Skip advert
Advertisement

Abarth 124 Spider at Geneva: on sale now from £29,565

Fiat's performance arm debuts its racy version of the 124 Spider roadster, and it's available to order now ahead of end-of-year deliveries

Great news for Abarth fans at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show: Fiat's performance arm has given the 124 Spider roadster a racy makeover including more power, sportier styling and a tweaked chassis. UK prices have been announced, and it kicks off from £29,565.

It's only been a few weeks since we've driven the regular 124 Spider, and we came away very impressed with that car. But it's already hotted up, and the Abarth version will become the 'halo' car for Fiat's performance arm. Abarth's online configurator has already gone live ahead of Fiat's own, allowing customers to spec and pre-order their cars.

Whilst that price is a substantial £10,000 increase over the 124 Spider's predicted starting point, it does at least get more power. The 1.4 MultiAir turbo unit jumps up from 138bhp to 168bhp, while torque also increases by a modest 10Nm to 250Nm. 

Advertisement - Article continues below

Not huge increases, then, but that makes it capable of 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds, which is half a second quicker than the 2.0-litre Mazda MX-5. The top speed is 143mph. It weighs just 1060kg meaning a power-to-weight ratio of 158bhp-per-tonne, while Abarth claims it sounds much sportier thanks to a new Record Monza exhaust system.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement - Article continues below

The Abarth model gets a stiffer suspension setup than the regular Fiat 124 Spider, with Bilstein dampers and beefed-up anti-roll bars. Bigger Brembo brakes also feature, with aluminium calipers. It can be had with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission with paddles, and the latter gets a Sport mode for quicker shifts.

The standard Abarth 124 Spider is already racier-looking than Fiat's version, but the Geneva show car is specced with the 'Heritage Look' pack, which is a no-cost option. It brings a matt black bonnet and bootlid, plus red exterior trim detailing.

The £29,565 price gets you standard equipment such as cruise control, climate control, Bluetooth, a DAB radio and satnav, plus Alcantara black and red (or pure black) seat trim. The automatic gearbox is a £2,035 extra, while an optional visibility pack brings LED DRLs, auto lights and wipers and rear parking sensors.

Advertisement - Article continues below

Abarth has also announced a triumphant return to rallying, with a monstrous 300bhp Abarth 124 Rally also displayed at Geneva. 

More Abarth models on the way?

Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat Chrysler Group’s chief operating officer, confirmed last year there would be a more hardcore Abarth 124 Spider on the horizon. 

Mazda bosses poured cold water on any possibility of a high-performance version of the new MX-5 earlier this month, pointing out that their roadster is more about handling purity than horsepower. In light of that, an Abarth 124 that will exploit the potential in the shared chassis is great news for performance fans everywhere.

The new 124 Spider will become the halo product in the revitalised performance brand’s range, along with updated Abarth 500 models due in mid-2016 and another as-yet-unconfirmed car. Altavilla revealed that Abarth will make more extreme models rather than ‘warmed-over’ Fiats – and last year’s bonkers Abarth 695 Biposto was apparently just the start.

“What I wanted to do with Biposto was mark a very clear cut with the past,” explained Altavilla. “Abarth is all about performance and so I’ve told my team to stop working on colours and trims. Any new version of an Abarth car should deliver some sort of a performance enhancement, otherwise it is useless.

“We went too far with the Punto Abarth – the Punto is a family car and the Abarth version was seen as a bit of a stretch. I stopped production of it 15 months ago because it was not targeted at the true Abarth customer – an Abarth has to be something special and a family car cannot offer this.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Recommended

Coming in hot! First look at new Abarth 600e smokin’ electric SUV
Abarth 600e
News

Coming in hot! First look at new Abarth 600e smokin’ electric SUV

New 600e is Abarth’s most powerful car yet, and will benefit from old traditional hot hatch technology
8 Feb 2024

Most Popular

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay
Road tax documentation
News

Road tax set to rise in April: here’s how much more you’ll pay

Drivers with newer cars will now pay £10 more per year, although the biggest gas guzzlers fare even worse
28 Mar 2024
Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power
Dacia Sandero - front
News

Posh new trim level for Dacia Sandero while the Sandero Stepway gets more power

Both the Sandero and Sandero Stepway ranges have been tweaked, gaining more safety features to meet the latest regulations
26 Mar 2024
Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in
Skoda Enyaq iV - front cornering
News

Car Deal of the Day: updated Skoda Enyaq at 0% APR and a free home wallbox charger thrown in

Skoda’s family-friendly EV with 348-mile range is our Car Deal of the Day for 26 March
26 Mar 2024