You almost giggle. This is a Fiat Cinquecen-to, after all. The cutest of the cute. You’re not supposed to be cursing the artificial chicane for interrupting at 120 mph. You’re not supposed to stand on the brake pedal and find you’ve clamped Brembo calipers onto (relatively) massive, 12-inch ventilated front rotors. And it’s not supposed to be a car that likes to be belted mid-corner, especially over a bump or two. It has twin exhaust pipes, 133 hp and a flat torque curve in an Abarth-tuned 1.4-liter turbo four.
The car weighs only 2,300 pounds and can hit 62 mph in 7.9 seconds.
The stock 500 doesn’t handle—at all—because Fiat gives it just enough rear suspension to keep the bumper off the ground. This one gets a rear antiroll bar, and the difference is enormous. The bar allowed Abarth to soften the rear springs and stiffen the front ones, both by about 20 percent. Where once there was an uncomfortable sideways lurch over any kind of lateral bump, the Abarth hunkers down and goes.
From what we’re told, plenty of people are pushing to get the Abarth brand launched in the United States. The only problems are pricing and a nonexistent dealership network. When Alfa Romeo arrives here, it might have a chance. Until then, though, you can only laugh at it from afar.
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