs to be serviced on time. Standard cars have an oil service every 7k (6k in the EsseEsse) or once per year (cost me about £80) and every 18k (major service). Also, there are rumours that fiat dealers wont service a car that is still in warranty, they have to be taken to an Abarth dealer. I'm not sure if this is true as I have always had mine serviced at an Abarth dealer but it may be worth finding out what the situation is in your area.
Running costs are pretty good. The stated 42mpg is achievable but you have to drive like a grandma with sport mode off. I'm averaging about 38mpg in mine. As I mentioned above servicing isn't too bad and consumables are also quite cheap. Also it is worth noting that the engine runs a lot smoother with Shell V-Power (this surprised me as it hasn't made much of a noticeable difference on any of my other cars).
The other thing to look out for is abused examples. As these cars are great fun to drive in a spirited fashion some people just push them too far. Check the font tyres as they can be worn down very quickly if the car has been driven poorly and is a good sign if the car has been thrashed.
For your budget of £9k I think you will struggle to find a nice EsseEsse. As such I would look for a nicer standard model. The best thing you can do is go and drive some. Look at some nice examples and to poor ones to you can judge the differences.
If you have any questions let me know
