2012 Fiat 500 Abarth Official Specs

2012 Fiat 500 Abarth Official Specs

The official specs for the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth have been released by Fiat. As was previously speculated, the 1.4-liter MultiAir® Turbo engine will feature 160 horsepower and 170 lb-ft of torque!

Compared with the Fiat 500’s natural-aspirated 1.4-liter MultiAir engine, the boost to an estimated 160 horsepower on the new 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth is largely due to its single turbocharger that operates off engine exhaust and utilizes energy that would normally be wasted through the tailpipe.

The Abarth will also come with a 5-speed manual transmission with Torque Transfer Control, lowered ride height, beefier rear suspension, larger brakes and wider tires. For more details, be sure to read the Chrysler press releases on the Abarth powertrain, engineering, technology, and design.

Update: full spec sheet can be found here (PDF).

New photos are also available below! Stay tuned for more information and the live video unveiling of the Abarth Fiat 500 at the LA Auto Show.

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  • Gionormal

    Not cool that the introduction date is March 2012 as a 2012??? Thats gotta change

  • Threeer

    Was hoping for more than 160 HP…that’s a little disappointing.  Was the base price revealed, as well?

    • http://www.fiat500abarth.us abarth.us

      No price, I think they may be holding on to that information for awhile.

      • Isuzuperforma

        Starting at $16,000…

        • http://www.facebook.com/people/Sam-Molloy/100002980791041 Sam Molloy

          The Sally Rand model may go for 16, and be a lotta fun for the money, but the Abarth will be more

    • http://www.facebook.com/dj4money Anthony Thomas

      There will likely be an upgrade kit similar to the kits available in Europe to push the power to SS levels. There are already Abarth exhaust, ECM upgrades and suspension upgrades for at least the Euro spec car.

       This is a performance car and with a tiny engine WHY WOULD YOU WANT AN AUTOMATIC??? If you got bad legs/knees oh well, you can get a Chevy Sonic 1.4L Turbo Automatic likely before the Spring of 2012.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

    got to say I’m a bit disappointed — it should have been 170 HP — same as the Mito, and for %$& sake — why couldn’t they have put the $%&#% 6-speed in there!!!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

    Come on FIAT — you can do better!  Tell you what — I’ll throw in an extra $2K for the 6-sp and extra 10 HP!

    • http://www.fiat500abarth.us abarth.us

      I think they went with the 5-speed mainly for space savings.

      • Kenny

        I’m not sure how much different they are in size, but it would seem more of a cost saving move… I would certainly give up a little passenger space for the 6-sp, but you might be right, it MAY be WAY bigger — I don’t know.  It sure would be nice to have a 6-sp tranny though.

  • Semmusic

    Will there be an automatic trans?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

      probably not — it’s a performance car.  If you really need an automatic, like if you have a physical handicap, or your are too stupid to learn, then you should just stick with the regular 500… no offense.
      -

      Will there be an automatic trans?

    • Kyle

      Really????

      • http://www.facebook.com/dj4money Anthony Thomas

        Yes REALLY, late availability but the Chevy Sonic Hatchback will be available with a 1.4L Turbo and Automatic. Americans LOVE convenience and that’s why they love Automatics so much. Why shift when you don’t have too? Nevermind you get less mileage and it will be slower than the 5 speed car and down on power as well.

        • Mitchell

          You don’t really drive a car with an automatic.  If you are a real car fan you would prefer to price a car with a manual trans.  Americans are fat and lazy and their lives are built around convenience.  Do something different and try driving a car with a stick.  You might just become a man one day.

          • James McMasters

            Tony Tony Tony…..you might want to be careful …… or get bitched slapped by one of the fat lazy Americans you speak of….anyone that worries about being a man isn’t one…..

          • James

            OPPS that was to Mitchell not Tony

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

            we aren’t all lazy, but most of us are fat! LOL  I AM on a diet!

          • paulo

            Laziness and obesity isn’t limited to Americans.

        • Bc5

          your just so lucky to be such an american

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  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

    information continues to trickle out.  The final ratio for the Abarth 5-speed is shorter than the standard FIAT as well — all the more reason to add the 6-sp.  Perhaps the 6-sp, 200 HP, and wheels/tire package could come in the Essesse version?… say an extra $5K?  I’d be in at that price.

    What I reading is that there was some type of extra beam that needed to be added to the chassis to meet US crash standards.  With that modification in place, the 6-sp no longer fits.  No doubt with a little effort and a few FE simulations that could be remedied.  I won’t be looking to buy-in until at least Dec 2012, so maybe that will give FIAT some time to get their crap together and shoe-horn that 6-sp in, that way you could get the taller gear for cruising on top of the closer ratio 5 for performance.

