Fiat's famous retro-styled hatchback, the Abarth 500, made its debut in India at the 2014 Auto Expo. The hot hatch is yet to be launched for the Indian market and the carmaker has started teasing the car through its official website.
The manufacturer has refreshed the Abarth 500 cosmetically and this model will be soon launched in India. The changes come in the form of visual updates including graphite finish for door handles, wing mirrors and the grille. The Abarth 500 boasts of projector headlamps, cross drilled brake disc, dual-exhaust system, KONI front-shock absorbers and a lowered suspension with up-rated springs. It is expected to ride on 17-inch alloy wheels with a sporty design.
The interior of the car also reflects the company's sporty design language. The cabin gets a few tweaks which include a graphite finish dashboard and an LCD instrument cluster. The car features a flat-bottomed steering wheel, a turbo-boost gauge, Sabelt race seats and alloy pedals. The fabrics and colours used inside the four-seater car are pretty modern. The safety features include Antilock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and airbags as standard.
The Abarth 500 will be powered by a 1.4-litre MultiAir turbocharged four cylinder petrol mill that churns out 135bhp of power and 204Nm of torque. There will be another top of the line model 'Essess' which will be powered by the same engine; however, this unit is tuned to produce 161bhp of power and 230Nm of torque. The company claims that the Abarth 500 can touch the 0-100kmph mark in 7.9 seconds and does a top speed of 205kmph.
The Fiat Abarth 500 is an iconic car known for its racing performance and is the flagship model of the Abarth brand worldwide. It is one amongst the many hot hatches available today and the Italian manufacturer will soon launch the car for the Indian market. It might be priced in the Rs 23 lakh to Rs 28 lakh price bracket and will go up against the Mini Cooper, BMW 1 Series, Mercedes-Benz A-Class and Volkswagen Beetle in our country.
