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Fiat unveils the 500 Abarth
By Yoann Besnard on 19 February 2008 | 
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Yesterday, Petrol-Head released an official picture of the long-awaited 500 Abarth. In the meantime, Fiat unveiled the first technical details of one of the hottest small cars of the year.
The 500 will be the second model to receive the Abarth treatment in an attempt to revive the famous brand. Compared to the normal version, the Abarth evolution features a bodykit which transforms the girly 500 into a macho car ready to race in the Alps. The visual kit comes with larger air intakes, side skirts, a rear diffuser, pumped fenders, Abarth decals and new alloys plus the famed scorpion logo on the grille. At the rear end, there are a diffuser and two exhaust pipes. On the inside, the car will feature two bucket seats, alloy pedals and leather.
The most anticipated bit is the engine range. As said yesterday, the power will come from the 1.4-litre turbocharged which will have an output of 135bhp at 5,500 rpm and a torque of 153 lb ft at 3,000rpm; however in ‘Normal’ mode, torque is reduced to 180 Nm at 2,500 rpm. There are no information regarding the Esse Esse version.
In order to transmit efficiently the power to the wheels, the 500 Abarth features a new traction control system called TTC, for Torque Control Transfer which shares the power between the front wheels.