Road Test Special Abarth 500
The main rival
Abarth 500 £13,600
It’s the car set to take on the MINI Cooper S at its own game. What’s it like on the road?
t’s small, it’s fast and it’s a hot tip to be
a huge hit in the hot hatch stakes. Fiat’s
tuning arm, Abarth, has turned the 500
from cute to mean machine – and New
Car is first to discover what makes it tick!
Great looks
As you can see, the newcomer looks
super-quick before you even start it up. A
redesigned front bumper juts forward and
provides extra cooling air to the uprated
front brakes. Crucially, though, it shrouds an
intercooler for the 135bhp 1.4 turbo, too.
Along each flank, the sills have been ex-
tended, and the flared arches are crammed
with 16-inch alloys as standard or 17-inch
versions on our model. The suspension has
been lowered to improve the car’s agility
through corners.
At the rear are twin exhausts, an eye-
catching wing and a new diffuser. There
won’t be as much scope for personalisation
on the Abarth as on the standard Fiat, and Wide wheelarches and lovely alloys give the range-topping 500 real road presence
the car will be available in only four colours:
white, grey, black and red. The interior gets it does so without cutting the sprint time of 7.9 seconds.
a neat new boost gauge for the turbo. This engine’s power, so ensuring maximum It’s the handling that really impresses,
incorporates a shift light which shows the speed is maintained. though, with the stiff suspension, wide tyres
optimum time to change gear for economy, Manoeuvring is easy as all the controls and TTC system combining to make the
or for maximum speed when in sport mode. remain light, which will ensure the 500’s Abarth extremely satisfying to drive at speed.
Racing pretensions are confirmed by the reputation as a great city car is upheld. But
chunky flat-bottomed steering wheel and those wider wheels and tyres do compro- Even sportier version
retro-inspired leather seats. mise the turning circle somewhat. And if the standard Abarth 500 isn’t exciting
Select sport mode by pressing a button enough for you, there’s also an Essesse ver-
Electronic safety net on the dash, and the steering weight is sion. If you want one, you’ll have to fork out
In addition, the Abarth benefits from a artificially increased. Also, the engine is £2,500 on top of the £13,600 Fiat charges
Torque Transfer Control (TTC) system linked switched to a higher-performance set-up for the standard 135bhp Abarth 500. That
to the ESP stability package. This uses the which liberates more torque. The motor buys you 17-inch alloy wheels, 205/40-sec-
front brakes to prevent wheelspin and max- pulls strongly, so we have no doubt the tion tyres, cross-drilled disc brakes, stiffer
imise traction out of tight bends. However, car will match Fiat’s claimed 0-62mph springs, a new engine ECU and a perform-
Gutsy 1.4-litre motor sounds great when worked hard. Split seats are a £150 option but gorgeous three-spoke steering wheel is standard
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
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