The Geneva Motor Show has been generous to those of us who find joy in Fiat's new 124 Spider. The Swiss venue saw Abarth, the Italian automaker's in-house tuner, stinging the nameplate, with the result being the delicious Abarth 124 Spider.
One of the effects of the changes introduced by the scorpion-stung model is that the car is set even further apart from the Miata the 124 shares its platform with.
The main ingredients are a 10 hp bump, a 50 lb weight loss, a limited slip rear diff, and a custom suspension setup. While such treatment is delightful, the real Geneva treat came in the form of the new Abarth 124 Spider Rally.
The motorsport incarnation sees the 1.4-liter turbo engine being replaced with a turbocharged 1.8-liter mill that relies on tricks such as direct injection and an overly aggressive tune to deliver 300 hp to a six-speed sequential gearbox.
Alas, Abarth's spiciest contraption, which comes with a hardtop, can only be driven on public roads when these are part of a rally, since this is a racecar eligible for FIA R-GT battles starting from the 2017 season onwards.
Since the last few years have seen a boost in terms of street machine-based racecars that were converted back to road use, we'd love to see Abarth coming up with such a story for a potential Coupe version of the 2017 Fiat 124.
For one thing, the Miata that kickstarted this madness has always seemed like a miniature Viper to us. And while the Viper appears to have won the "misunderstood supercar of the decade" title, with the current generation expected to retire without the otherwise deserved sales glory, an Abarth-massaged 124 Coupe could keep us on our toes even after the Viper's rumored next generation arrives in a few years from now.
Meanwhile, we're treating you to a rendering of the Fiat 124 Coupe, and it's Theophilus Chin who deserves the credit for the mix between the Viper's bubble roof and the fastback lines we see here.
The main ingredients are a 10 hp bump, a 50 lb weight loss, a limited slip rear diff, and a custom suspension setup. While such treatment is delightful, the real Geneva treat came in the form of the new Abarth 124 Spider Rally.
The motorsport incarnation sees the 1.4-liter turbo engine being replaced with a turbocharged 1.8-liter mill that relies on tricks such as direct injection and an overly aggressive tune to deliver 300 hp to a six-speed sequential gearbox.
Alas, Abarth's spiciest contraption, which comes with a hardtop, can only be driven on public roads when these are part of a rally, since this is a racecar eligible for FIA R-GT battles starting from the 2017 season onwards.
Since the last few years have seen a boost in terms of street machine-based racecars that were converted back to road use, we'd love to see Abarth coming up with such a story for a potential Coupe version of the 2017 Fiat 124.
For one thing, the Miata that kickstarted this madness has always seemed like a miniature Viper to us. And while the Viper appears to have won the "misunderstood supercar of the decade" title, with the current generation expected to retire without the otherwise deserved sales glory, an Abarth-massaged 124 Coupe could keep us on our toes even after the Viper's rumored next generation arrives in a few years from now.
Meanwhile, we're treating you to a rendering of the Fiat 124 Coupe, and it's Theophilus Chin who deserves the credit for the mix between the Viper's bubble roof and the fastback lines we see here.