THE NEW ABARTH 124 Spider has been
unveiled at the Geneva show and will go
on sale in Europe in September, priced
from €40,000 (around £31,000).
The performance-focused version
of the Fiat 124 Spider has been
developed with the Abarth Racing
Team and has more aggressive
styling, a matt black bonnet,
a limited-slip differential and
a ‘Record Monza’ exhaust system
fitted as standard.
It’s powered by a tweaked version
of parent brand Fiat’s four-cylinder
1.4-litre Multiair II engine, which
produces 170bhp and 184b ft of torque.
It’s paired to either a six-speed shortthrow
manual gearbox or a six-speed
automatic with paddle shifters
Abarth claims a 0-62mph time of
6.8sec and a top speed of 143mph.
The two-seat, rear-wheel-drive
Abarth 124 Spider weighs 1060kg
and has 50/50 weight distribution,
according to the manufacturer,
which also says the car’s power-toweight
ratio of 160bhp per tonne is
unsurpassed in this class.
The suspension set-up and damping
have been tweaked from the standard
Fiat 124, with the Abarth version getting
double-wishbone front suspension and
a five-link set-up for the rear, a system
the Italian manufacturer says has been
tuned to offer greater braking
and cornering stability. It also has
aluminium front brake calipers
The car will be a rival to the Mazda
MX-5, on which it is based. The MX-5,
with a list price of £24,295 in its topspec
2.0-litre guise, undercuts the
124 Spider by some way. However, the
quoted performance figures for the
Abarth beat those of the 158bhp MX-5,
which has a 0-62mph time of 7.3sec and
a top speed of 133mph.
As well as the road-going roadster,
Abarth unveiled a prototype rally
version of the 124 Spider at Geneva. It
puts out 300bhp at 6500rpm and is set
to make its rally debut next year
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