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2019 Fiat 500 Abarth Final Drive | Farewell to the Hellmouse

The market for tiny hot hatchbacks hatchbacks was always small in the United States, but it's getting even smaller. The Ford Fiesta ST has joined the dearly departed and soon to join it is the Fiat 500 Abarth, which Fiat has announced will go away along with its less caffeinated 500 siblings. Before it does, though, we got one more romp in the little monster and learned that, even with its age and rough edges, it’s still one of the most fun and charismatic machines you can get for the money. You're reminded of it the second you twist the switchblade key. The little turbo 1.4-liter four-cylinder has a gnarly burble at idle that wouldnÂ’t seem out of place in a muscle car. It only gets better when you start cruising around. The burble becomes a raging howl, and shifting right at redline results in a whiplike crack. ItÂ’s intoxicating. The 500 Abarth is boisterous, but itÂ’s not exactly fast. At 160 horsepower and 183 pound-feet of torque, most of its competition, such as the Veloster Turbo and Civic Si, feature at least 200 horsepower. The turbo isnÂ’t especially fast to spool up, and the engine isnÂ’t quick to rev either. But itÂ’s peppy enough, and the slowly building boost comes on very smoothly. As such, itÂ’s easy to manipulate what power the Abarth has. And the exhaustÂ’s placebo effect is omnipresent. But make sure the car is in Sport mode. If it isnÂ’t, the amount of boost is restricted, making the Abarth feel more like the normal 135-horsepower 500, and no amount of noise will distract you from that. The tiny turbo engine can be paired with either a five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. The manual is a pretty average unit. The shifter is well-placed, but the throws are long and ropey. The pedal position is excellent, making rev-matched downshifts easy. Only having five gears to choose from seems strange in this day and age, but the long-ish ratios work nicely with the slow, low-revving engine. And you donÂ’t have to mess with the wriggly shifter too much. The automaticÂ’s six ratios feel like a good number, and each ratio is closely spaced, which helps keep the car in the power band. It shifts quite smoothly and fairly quickly, too, whether youÂ’re in automatic or manual mode. The automatic even makes smart downshifts when slowing for corners. ItÂ’s a good unit that doesnÂ’t detract from the experience. Curiously, the automatic model makes more torque at 183 pound-feet to the manualÂ’s 170.

Fiat 500 Abarth to get automatic transmission option

Boo and hiss all you want, but the truth is that manual transmissions aren't for everybody. When Fiat launched the hot little 500 Abarth last year, it did so with a five-speed manual as the only transmission available, but according to Ward's Auto, that might change.
"We're not opposed to doing it. We just didn't think there would be consumer requests for it, and there is," Fiat's North American president, Tim Kuniskis, told Ward's in regards to an automatic-equipped Abarth.
With the launch of the upcoming droptop 500C Abarth, Kuniskis says that the company is expecting a few more women buyers to opt for the more potent version of the pint-sized cabriolet. "I think when we'll see more women is when we have the automatic, and we're planning to add the automatic in the Abarth at some point, only because we're getting that feedback from customers."

2014 Fiat Ottimo is an Italian Dodge Dart hatchback in China

Could there be a car that could lead us to forgive Chrysler for the unloved Dodge Caliber? Yes, and it's called the 2014 Fiat Ottimo. This is the hatchback version of the Fiat Viaggio - a Fiat-badged Dodge Dart - that we heard about back in April, and it was just unveiled at the Guangzhou Motor Show to be built and sold in China next year.
This stylish little five-door looks good enough to proudly wear a BMW or Audi badge, with a two-box design that works really well with the Dart's design. Aside from the obvious Dart headlights, Fiat did a great job of giving the Ottimo a distinct and exciting face with an all-new front fascia and L-shaped running lights. Things stay classy at the rear of the Ottimo with taillights that have an interesting circular light pattern and chrome-trimmed lower fascia reflectors. Not that we have any say in the matter, but this hatchback would sure look good competing up against the all-new Mazda3 in the US.
As for what Chinese-market buyers have to look forward to, the press release posted below doesn't mention specific powertrain options, but we suspect it will be the same as the Viaggio. This includes two versions of the 1.4-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder (tuned for either 120 or 150 horsepower) paired with either a five-speed manual or six-speed DCT.