Driven: Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse

One of the cutest cars on the road today, but does it have a sting?

Everyone, all at once, say ahhhh. The Fiat 500 is certainly a cute car, a nice runabout for town and small enough to nip into the only tiny space left in the car park. But this little toy car was designed for the town and judging by the numbers I see on my daily drive it seems to have got that role sorted. But now it has gone and got all 'performancy'.

I have been looking at a new car to replace my battered old Subaru WRX, now that I have changed demographic boxes and ticked the married option. It isn’t the vows that have made me come to this decision, but living in the centre of London, finding parking would be so much easier. Plus the wife only passed her test two years ago, and insurance on a 280bhp rally car is somewhat pricey.... A compromise needs to be found!

I had eagerly awaited the Fiat 500 Abarth esseesse as the solution to my car woes. Something cheap enough to insure for a new driver (well, if group 14 is cheap!), yet fun enough to not miss the performance of my outgoing car. So when the keys landed on the desk I snatched them for an extended test drive.

To sportify the cuddly 500, Fiat has given the car to their performance division for a ground up overhaul. Unsurprisingly as a car that has been fettled by Abarth - whose owner raced motorbikes and even the Orient Express at one time - the result has a heavy motorsport bias.

Abarth started by sticking a turbo to the 1.4-litre engine. But the engine bay was so small they had to completely redesign the front end of the vehicle. There's a deeper spoiler to direct air into the turbo, and a longer bonnet to surround the power unit. The esseesse kit also adds new springs and dampers, plus a torsion beam rear suspension as well as drilled brake discs and more power, but the sportier feel does leave it a little bit lacking in terms of ride comfort.

More likely than not you are going to encounter many a speed bump in today’s urban driving and on my rat running route home I take in plenty. In this little Fiat, no matter what speed you take a bump at, you may need to book a visit to the chiropractors as each one feels like dropping off a kerb. It's really stiff.

However, the essesse is incredibly quick for a town car, meaning the smallest gap in traffic is enough to poke the 500 into. Over a 60mph drag the 500 also feels quicker than our long term Renaultsport 200, for instance, so it's no city slouch when we hit the open roads. The chassis means you can throw it into the corners without worrying it will let go, and the torque helps steer you around anything slightly sharper.

Inside and out of the cabin you better not suffer from arthrophobia, as the little scorpion motif is adorned across the car - although some of the logos can be optionally 'deleted'. The rest of the cabin is usual 500, though a pod-like stalk with shift lights and turbo bar has sprouted on the dash and there is a slightly more metallic look to the finish.

The esseesse performance pack costs £2,500 over your standard Abarth model, and £5,000 more than one not carrying the Fiat tuners badge setting you back £16,105.

You could argue that this is a little excessive but it does gain you 24 more horses over the Abarth (the standard 1.4 is 99bhp) and out of a total of 157bhp that is a noticeable percentage increase. Also you get the crate that the extra esseesse bits come in, if you fancy a nice ornament for your living room.

If you can cope with the very hard suspension and can justify the price then this is a very capable little pocket rocket. Just make sure you use its full potential and get it on a smooth race circuit for the odd track day, rather than council bumped roads - to remind yourself why you bought it between those visits to the chiropractor.

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pSynrg

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208 months