Fiat 500 Abarth Starting At $22,000

Derek Kreindler
by Derek Kreindler

Fiat is hoping that their new 500 Abarth will inject some new energy into their lineup, just like couples stuck in a flagging marriage hope that immersing themselves into “ the lifestyle” will add some spice and excitement to a union long past its expiration date. The 500 Abarth will likely have some demographic overlap with guests at Hedonism II, since it will likely be enjoyed by pudgy, swarthy men with outsized egos and overly made up female professionals.

100 percent less snark, 100 percent more cheesy innuendo after the jump.

The 500 Abarth is the one we’ve been waiting for all along. The 1.4L turbocharged engine puts out 160 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque. A 5-speed stick will be the only option, but buyers get special wheels, upgraded suspension bits, dual exhaust a boost gauge. Abarth owners also get the chance to enroll in the Abarth Driving Experience, a driving school put on by the Richard Petty Driving Experience – but we’ll let our resident Grand-Am driver handle that aspect.

The 500 Abarth has less horsepower than the Mini Cooper S but it’s also $1,310 cheaper, not to mention 155 lbs lighter than the 2,668 lb Cooper S. The Volkswagen GTI is nearly two grand more expensive but packs 40 more horses. The Hyundai Veloster Turbo is equally powerful compared to the GTI and can be had with a dual clutch gearbox, but pricing hasn’t been announced yet. It’s also the porkiest of the bunch, weighing 2,800 lbs. Let’s see whether hot hatch owners are willing to soft swap trade in their current mounts for something Mexican Italian.

Derek Kreindler
Derek Kreindler

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  • Sector 5 Sector 5 on Jan 11, 2012

    Fiat Cooper S.. snicker. This should have been the standard motor at launch. Any news on the 7-speed DCT? 22K? Consider a Sentra SER and Smith System driver training.

    • Moorewr Moorewr on Jan 12, 2012

      A base 500 is $3000 less than a base Mini. This car is at least $1000 cheaper than a Cooper S. I'd argue this should be at least $1000 less than they've priced it, but it clearly is roughly where it belongs - between the price of the Cooper and the Cooper S.

  • Moorewr Moorewr on Jan 12, 2012

    ..and any modern Sentra, even the SER, is bland to look at and bland to drive. Offer me a B13 SE-R for the driving school and we could talk.

    • See 3 previous
    • Moorewr Moorewr on Jan 13, 2012

      @Ryoku75 I agree, of course! Even an old A/T Civic is hoonable - you can throw into corners hard enough to explore that front-heavy understeer. It is worth noting when a manufacturer has responded to a higher calling and done what they could for the handling of the car.. and shun the ones that especially disconnect you from the road (Corolla, anyone?). Anyway auto journalists are trained to bloviate about cornering and feel up the dash on every car. They are, after all, mostly hoons like us.

  • Ubermensch Ubermensch on Jan 12, 2012

    At $22K this is too close in price to the much nicer overall package of a VW GTI. I know which one I would choose.

  • Dynamic88 Dynamic88 on Jan 12, 2012

    This is brilliant. Take a car that is not selling as well as hoped for and make a version that's less appealing to 99.785% of potential buyers.

    • See 2 previous
    • Boltar Boltar on Jan 12, 2012

      Well they can't exactly turn it into a 3-ton SUV with a trim kit, so I'd say the Abarth is a welcome addition. The fundamental problem is that most American cars don't like small cars ipso facto. I think Fiat is well aware that the 500 in any form is not going to appeal to the majority of buyers. They are aware they are competing in a small niche. I too wish they had done something a bit more aggressive with the styling of the Abarth, but I think if they can persist they will win a faithful following.

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