A new baby scorpion in the city – does its tail have more sting? Prices+specs on Abarth 595 turismo and 595C turismo

Abarth.  A name not familiar to many.  It looks like a Fiat 500, but the badges show a scorpion on yellow and red background.

Yes, the Fiat 500 is clearly the car on which the Abarth 500 is based.  Making an entrance into the South African market in January 2012, the Abarth 500 created a sporty and turbo-engined version of the 500.

Abarth 500 and 500 esseesse

The Abarth 500 uses a 1.4 turbo engine, and an “esseesse” kit upgrade increases engine power, along with uprated suspension, brakes, wheels and higher-output engine:  where the Abarth 500 makes 99kW in manual and 103kW with MTA Dualogic automated gearbox and torque of 180Nm or 206Nm on overboost, the esseessse kit ups these to 118kW and 206Nm, or for overtaking (or just for fun) the overboost feature gives 230Nm, meaning more turbo whoosh through the meaner exhausts.  These may seem like small differences, but make big differences on such a small car, weighing a quoted tare of barely over 1 ton.

The pronunciation of esseesse is simply s-s.

Abarth 500 to Abarth 595 turismo

The Abarth 595 turismo is the new little scorpion… and the poison in the tail is the same as the preceding 500 esseesse, meaning also 118kW and 230Nm overboost torque.  Yes, the previous 500 with dealer-fit esseesse kit is no more, replaced by the 595 turismo.

Technical highlights of the new Abarth 595 turismo are, in addition to the engine, upgraded suspension and brake package and 17” alloy wheels.

The equipment highlights include the now-standard xenon headlights, leather interior, 7-inch TFT instrument cluster (digital as per the recently-upgraded Fiat 500) and a new selection of paint colours.

Performance and power looks

The Fiat 500 is a cute-looking car, which makes a great starting point from where to add aggressive bumpers and an aero body kit, big wheels, scorpion badges and sports exhaust.

Performance is quoted at 7.4 seconds from rest to hundred for the manual, and the gearlever-less (only Ferrari-style buttons to select drive mode) MTA Dualogic auto taking 7.6 sec.  Both gearboxes are 5-speed.  Top speeds are 210 and 209 km/h.

595 turismo or 595C turismo – your choice

As with 500 and 500C, the 500 is the hatch (aka hardtop) whereas the C in 500C indicates the Cabriolet sliding roof, stored concertina-style on the rear.

The choice is yours again:  Abarth 595 turismo or Abarth 595C turismo.

Confusion – while these greet you with Abarth 595 turismo door sill (step plates) and badges, the dashboard still shows a stylised 500 or 500C.  Calling it 500 595 turismo or 500C 595 turismo would just look and sound so wordy and wrong… so the official name is 595 turismo and 595C turismo (despite the 500/500C badge inside).

More value for the new scorpion?
 
With Abarth 500 pricing having stood at R 283 900 for the manual hatch, up to the 500C esseesse auto at R 387 200 (approximate price including dealer kit fitment) the new 595 turismo (with same uprated engine and tech bits, remember) is priced lower.  The 500 esseesse would have cost around R 333 900, so despite the extra equipment (xenon, leather, TFT etc.) added to 595 turismo, the price of R 324 900 actually offers more value.

Abarth 595 turismo	R 324 900
Abarth 595 turismo auto	R 340 900
Abarth 595C turismo	R 364 900
Abarth 595C turismo auto	R 380 900

If you think these prices sting, compare to other small hot hatches and you’ll notice these seen-any-day hot hatches like Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208 GTi, Renault Clio RS and MINI Cooper S are all near or way over R300k.

The Abarth is the only one here with the Ferrari-style gear buttons, the only performance “hatch” which can open up its roof, and the only one with the scorpion badge.  The Abarth 595 turismo and 595C turismo set themselves apart, in looks and exclusivity.

 

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