Fiat’s 2019 124 Spider and 500 Abarth are absolute hooligans
WILLOW SPRINGS, CALIF. The traction-control light keeps flickering. And with every flash, power flowing to the rear wheels of the 2019 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth is interrupted, the car’s electronic brain trying to keep me from hurtling into the pea gravel, stones and sand surrounding Willow Springs Raceway, one of the oldest race tracks in America, just an hour north of Los Angeles.
After two laps, I disengage the traction control, emboldened to do so in part because earlier in the day, I received detailed instructions and practice on how to control the Spider — or any car, for that matter — when the rear end of this rearwheel-drive car decides it wants to go its own way. Which it will do quite happily, should the driver lift off the throttle in a fast corner or apply too much gas in a bend.
The instruction came from Terry Earwood, a masterful teacher and winning race-car driver with the new Skip Barber Racing School.
Once the biggest and best known in the United States, the school has recently been revived by Demonte Motorsports, which acquired the name and logo and kept some of the most talented and professional drivers in the business.
“What are the most expensive five words in motorsports?” Earwood asks.
“I thought I had it,” he says, describing the driver who gets offline, loses control and crashes.
Earwood is full of anecdotes: “When in doubt, chicken out.”
And he is enlightening, teaching drivers to learn from their mistakes, recognize what didn’t work around the track, then fix it. “Ask, what does the car need?” Less speed, later turn in, more brake, earlier brake? Have a plan B.”
Except my plan B is to go faster, because the traction control is slowing me down, cutting power just when I find I want it most.
Earwood might not be amused, but fully disengaging the Spider’s traction — by a single press of one button on the lower left dash — instantly transforms the car, like a horse that just shook off its reins.
Corners that once had the yellow traction light flashing like a four way intersection are now apexed with surprising ease and plenty more speed.
Oh, sure, the tail begins to swing out in many of Willow Springs’ corners, but each time the rear tires on 17-inch wheels begin to slide and lose grip, a quick correction from the steering wheel makes them fall back into line while still putting down power. Yee-haw!
Turn after turn, the 124 Spider goes where it’s pointed. Pitch and dive are well controlled, the double-wishbone suspension setup in front and multi-link out back working with Bilstein shocks to keep the convertible flat through sweepers. The standard brakes resist fade, and Brembos are an option. It’s an incredibly happy car, and deliciously easy to drive fast.
No, the roadster’s 1.4-litre turbofour doesn’t compress you into its seat, and longer straights will feel like you’re going to break the gas pedal from pressing it so hard.
But the 124 Abarth’s 164 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque are plenty for tire-shaving fun, especially when paired with the sixspeed manual transmission that can be easily downshifted while braking because the pedals are perfectly placed for heel-toe footwork.
A six-speed automatic transmission is available with paddle shifters mounted to the steering column, but the manual brings out the best of the car and the shifter glides cleanly and smartly through the gears.
With the top down and the sun shining, there might be no cheaper way to get so much pleasure.
The 124 Abarth, which starts at $37,995 for the manual (add $1,495 for the automatic) is, of course, the same car under its skin as the Mazda MX-5, which starts at $32,900 and now gets a 2.0-L inline four. But the Mazda, even if it has more horsepower, has less torque. And the Mazda, as good as it is, simply doesn’t drip with the same Italian styling flair as the Fiat.
There’s something about having a scorpion-badge on the trunk of the car. It sounds so much better, too, even if Canada doesn’t get the new Monza exhaust option that U.S. cars do for a mere $995, although an exhaust kit is available through Mopar.
The sound of the Fiat 500 Abarth, on the other hand, is not muffled at all, the exhaust flowing straight down the pipe, amplified even more with the Sport button that opens a valve and flows it out two exhaust ports.
It’s raunchy, spicy and a little bit sexy. The car, too, is attractive in Abarth trim, the car’s true character much better revealed than the Pop and Lounge versions
On the track, the Abarth 500 feels much more softly sprung than the 124, and front-wheel drive does put it at a disadvantage.
But, again, there’s a simplicity to driving the 500 Abarth as quickly as it’s able to go.
Sure, it tends to roll a little more because it sits so much higher than the Spider, but with the same 1.4-L turbo engine as the Spider (rated at 160 hp and 183 lb-ft of torque), there’s no shortage of scoot.
Visibility is excellent and it comes with four seats.
There’s plenty of car here for $28,495 ($32,496 for the Fiat 500 Abarth Cabrio).
And maybe that’s what Abarth, which celebrates 70 years in business next year, is really all about: Abarth cars come imbued with a unique soul unto themselves, as though they earned the badge that makes them so much fun. Driving.ca