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Rich Dad River
In the process of learning about the German company's doughnut-making capabilities (which included a journeyman's seminar on velocity-excited short- and long-chain polymers, the CEC5's three-percent fuel economy bump and improved wet-braking capabilities), one test car fitted with Continental's new rubber was a EU-spec 2011 Fiat 500 Abarth.
Knowing that the factory-fettled 500 is headed our way in two year's time, we snagged the keys to see if Italy's hottest hatch was ready to bring the pain to the John Cooper Works-infused offerings from Mini.
The 500 Abarth (pronounced "aah-bart" by the cognoscenti) is to the 500 as the Mini Cooper S JCW is to the plain Cooper. The association between the tuner Abarth and Fiat began in 1952 and has resulted in dozens of high-performance variants that add guts to the Fiat line-up.
According to the North American PR people at Chrysler, we'll be getting an American version of the 500 Abarth at the end of 2012 as a 2013 model. And it can't come soon enough.
Before diving into the experience at the magnificent Autodromo Internacional do Algarve (a.k.a. the Portimao Circuit) in Faro, Portugal, note this important caveat: The Abarth you're looking at isn't exactly like America's Abarth.
Here's why: According to Chrysler and Fiat engineers, our built-in-Mexico 500 Abarth will meet tougher U.S. crash standards. The European Union doesn't require that vehicles meet a rear crash standard, and the U.S.-spec 500 Abarth will ride over a superior rear axle design based on the one developed for the so-called NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) 500 and run with a more powerful turbo engine featuring Fiat's Multiair valvetrain.
The NAFTA 500 Abarth's 1.4-liter turbo engine (to be produced by Chrysler in Trenton, Michigan) is expected to produce 175 horsepower; slightly more than the EU-produced 1.4-turbo with Multiair currently makes in the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Giulietta.
The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth may be small -- smaller than even a Mini Cooper -- but it's a heavy car.
With a curb weight of about 2500 pounds, the 500 Abarth isn't pound-heavy -- it's heritage-heavy. Just look at all the stylized scorpion badges. The 500 Abarth has eight of those badges on its exterior alone, if you count the wheel centers, and all of them remind you of one thing: a reputation for performance that's as large as the 500 is small.
This is the car the most fervent Fiat fans have been waiting for, ardently avoiding local dealers for fear of cracking and buying a regular 500. It certainly looks the part, especially our tester, turned out in Rosso paint and the optional gunmetal-colored 17-inch wheels, red brake calipers peeking out from behind the spokes. The rear valance has the requisite vents to match the restyled front air dam, with inlet and exit ducts for the twin intercoolers mounted just forward of the front wheels. The interior gets a restyled shiftknob and a chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel. And those Abarth badges...well, they do the intended deed.
Open the hood and you're greeted with a red plastic engine cover that isn't quite long enough to hide the most significant revision to the little 1.4-liter Multiair engine: the small Garrett turbocharger that puts 160 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque on tap. As in the good old days, the heart of any Abarth is the engine, and this one pushes out nearly 60 percent more hp than the standard car. While the engine is somewhat different from the European version despite its identical horsepower to the premium esseesse (Italian for SS) model, the transmission is the same -- a five-speed manual unique to the Abarth (an automatic is not available).
The engine fires with a throaty burble, the din exiting via twin chromed exhaust tips -- a far cry from the normal car's mild rasp. Setting off, a mash of the throttle sends the boost gauge twirling and the Abarth leaps forward, picking up steam north of 4000 rpm and revving strongly to redline. Torque steer, a valid concern with high-output front drivers, is virtually nil in a straight line, thanks in part to an active locking differential that's tied into the new three-mode electronic stability control program. At the dragstrip, we recorded a 0-60-mph time of 6.8 seconds -- 3 seconds faster than the 500 Sport -- and a 15.3-second quarter-mile run with a trap speed of 89.8 mph. The last Mini Cooper S we tested (the Cooper is a primary 500 competitor despite its slightly larger scale) was roughly half a second quicker to 60 mph, but a full second quicker to the quarter mile. A standard Cooper was just over 1 second slower in both categories.
Like the Abarths that have come before it, the 500 Abarth has been tuned to be a well-rounded sport coupe. Engineers tweaked the 500's front MacPherson strut design and added Koni dampers and shorter coil springs that are stiffer by 40/20 percent front/rear.
Abarth also added its own front control arms, beefier anti-roll bars front and rear, and reinforced the rear axle and coiled spring mounts. An Abarth tweak to the electronic power steering makes it 10 percent quicker and improves road feel compared with the 500 Sport's. Front brake disc diameter is increased by an inch to 11.1 inches, and our tester's optional alloys were wrapped in sticky 205/40R17 Pirelli PZero Nero rubber.
With the new setup, the 500 Abarth's grip is impressive and the car stays much flatter, though the chassis seems a little less playful than before. Where the 500 Sport can be coaxed into generally neutral behavior with a throttle lift here, a dab of the brakes there, the Abarth seemed intent on understeering its way around our figure-eight course. While the Abarth was unquestionably more capable, we can't wholeheartedly say it was more fun to throw into a turn.
We were also disappointed with the driving position -- as in the normal 500, the seats are too tall and unsupportive for spirited driving, and the steering wheel is too far away in relation to the pedal placement. It's the classic Italian long-armed, short-legged driving position we thought died in the '80s. A telescoping steering column, not available in the 500, is needed to overcome it.
Pricing is yet to be announced for the 500 Abarth, but we're told to expect a number in the low $20,000 range when it hits showrooms in March. As a complete package, the Abarth is a solid choice for those who want a hot hatch that stands out from the Coopers and GTIs of the world. For those dyed-in-the-wool Fiat and Abarth fans, it will be the only choice.
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Video:
Fiat 500 Abarth Hot Lap
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