The Fiat Abarth 595 Competizione uses a 1.4-litre T-Jet motor under the hood, producing 160 PS and offers an extremely impressive power-to-weight ratio.
Easily the most exciting Fiat that money can buy you in India today, the Italian automaker has officially launched the Abarth 595 Competizione performance hatchback in the country, priced at an introductory Rs. 29.85 lakhs (ex-showroom, Delhi). Taking cues from the original people’s Fiat 500 from the era gone by, the new 595 Competizione offers classic Italian retro styling, while the mechanicals have been fine tuned by the automaker’s performance division Abarth for that Go-Kart like handling prowess.
The Abarth 595 Competizione measures 3657 mm in length, 1627 mm in width and 1485 mm in height and has a wheelbase of 2300 mm. Differentiating the Abarth 595 Competizione from the standard 500 are the sportier bumpers, side skirts, 17-inch low profile Abarth wheels, side decals and racing stripes on the front hood. Making it more distinctive is the blackened roof, quad exhausts, roof spoiler and the coveted Scorpion badge all around that tells you about its performance credentials.
Inside the cabin, the Abarth 595 Competizione comes with a multi-function steering wheel, manual climate control, 7-inch TFT instrument panel, rear parking sensors and Blue&Me connectivity. The interiors gets red and black treatment for the sporty feel with leather upholstered seats, aluminium finished pedals and a boost gauge. You do miss out on a touchscreen display and navigation. In terms of powertrain, the hatchback uses a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder T-Jet petrol engine that has been tuned to produce 160 HP of power at 5500 RPM and 230 Nm of torque between 2750 to 3000 RPM, paired to a 5-speed Automated Manual Transmission (AMT) unit.
Keeping the Abarth 595 sedated is a tonne of equipment underneath including Torque Transfer Control (TTC), front and rear suspensions updated with Frequently Selective Damping (FSD) technology, 4-piston aluminium fixed brake callipers and ventilated disc brakes on all wheels. The Abarth 595 Competizione comes with steering mounted paddle shifters and gets two driving modes namely Drive and Sport (D & S).
While power figures may not be earth shattering, the fast Fiat boasts of an impressive power-to-weight ratio weighing just 1045 kgs. The car is capable of doing the 0-100 km/hr run in 7.6 seconds and can hit a top whack of 210 km/hr. Fiat India is retailing the 595 Competizione through five exclusive dealers in the country located in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata and the model is being imported as a fully built unit. The performance hatchback mainly rivals the MINI Cooper S but will also lock horns with the Mercedes A-Class, BMW 1-Series and the upcoming Volkswagen Beetle.
