Review of the new Abarth 500C

You know those cute little dogs that look completely disarming, then, when you go to pat them on the head, it turns out they have a vicious streak like Hound of the Baskervilles? You barely have time to jerk your hand away before it's clamped in a set of tiny incisors. Well, those dogs aren't a bad analogy for the Abarth 500C. The Fiat 500 is one of the most lovable little cars on the market and the 500C, as the convertible version, is just that little bit more endearing. In Abarth form, however, the sweet natured citycar gains a Doberman-sized attitude with the teeth to back it up. Pet it at your peril.

If the Fiat 500C didn't immediately strike you as a car that was ripe for conversion into a rip-snorting performance model, you are not alone. The tiny convertible citycar handles well enough but it's quite softly set-up and its main strength is its engaging retro style. None of that deterred Fiat, or should we say Abarth, from giving it a comprehensive hot hatch makeover. In this guise it's badged as the Abarth 500C with no hint of a Fiat logo on its body work. It's the same policy that Fiat is employing with all its performance models, aiming to give them a little more credibility in a crowded marketplace with Abarth's famous scorpion badge.

A 1.4-litre T-Jet turbocharged engine powers this distinctly nippy 500C. It's the same one that's found in the hard-top Abarth 500 but with an extra 5bhp wrung out of it to take the maximum power output to 140bhp at an accessible 5,000rpm. A Sport button on the dash can be pressed to modify the engine software and turbo for quicker responses and with Sport mode engaged, maximum torque is 206Nm at 2,000rpm. It's enough to get this 500C through 62mph in 8.1s and on to a 128mph top speed, which will feel all the quicker in such a compact vehicle.

"The evil twin of the lovable Fiat 500C, the Abarth 500C is one of the quickest citycars we've seen"

Sharing top billing with the engine in the Abarth 500C is Fiat's standard fit Competizione gearbox. It's a five-speed unit with paddle shifters behind the steering wheel and no conventional gearstick. Instead, buttons on the centre console allow drivers to select neutral, reverse or first gear and to switch between manual and automatic modes. It's a standard gearbox with a computer controlled electro/hydraulic actuator that changes the gears. When Sport mode is selected, the gearchanges grow even faster while the power steering gains extra weight and the Torque Transfer Control system is activated to optimise traction in the corners.

Quite a bit of work had to be done just to get the 1.4-litre T-Jet engine to fit inside the somewhat pokey engine bay of the 500C. It meant that, for a change, the beefed-up nose and yawning intakes of a hot hatchback are born out of engineering rather than cosmetic necessity. The mesh-covered cutaways in the bumper provide vital cooling to the engine and the extended nose makes the Abarth 500C a few centimetres longer than the standard 500C models. The usual flared wheelarches also feature along with side skirts and twin exhaust pipes poke from the now obligatory rear-diffuser.

Let's not forget that the 500C is a convertible, or at least, a convertible of sorts. Fiat proudly points out that the canvas centre section in the roof can be electronically retracted at speeds of up to 37mph but cynics would claim that its effect is little more than that of a glorified sunroof. It does open the cabin to the elements but the roof arches and side pillars remain in place so it's hardly a full convertible. Perhaps that would be asking too much from a 140bhp citycar.

The hood bunches up above the boot when folded but automatically raises itself a few centimetres when you need to open the smallish luggage compartment. The cabin is the usual retro Fiat 500 design with extra chrome and Abarth embellishments plus a particularly nice sports steering wheel.

When checking out the pricing of the Abarth 500C, it may pay to remember a few things. It's a citycar, it's a convertible, it has 140bhp and it has a paddle-shift gearbox as standard. There aren't many other models that fit this description, so comparisons between this car and similarly priced alternatives are going to be difficult to make.

The Abarth also comes with a lot of equipment. There's ESP stability control as standard along with an advanced ABS braking system and seven airbags. A powerful stereo system is fitted as is Fiat's Blue&Me hands free phone system and a pair of figure-hugging sports seats. Options include the Blue&Me MAP portable satellite navigation device which integrates with the car's system and can display telemetry information, pinpoint the car's position on a race circuit and record lap times. The ultimate add-on is the Esseesse pack. It upgrades the Abarth 500C to 160bhp, further quickens the Competizione gearbox and replaces the standard 16" alloys with 17" items.

Compared to other cars in the small and fast category, the Abarth 500C should be reasonably affordable to run. It's one of the most powerful citycars out there but compared to superminis with similar performance, its light weight will aid fuel economy and its exclusivity should help protect residual values. Officially, the Abarth returns 43mpg on the combined cycle with emissions of 155g/km.

The evil twin of the lovable Fiat 500C, the Abarth 500C is one of the quickest citycars we've seen. It's also a convertible with an automatic gearbox. Hardly your everyday hot tot, the Abarth has performance and technology that should be taken seriously.

With the kind of specification being offered, it's never going to be cheap but the far-reaching modifications made to the Fiat 500C to produce this Abarth version should represent value for money in the eyes of enough people to make it a success.

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