2015 Fiat 500C Abarth Automatic Images Review

2015 Fiat 500C Abarth Automatic Images Review :

An automatic alfresco ankle-biter.

Look what followed us home. The little fella is noisy, a flashy dresser, and, at $32,095 out the door, pricey by the pound. Subtlety is not one of the Fiat 500C Abarth’s virtues. When we tested a manual-transmission coupe version last year, it was sent to the showers by the Ford Fiesta ST and the new Mini Cooper S hardtop. So why is it shadowing our driveway?

While we’re staunch supporters of human-shifted cogs, this Abarth cabrio’s six-speed automatic transmission provides an interesting contrast to the floppy shifter and mushy clutch of the five-speed manual in the Fiat 500C Abarth we tested in 2013. It turns out that the Aisin six-speed automatic—a $1350 option—is well matched to the 1.4-liter turbo’s power curve. Fiat tunes the MultiAir four-cylinder differently for the automatic application: Compared with the manual version, power is down 3 horsepower to 157 but torque jumps by 13 lb-ft to 183. The added grunt, peaking 100-rpm lower in the rev range, makes this engine way less boggy below 3000 rpm than we’ve experienced, for example, in the 2013 Dodge Dart. In fact, the automatic Abarth outdragged the stick-shift 500C, hitting 60 mph in 6.9 seconds versus the manual’s 7.3 seconds.

Specifications:

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door convertible PRICE AS TESTED: $32,095 (base price: $28,645) ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled SOHC 16-valve inline-4, iron block and aluminum head, port fuel injection Displacement: 83 cu in, 1368 cc Power: 157 hp @ 5500 rpm Torque: 183 lb-ft @ 2400 rpm TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode DIMENSIONS: Wheelbase: 90.6 in Length: 144.4 in Width: 64.1 in Height: 59.2 in

Passenger/cargo volume: 76.2/5.4 cu ft Curb weight: 2683 lb C/D TEST RESULTS: Zero to 60 mph: 6.9 sec Zero to 100 mph: 20.5 sec Zero to 110 mph: 29.1 sec Street start, 5-60 mph: 7.1 sec Top gear, 30-50 mph: 3.5 sec Top gear, 50-70 mph: 4.6 sec Standing ¼-mile: 15.4 sec @ 90 mph Top speed: not tested  Braking, 70-0 mph: 170 ft Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: not tested FUEL ECONOMY: EPA city/highway: 24/32 mpg C/D observed: 23 mpg

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