  • Italiancarguy

    There is a company in Europe (Germany I think) that is already making a version with a larger tubo and it’s rathed at 240 hp

    • Kenny

      Sure, there are several, but the prices are generally through the roof.

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  • A_alex_2

    It seems like nothing is ever enough. now that the abarth is here people are whining about the 6 speed. suddenly every one is a race car driver.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

    if the [race] shoe fits, wear it!

  • Rev.Hammer

    Americans also love power and I remember talk of the ABARTH being dropped in the market over here with at LEAST 180…This is NOT going to help them in the least. I am seeing one marketing disaster after another…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

    I only ever saw 170 HP, and that’s because the same engine is in a Alpha Romeo Mito at that state of tune.  It would have been easy enough for them to do that since there would have been basically no engineering needed for that.  The 6-sp is another problem.  Due to the US standards being a little more stringent than the ones, they had to add some bracing (or that’s what we hear) which reduced the room for the tranny and made the installation of the 6-sp infeasible. The Abarth 5-sp has shorter gears, so for me I would have liked the 6-sp as an over drive for free-way cruising.

  • Swal

    Yeah im a little concerned that fiat SCREW UP on this one, We here in the USA have been waiting on this car for 2 years, an they just now figured out that they had to add bracing  so the 6sp / DCT transmission will not fit, seems f****** up to me that in 24 months not 14 months that they could not get their engineers to work out the problem at launch time!! also they did state 170hp not a puny 160!!!!!

    PS: So when the sales numbers are not so good FIAT will blame USA for not liking small cars
          and the USA will never get the best abarth were entitled to!   what a shame!

    FIAT: ALL THESE BULLSHIT EXCUSES FOR A BRACKET!!  (REALLY)?????????

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

      Well, easy now!  It’s not exactly a screw-up remember the Euro version only puts out 135 HP, and they have to buy the Essesse version just to get the 160 ponies we are getting on the ‘base’ Abarth.  And, if I’m remembering right (that seems to be fading with time), you usually have to get the Assetto Corse Abarth (limited race edition which is VERY expensive) to get the 6-speed.  Also, the engineers weren’t originally designing the 500 for the US market — that decision came later.  After it’s all said and done, I’m not sure how many in the US would pony up for the Assetto Corse anyway — my guess is that package alone would probably add $5K to the standard Abarth price.  I’m sure the bean counters were in charge of that call.

      As far as your assertion that they could solve the bracing problem during a lunch hour, I’ll assume you were merely being flippant.  I do finite element modeling for my day job and it would probably take 4 or 5 analysis guys 3 months to so the work (crash simulation is particularly CPU intensive and complicated – you can really chase your tail on that one!), 3 more to do the design integration, and the tooling and manufacturing adds another 6 months.  I’m not saying they shouldn’t have done it, jut that that’s about how long it would take.  

      Personally I’d prefer the 6-speed as well, and the Mito tuning, but in the end I wonder how much it would have added to the final price?  I could probably swing it, but every couple of thousand the price goes up you probably lose 25% (or some significant chunk) of the sales, so it’s not an easy equation to balance.

      If you were a little more Pollyanna-ish you could just be happy you are getting the ESsesse version!

  • Drive it like its stolen!

    2,500+ lbs?  64/36 weight distribution?  No Thanks I will stick with my old Miata.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5ZT24BZWGTLUQUOPY5G2DN64FQ Kenny

      That’s pretty typical for a FWD car — no surprise! Miata?  Are you a chick?  LOL  Miatas are a dime a dozen — If I had one I’d turn it into a Locost 7 clone.  Nothing wrong with them, but pretty vanilla to be sure… I”ll take the FIAT, evidently I have more friends to haul!

  • SamIamtwo

    Yeah, get an automatic, take away the fun factor, add more weight…

    Typical of folks who lack knowledge of a legal race tract capable vehicle.  This car in the proper class will eat a mini in the twisties, with ease. 

    Did you know that 90% of the parts are american made? Nah you had no clue…and the tubo is from garret and the tuner is from the US…if they (tuning outfits like CobbTuning etc) offer an aftermarket tuning papackage IIR the tranny can hold up to 205HP…torque is what makes the car move…and IIRC TQ will be a little under 205hp…or the tranny goes boom.

    Kids nowadays no very little about cars.

    “You almost had me? You never had me – you never had your car.”

  • Micah Natale

    Test drive the B before hating on it.  The sport edition 101HP is very whiny and loud and lacks power.  We americans only care about big numbers…hell why didnt Fiat put a big block 350 in it or something? Bigots.  The 160HP will but just fine for that little beast. The handling is already better than the Mini and other cars within the class.