Fiat’s 500c a powerful acquired taste
ROAD TEST Abarth Cabrio pocket-rocket has own style
Whether Carlo Abarth was to Fiat what John Cooper was to Mini — or Carroll Shelby to Ford — is a matter best argued by motorsports über-pundits.
What I know is that Abarth was an Austrian who, over his lifetime, was a designer of bicycles and motorbikes, a racer of motorcycles, a constructor of racing cars and a manufacturer of high-performance exhaust pipes.
In the late 1950s, Abarth believed race cars could be constructed from small, lightweight, everyday driving cars, including the original Fiat Cinquecento (500). So, among the motorsport cognoscenti, the Abarth name has some juice. And Fiat has continued his legacy of giant-killer small cars with the performance-oriented 500 Abarth.
In base form, the diminutive 500 is equal parts over-styled, underpowered and totally impractical to anyone but a downtown-dwelling, half-decaf-swilling hipster. You don’t so much drive this car as wear it, like a glitzy fashion accessory. Ostensibly a four-seater, the back row is useless for all but the smallest of kids. But, damn it, it’s also a teddy bear of a car, so cute and cuddly it’s impossible to dislike.
The Abarth gives that same teddy bear claws and teeth, as in almost 60 per cent more power, thanks to a turbocharger and twin intercoolers bolted onto the tiny 1.4-litre MultiAir four-cylinder engine. Then there’s the Abarth-tuned hardware that lowers the ride height, beefs up the suspension and adds larger brakes and wider tires. Top it with a truly obnoxious rasp from a sport exhaust system and the cute, cuddly subcompact hatchback becomes a cocky flyweight pugilist with a Napoleonic complex.
New for the 2015 model year, though, is a specially tuned sixspeed automatic transmission, in addition to the standard fivespeed manual. Besides robbing purists of something to do with their left feet, the autobox drops engine horsepower to 157 from 160 while bumping up torque to 183 pound-feet from 170.
Keeping in mind the 500c tester — “c” designating the Cabrio version — weighs a supermodel-skinny 1,154 kilograms, that results in a notunimpressive 7.35 kg per h.p. (For comparison, the new 2016 Mazda MX- 5, another sillygood-fun droptop, is slightly better with 6.825 kg/h.p.)
As much as I would rather drive a stick six days out of seven, the autobox isn’t totally without merit. Fiat says it has reinforced it with more clutch plates and a more robust heat treatment to allow for higher torque capability. There’s also a Sport mode, which allows for an even more engaged driving experience. It comes with features such as fuel-cut upshifts, rev-matching and brake-assisting downshifts, corner gear hold and fast-off gear hold, as well as more aggressive pedal mapping.
The best way to get some laughs out of the Abarth is to press the Sport button, flick the shift lever over to manual mode (the lever is properly configured to upshift when pulled back, downshift with a push forward) and give the gas pedal a serious prod.
The car responds to such scofflaw behaviour with a healthy blat from the exhaust and a decent turn of speed: zero to 100 km/h in a titch less than eight seconds. (Like other small sporting machines, such as the Miata and the Mini Cooper S, the Abarth provides an inflated sense of acceleration. You think you’re going faster than you really are.)
Unlike the Fiat 500, the Abarth features a MacPherson suspension setup with stiffer front spring rates and 15-mm lower ride height for improved handling and less body roll. Abarth- designed cast- iron front lower control arms provide improved lateral stiffness, while an increase in negative camber delivers more grip and better steering feel.
In addition, dual-valve Koni twin-tube struts deliver more road contact and grip. A 22mm solid rear stabilizer bar increases cornering stability. As might be expected, thanks to its short wheelbase, the car follows any grooves in the pavement and transmits all bumps, dips, tar strips and other tarmac flaws to the occupants, though there’s enough damping that you don’t feel as if you’ve been hauled out of the driver’s seat and beaten with a Louisville Slugger.
Yes, the 500c Abarth can be driven like a regular car; even in normal mode and the shift lever in drive, it zips in and out of traffic like nobody’s business. But, its price tag of around $30,000 is a large chunk of change when there’s a ton of roomier compact sedans and hatches that fulfil day-today commuting duties for a lot less money.
On the other hand, $30K is pretty cheap for a sporting droptop, even if some say it’s not a true convertible because the window frames stay in place while the power-operated cloth top retracts. Whatever! Fiat clearly designed the top as a contemporary nod to the iconic canvas roof on the original Cinquecento. It still provides an al fresco driving experience.
A single push of the headermounted button has the top retracting to the roof-mounted air spoiler, even at vehicle speeds of 96 km/h (a midway point can be chosen by press- ing the button any time between). However, having a fixed rear window creates a huge air pocket at speeds above 60 km/h — the turbulence in the cabin creates a drumming effect that requires lowering one or both of the windows to alleviate the pressure. The answer is to press the roof button again, and the top will fold all the way open and tuck neatly behind the rear head restraints (at speeds of up to 80 km/h).
Inside, you get one of the most vibrant — thanks to the red dash panel, colour-matched to the tester’s bright red exterior — and cheerful cabins in the biz. Improvements for 2015 include a seven-inch highdef cluster display, Bluetooth streaming audio and a revamped plastic tray/cupholder on the floor.
Still, the whole layout is an ergonomic jumble. Some of the problem stems from the fact there really is no centre console, normally a convenient place to locate certain controls. As well, the turbo boost gauge is mostly unreadable from its position to the left of the gauge pod and you have to stick your hand through the steering wheel spokes to reconfigure the information display. The most annoying shortcoming is the lack of a telescoping steering column (there is a tilt feature), which means taller drivers who require the seat farther back in its tracks will find themselves reaching forward to grasp the wheel.
Smaller and less powerful — but also less expensive — than BMW’s pocket-rocket John Cooper Works Mini, the 500c Abarth is, like the JCW, an acquired taste, but a giggle for people who are drawn to heightened driving involvement from compact or, more accurately, subcompact cars. The outcome of uniquely European thinking — and the continuation of one man’s passion — the 500-on-steroids is small but mighty.