abarth

LOS ANGELES--For such a cute little car, the Fiat 500 Abarth's scorpion logo is probably the manliest badge in automotive world.

At the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show, the peppy 101-horsepower Fiat 500 gets a heart transplant in the form of Fiat's award-winning 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine that boosts available power to 160 ponies. More impressive is the torque number: 170 pound-feet, which is the same amount of twist the Honda Civic Si develops with 2.4 liters of displacement. The Abarth 500 also features a single-option five-speed manual transmission and upgraded driveline components that can withstand … Read more

An automaker may think it has engineered a car to perfection, but there is always someone, somewhere, who can improve it. A cottage industry of tuner companies has arisen around automakers, retuning engines and suspensions, swapping out parts, all in a quest to make these cars perform better.

The practice has become so popular and effective that some automakers either buy an independent tuner or build up an internal division to build performance variants of their standard-model lineups. Names such as AMG, STI, SRT, Callaway, and Shelby become synonymous with speed and squealing tires.

Check out this collection of tuner car photos. … Read more

Ferrari and Porsche do a couple of hot hybrids; we have to love VW's Polo GTI; and a pickup truck? Also, Abarth hots up some cool Fiats and we give a listen to the Lotus Evora hybrid--yes, a listen.

• Ferrari's 599 hybrid concept

• Lotus Evora 414E hybrid concept

• Nissan Juke

• Fiat Abarth 500 cabriolet

• Smart ForTwo iPhone app

The small and powerful Fiat 500 rolled into the scene in the 1960s. Since then, Fiat's vision of the 500 hasn't really changed.

The Fiat Abarth 500 was unveiled at the 2008 Geneva auto show. A 1.4-liter Fire engine with an IHI variable geometry turbocharger powers it. The Abarth 500 has 135 horsepower (101 kW) and 180Nm of torque, with the option with 160 horsepower and 206Nm in sports mode.

In this Web video, Vicky Parrott, and Autocar reviewer, takes a Fiat Abarth 500 Trophy on a test drive around a track.

With all the very expensive new cars being unveiled at the Frankfurt auto show, you would think the economy never went into recession. It did, and yet here they are, a parade of new automotive objects of lust from the likes of Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, Aston Martin, and Rolls-Royce. Some emphasize sport, some luxury, but all have way more of each than your standard economy sedan.

Leading the parade is the spectacular new Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, a monster of a supercar with retro styling evoking the gull-winged 300 SL. Porsche shows off a couple of 911s, the styling only … Read more

What do you get when you cross the super-cute Fiat 500 with a dash of Abarth tuning and a coat of Scuderia Red paint? You get Ferrari's special edition, the 695 Tributo Ferrari.

The 695 Tributo is the result of a collaboration between Ferrari and Abarth, Fiat's in-house tuning division.

Starting with the 1.4-liter turbocharged gasoline engine, the 695 Tributo's power plant sends 180 horsepower through a six-speed automatic transmission with F1-style paddle shifters to the 17-inch Ferrari-inspired alloy wheels. This is still a Fiat, so power will reach the ground through the front wheels. Red … Read more