Abarth 595 2016 Review

Abarth 595
Australian Launch Review
Hobart, Tasmania

Abarth has a coterie of go-faster, hot-looking Fiat 500-based cars but until now they've been priced so high that only die-hard Fiat/Abarth types will stump up the cash. Now there’s a new entry-level model, the 595, that will help Abarth preach to the yet-to-be converted.

The car market is so full of niches that when you think car companies have cooked up their last, they dish out another sliver.

So when Fiat revived the Abarth brand in 2007, little did we realise that a year later it would be using ingredients such as a retro car (Fiat 500) and a reconstituted brand name (Abarth) to bake small batches of a retro micro hot-hatch.

We’ve seen the silly-fast (and silly-expensive) Abarth Biposto come and go, and now we see a more sensible (and much, much cheaper) Abarth turn up with the 595.

There’s nothing quite like it, in size at least, and nothing in the micro class that could get away with looking like it does. Can you imagine a Mitsubishi Mirage or the recently departed Nissan Micra lowered and body kitted? Doesn’t bear thinking about.

The 595’s deep front and rear aprons, 16-inch grey alloys, red brake callipers, go-faster stripes and slightly hunkered-down attitude only improve on the 500’s rounded shape. It’s not really a hot hatch, more a hot hatchette.

Tasmania is the place to hire a Mirage automatic (sans bodykit) and head off on a wine and cheese tour (with a map of that very name) but it’s also a fine place to drive. Tassie was the venue for the new Abarth 595 press launch, but in the sheeting rain we just hoped the 595 drive wouldn’t become a slip and slide tour.

At first glance, the 595 looks like something you might buy your child to peddle around in the back yard. It seems ridiculously small. Jump inside and it feels like the toy has opened up -- up front anyway.

The doors open up a big entry space, there’s an easy, high hip point onto the seats and you’re not knocking elbows with your front passenger. The seats have good side support but part of your under-thighs are left hanging in the breeze.

The foot rest is at an odd angle and after a few hours of keeping your right foot perched on the accelerator, you might need a post-drive stretching session.

The dash has the simplicity of the Fiat 500 dash, except with a turbo boost pod to the left of the instrument cluster. The gauge looks cool (and also has a light to tell you Sport mode has been selected) but it seems a bit like the inclinometer in a 4WD. Would anyone pay much attention to it in a standard turbo car?

The Abarth range lacks the UConnect infotainment system now standard in the MY16 Fiat 500, and won’t get it until next year. So the in-dash audio system is a bit behind the times, and doesn’t have anything like the features of the poorer-cousin 500 with UConnect. You can bet FCAA can’t wait for the MY17 cars to land.

Speaking of what is lacking, there’s no cruise control here either. For our speed-obsessed authorities, you really need to be able to peg speed on long freeway hauls.

To climb into the back, it’s not as difficult as you might think. The front seats fold/slide forward so that you can step in, pivot around and settle into a slightly knees up position. No, it’s not the place for a cross-country jaunt, but across town it wouldn’t be too bad at all.

The boot’s 185-litre capacity is not huge, but given this car’s 3657mm length, you’ll forgive it when you find the parking space no-one else can wedge themselves into. There’s no spare wheel, only a can of goo and inflation kit.

The 1.4-litre turbo four hums along smoothly in the default tune mode, but not much happens in the first bit of accelerator travel. The engine is hard to wake from its slumber and in this mode the steering is too light.

Punch the Sport button on the dash and everything changes. Suddenly the steering firms up nicely and the engine not only wakes up, it’s had a big shot of caffeine.

Turbo boost in Sport is notched up from default mode’s 0.65 bar to a much more entertaining 0.8 bar. Even better, Sport mode is not switched off on the next start-up, because you don’t want default mode ever again.

The 1.4 turbo loves to rev and delivers a nice, linear surge as it climbs its way to redline. Torque is strong too, and while there is some low-rpm turbo lag, it doesn’t make engine response fall off a cliff. The engine just builds up steam and gets past it.

The five-speed manual is a bit old-school when six speeds have become common, especially in hot hatches. The ratio spread could be a bit closer in lower gears too, but despite the long-throw the shifter is precise.

The 595’s tricky Torque Transfer Control helps to get power down well, even though it is no Quaife mechanical diff. On the wet track at Baskerville Raceway, you could feel the TTC doing its thing, neatly shifting torque away from the tyre losing grip to the one that did. We wonder how well TTC would cope if pushed harder on a dry track though.

The Koni front dampers were brilliant at knocking off any untoward bouncing by the springs and the whole set-up absorbed road shocks better than it should. Sitting on taller 16-inch tyres (instead of 17s on the 595 Turismo and 595 Competizione) would have helped, too.

The chassis is as involving as you’d hope it would be with all the fettling Abarth has given it. The 595 could be throttle-steered around the less greasy corners at Baskerville and it was nice and predictable doing so.

There are bigger and faster hot hatches, but the 595 is not only an entertaining and quickish hot hachette for your favourite twisty roads, but the micro-car you want when squeezing into an inner-city parking space.

2016 Abarth 595 pricing and specifications:
Price: $27,500 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 103kW/206Nm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 139g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N./A

Also consider:
>> Peugeot 208 GTI (from $30,990 plus ORCs)
>> Renault Clio RS200 (from $30,000 plus ORCs)
>> Volkswagen Polo GTI (from $27,490 plus ORCs)