Pocket rocket!

We have often wondered if Fiat’s marketing strategy in India would have been better served if its initial relaunch advertising had focused on the popular, iconic super-premium brands the group owned. Instead of compensating its brand ambassador in cash and kind, how would it have sounded if the company had instead spent on advertising that pointed out that the Fiat Group owned Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Abarth.

These are hugely aspirational brands and their logos have probably been stuck on as adornments on many a car even in the entry small car segment. Ferrari’s Prancing Horse, Maserati’s Trident, Alfa Romeo’s circular cross and snake emblem and Abarth’s Scorpion are easily the most recognisable for the informed, though many car owners who have them stickered on their car, for aesthetics, may not even know much about the brand.

Fiat’s Abarth is such a brand, one that many in India may not know about, but are only too familiar with its eye-catchy logo.

Carlo Abarth founded the company Abarth & C in Bologna, Italy more than 66 years ago. It is said that the Scorpion on a red and yellow shield logo of Abarth was chosen based on Carlo’s Zodiac sign. In its initial years, Abarth was a company that specialised in producing high performance exhausts and tuning kits for road vehicles. After its takeover by Fiat in 1971, Abarth became the group’s racing department, preparing many rally cars.

After producing one-offs and after it became a brand that only represented some of Fiat models’ trim variants, Abarth was reborn in 2007 as an independent brand under Fiat’s ownership. Currently, its most popular model is the Abarth 595 Competizione, a super mini that is based on the iconic and irresistibly cute Fiat 500. Earlier this week, we headed to the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) to get a taste of this super hot hatch that is road and track ready.

The Fiat 500 Cinquecento is already a cute, eye-ball grabbing hot hatch. The 595 Competizione ups that appeal with its special livery, badging, 17-inch rims, dual exhausts at the rear and the front fender air vents. The Fiat 500 is there to be seen, but one look at the 595 Competizione and you know that this is one toddler on steroids. High performance is written all over its chubby jowls. Abarth’s famous side stripes on the doors and the scorpion logo on the simple bonnet grille join the 595 badge and act as special adornments on the car. The twin headlamps, the curvy roofline and the greenhouse are all identical to the Fiat 500.

The wheel arches are more pronounced in the 595 Competizione and the large, red brake discs seen through the front rims are clearly different.

Step into the 595 and there is a world of difference between the Fiat and the Abarth. The entire layout and cabin features are focused on performance. Abarth Corsa seats by Sabelt immediately appeal to your racing instincts. Bolstered, with red and black upholstery and shaped to hold you smug as you throw the 595 into the tricky corners at the BIC track, the seats are clearly oversized and you really have to squeeze your hand backwards even to reach the seat belt. But, who cares! This is a three-door hatch that has been born out of the race track experience acquired by Scorpion technicians working for Formula 4 and Abarth trophy races.

The cabin layout also has to be adequately funky to claim ownership to its genes. So, you get buttons to choose drive mode or reverse or neutral instead of a gear stick and getting into sport mode is as easy as pushing down a large button with a throbbing red LED light. Of course, you have paddles behind the steering wheel for manual gear selection. The instrument binnacle houses a single circular digital display which changes colours and displays information based on the mode chosen. This is the new 595 Competizione and it now sports a more powerful engine – the 1.4-litre T-Jet boosted to deliver 160HP. The 1,368cc engine is fitted with the new Garret turbine, which enables it to nearly eliminate turbolag (of course, it happens even in a petrol engine). Peak torque of 230Nm, as a result, kicks in at 3,000rpm in sport mode and in regular mode 206Nm is generated from 2,000rpm. The car boasts of a top speed of 205 kmph and the 0 to 100 kmph run gets done in 7.6 seconds.

On the track, right off the pit lane, the 595 Competizione sounds like fun, leaving behind a gruff note off its Monza exhaust and accelerating with ease.

Throwing the 595 through the first, second and third turns on BIC are fun and the sequential automated gearbox shifts with an orchestrated, clearly felt shift shock. But, on the long rear straight, even on sport mode, the 595 only manages a bit over 180kmph, before it is time to hit the brakes. Since, it is front wheel driven, it gets a bit interesting while taking turns five and six, with a bit of wanton, but safe, sliding possible.

The car is loaded with tech such as torque transfer control, and frequency selective damping for the suspension at front and rear. Braking power is strong with the perforated discs and four-piston callipers on all wheels.

The BIC, an F1 track, is too fast and big for the 595 Competizione and yet, it is very possible to have a lot of fun with it. It is a true representation of Abarth’s philosophy – “democratising race cars, transforming the smallest into the meanest by tuning them to get the most out of all available horsepower”.

The Abarth 595 Competizione is now available in Fiat dealerships in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru. It has been priced at ₹29.85 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi).

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