FUN Is back! Fiat Abarth 500
Fiat UK’s MD Andrew Humberstone has made some impressive changes to the way Fiat does business, most notably clearing out some of the deadwood dealers and ,last year, selling every single Fiat 500 that was made available from Italy.
So, with these good times, it’s great to see such an iconic car as the Abarth 500 return. From the outside this car looks great and sounds great, burbling away on tickover.
On the inside the classic styling and modern sportiness combine to create a great little cockpit. With the very real risk of heavy snow, Road headed down to Poole in Dorset for the UK launch. Not only will we be getting to grips with the Fiat 500 but also the esse esse edition.
With the morning comes the good news that we have missed the snow mayhem. First things first, we hot-foot it down to Sandbanks to see what the reaction is to this sporty little number. It’s certainly a headturner; not only that but around town it’s an absolute hoot to drive, nipping and tucking all over the shop.
I keep it set to Sports mode as I just can’t get to grips with the light city steering setting. Fiat’s 100-mile round trip really tests all aspects of the Abarth; not least its water resistance! By the time we arrive at Gurston Down to test the esse esse, the car is filthy. There’s only one thing you need to know about the esse esse option.
It arrives in a wooden box with the iconic scorpion logo stamped on it, some people already have their box adorning their lounge as a nifty table! Inside you will find delights such as a BMC air filter, drilled and vented discs, uprated springs, 17-inch alloys and a tyre-monitoring system. While this is being fitted, the Abarth-trained mechanics will up the power from 135 to 160bhp.
If you are really feeling the race vibe, you can take advantage of the unique feature of Magneti Marelli’s telemetry display which relays RPM, gear selection and speed. Not only that but track data can be recorded and downloaded, and during your laps the exact position is shown. If you are on a track that hasn’t been pre-recorded you can add it yourself using the circuit acquisition feature!
Out on the hillclimb you can notice the improvements from the esse esse pack, and for the track fiends among us who want to cause trouble on track this is a useful addition. In the real-world, day-to-day I don’t think you’ll notice the difference, the standard 135bhp Abarth is more than enough fun and with handling to match you will be able to embarrass plenty of the bigger boys.
Priced at just over £13,000 this is a cracking buy and a no-brainer if you are after a new super mini with a buzzing engine and bundles of personality. I just hope some of the 190bhp Assetto Corse toys make their way across to the road car.
The Trofeo Europa series will see the Assetto tackilign some of Europe’s finest race tracks, including Brands Hatch and Monza. Keep watching this space as we have just picked up our very own Road Abarth 500 which we will be reporting on over the coming months. Can we resist the esse esse?
Source: Road Magazine