Love a hot hatch? The Fiat 500 is an underwhelming and rather cramped space to be in, but when you add the Abarth performance and trim it transforms into something that will put a smile on your dial and well worth a look.
You’ll feel most comfortable when the car is in motion with both hands on the wheel changing through the gears. It’s then you can ignore the space restrictions and just enjoy this for what it is – a hot-hatch.
The Competizione comes with a dual-mode exhaust system which must be the thing which gives this a unique sound. Not even the Turismo with the same engine has the bubbling sound of the Competizione and that really does add to the experience.
Be sure to include some roundabouts and decent stretches of road in your road-test to ensure you really know what this thing can do.
With 118kW of power, compared to the miserable 51 of the standard 500 this thing has a lot of get-up and go. 230Nm of torque and 0-100 in 7.4 and a top speed of 210km/h there’s a lot of fun to be had. Fortunately that fun comes at almost all speeds, especially on the twisty roads.
It’s a complete pocket rocket, sitting low to the ground with a decent bit of power you’ve got go-kart like fun ahead of you.
I drove it on the Galston Gorge Road this weekend just gone and was not disappointed.
Out the back you’ve got a cute rear design, but sadly lacking in space.
I returned from overseas and was unable to fit my one bag in, and because it’s a three door – even tilting the passenger seat forward didn’t make life as easy as it should have been to throw the bag in the back seat.
Likewise putting a child seat in, I had to put the rear seats down (folded) and put the child seat in via the boot and then fold them back up.
All this means is that you have to know you’re getting into something that is made to be a fun driver not a practical run-about for annoying city traffic.
COMPETIZIONE STANDARD EQUIPMENT
TURISMO MAIN STANDARD EQUIPMENT
The standard Fiat 500 starts around the $17,000 mark, which puts it within consideration of Mazda 2 buyers and the like who are looking for something a bit more unique.
If you’re a hot-hatch fan you’re going to want to compare it to the class-leading VW Golf GTI which will cost you a good $46k, and while the Abarth 595 comes in under that ($39,000 or $41,000 depending on variant plus any extras) the size alone is a huge compromise.
But perhaps the Golf is just not unique enough any more? For that kind of money don’t you want something that stands out in the crowd? The Abarth is for you.
Fire it up and the sound is great, plus the simple and precise handling make it more than just a fun drive.
It’s an interesting proposition really – the Abarth 595 alone is a great car, and probably a pass. But when you compare this to the base model 500 you really start to see why the Abarth 595 is a Credit in every way. Not many “performance variants” of any vehicle really stand alone from their base model counterpart, the 595 is a real jump up and that’s how it earns the EFTM Credit rubber stamp.
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