In late July of this year, Fiat confirmed to Inside Line that the Fiat 500 Abarth would be shown at the 2011 LA Auto Show.
In late October of this year, Fiat confirmed that the Fiat 500 Abarth would be shown at the 2011 LA Auto Show.
So what changed? Nothing. But we're getting closer to the LA Auto Show and now, with official pictures, Fiat wants to get a little more steam behind the new, hotter 500. Fiat is marketing this to "track-day enthusiasts and driving purists who want the ultimate high-performance small car with the pedigree of an exclusive Italian exotic."
That seems like a lot of weight on the shoulders of a front drive micro-compact with a turbocharged 1.4. In Europe, the 500 Abarth cranks out 135 horsepower and weighs in at just over 2,100 pounds. When we tested a Fiat 500 Sport it lugged around 2,438 pounds with only 101 horsepower.
lostboyz says:
09:20 AM, 10/31/11
Mike have you ever written anything neutral or in favor of a fiat/chrysler product? I know it isn't a mini, but why assume the worst and mock it?
There are a lot of people looking forward to this. Even mini folks are looking for something that will make mini improve their cars instead of just making pointless new variations of the same car.
dougnash2009 says:
09:21 AM, 10/31/11
Still hard to wash off all the gay from that J-Lo ad campaign debacle. The car had promise before they made that fateful marketing direction.
stoppre75 says:
09:45 AM, 10/31/11
@lostboyz
What's is there to complain about? The first three paragraphs and all straight info, with a quote from Fiat at the end. The last one is just stating facts.
"the ultimate high-performance small car" is a big title to place on oneself when your only offering (in the USA) to date is a 2,438lb car with 101hp. To match the European cars specs they would need to drop 14% of the weight - that's not simple to do. Additionally, even if they do match the Euro-Spec car thats 15.55lbs/hp. Not exactly "high-performance" for any sized car.
lostboyz says:
10:24 AM, 10/31/11
It is the doubt rather than excitement that has been portrayed elsewhere. Maybe I read into it too much.
stoppre75 says:
12:06 PM, 10/31/11
I get where you're coming from. I guess I never noticed it because i rarely read into the Fiat/Chrysler posts. Chrysler has never really offered anything I'd think about owning, and although I think the 500 is cute and could stamp out a niche here, its 100% not for me.
stovt001 says:
12:10 PM, 10/31/11
@lostboyz: Fiat really did shoot themselves in the foot on this one. The Abarth would probably make a good warm, maybe even hot hatch, but they overpromise by stating:
"track-day enthusiasts and driving purists who want the ultimate high-performance small car with the pedigree of an exclusive Italian exotic."
They're just setting themselves up for failure with that.
lostboyz says:
03:48 AM, 11/ 1/11
@stovt001, actually they are stating the facts, it's a soft going 500 with a race suspension, proper manual, and will be higher performance than the mini or any other small car, and abarth is the pedigree.
blueprint1 says:
09:38 AM, 11/ 1/11
Automotive News mentioned 160hp, not 135 ... who's wrong here?
stovt001 says:
12:16 PM, 11/ 1/11
Lostboyz, that still makes it just a hot hatch. What Fiat described is the Lotus Exige.