Racing stripes, don't you love 'em? OK, perhaps not - it's a personal thing, but I can't pretend I haven't got a soft spot for old-school 'go-faster' graphics like those on Fiat's new Abarth Punto Evo.
Fiat's been plugging away in the UK with its sporty brand for a little while now, and has around 20 Abarth specialist dealers on its books. The new Abarth version of the recently facelifted Punto Evo is the latest model to adorn the forecourts, and we got a taste of what the car has to offer on a recent visit to Yorkshire.
£16,500 gets you a sporty-looking hatchback with a Garrett turbocharged version of Fiat's 1.4 MultiAir engine. That means it has an electro-hydraulic valvetrain, and it makes 165bhp with - more importantly - 185lb ft of torque from just 2,250rpm, which adds up to 0-60 in 7.9secs, and a top speed of 133mph.
The hardware also includes a six-speed manual transmission, 20 percent stiffer front springs and over-sized front and rear anti-roll bars, as well a set of Brembo discs all round. ECU software includes a Sport setting (operated by a centre console-mounted 'Manettino') that weights up the electric power steering, sharpens throttle response, and switches-in the ESP-based Torque Transfer Control system. Oh, and a start-stop system helps deliver an impressive 47.1mpg combined.
On the visuals front, aside from those stripes and Abarth Scorpion badges everywhere (gotta love them too!), you're offered body-colour side skirts, a nose-job, a roof spoiler, twin tailpipes and a set of really cracking alloy wheels designed to look like the pincers on the scorpion badge. (Obvious once it's been pointed out...) Inside the cabin gets a slightly too-busy Jaeger instrument pack, a flat-bottomed wheel, metal pedals and sporty seats with contrasting stitching. Yep, so there's a lot of 'show', but what about the 'go'?
It's good fun actually, in spite of the low-ish power output. There's a 185-ishbhp Esseesse upgrade on the way soon, but if you can't wait you'll find the engine's torquey character in the lower rev ranges mean you can still make swift progress without overstraining things. The suspension worked well over the Yorkshire Moors (or was it the Dales? I'm never sure...), offering nice supple body control without being too stiff, and in Sport mode the steering offered a useful amount of weightiness - if nothing like the feel sporty hatches offered 'when we was a lad'.
Amusingly, our hosts introduced us to the little known (round these parts at least!) Teesside Autodrome, which is a fantastic '6/10ths' scale race-track of the sort you'd dream of building in the back garden if somebody hadn't just replanted all the flower beds. (Actually you'd need a properly big garden, but the real thing is definitely worth a visit. It's a narrow road course, so not much good for racing unless you're into Karts, and with a particularly tricky uphill series of hairpins that's almost impossible to nail.)
On the track, the Abarth proved a hoot, responding magnificently to my unfortunate inability to drive any hatchback round a circuit in the right gear or on the right line. I know it's wrong - I just can't help myself. When the engine's not bouncing off the limiter in too low a gear and the wheels aren't scrabbling for grip mid-corner it just seems like you're not really trying...
In the interests of research, a less frenetic couple of laps showed the TTC system to be proficient in neatly reducing understeer, and an ESP system that (in Sport mode at least) offers a semi-relaxed feel to lift-off shenanigans, while still keeping things safe.
Overall, it's definitely not as edgy a confection as the (significantly more powerful) Renaultsport Clio 200, and is a little less rewarding when going for it as a result.
But as an everyday driver, the Abarth's torque characteristics and a little extra comfort and refinement on the road might just make it the more 'liveable' option. Assuming you can get on with the stripes, of course.