The Fiat Punto Abarth has been spotted in testing on the streets of Coimbatore by the crew at Team-bhp. The car that was snapped was the Punto Abarth Evo Esseesse which is the top-end version in the Punto Abarth range. The Italian automaker had announced in December that it will bring its performance brand Abarth to the Indian market by the end of 2013 and this is the first piece of evidence suggesting what we can expect from them.
The Evo Esseesse is a two-door hatchback powered by a 1.4-litre turbocharged mill which produces 180bhp and 270Nm of torque and is capable of taking the car from 0-100kmph in 7.5 seconds and then to a top-speed of 216kmph.
Keeping in tune with the racing pedigree of the car, Fiat has also installed disc brakes on all four wheels and has adjusted the suspension to cope with the extra load. It sits on 215/45 section R17 tyres and special 17-inch Abarth alloy wheels which thanks to the Punto’s forward stance will make the car quite imposing.
However, the car is likely to cost well over Rs 12 lakh and would get very few buyers. This means that this model is not likely to grace our shores any time soon. It is likely that Fiat was doing testing with the highest spec model to ensure that the lower variants will be able to cope with the Indian roads and varied conditions.
The India-spec Abarth Punto is expected to use the 1.4-litre turbocharged unit from the Linea T-Jet to make the car exciting but keep costs down. It produces 114bhp and 207Nm of torque and is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. Like the Esseesse version, this Punto Abarth too will get a modified suspension, different alloy wheels, body kit and obviously the very famous Black Scorpion badge.
The performance version will sold through Abarth studios which for now will be part of the Fiat showrooms and it is possible that Fiat may localise production to keep the costs of the cars down.
Source: Team-Bhp
