Hello,

I just recently(1 week ago) bought a brand new white Fiat 500 Abarth, and i'm looking for some tips/ information.

first, i love the car! it's so much fun to drive and, somewhat, easy on fuel! but since i'm owning this thing from day one. I would like to make it my own.

what i am really curious about, is the difference between the north american version, and the original from overseas. as far as i am aware, we already have a abarth with the essesse kit on it. but i'm not sure. only dioference i know for fact between the two is the turbo on the north american model is a Garrett turbo, vs something else in the UK model.

basically i'm wondering if a north American essesse kit is in the works with more horsepower and a slightly lowered suspension, or if i have to do my own version.

I have also seen some people on this site(i've been lurking for a while) who have managed to tune their turbos up a little and i'm curious what programer they are using.

any input is good input, look forward to hearing from all you guys and pictures will be coming shortly.

Welcome!

You already have the new multiair engine which has 160bhp.., same as a TJet engine with esseesse kit. Standard bhp here is 135.

There are some other differences, stronger body/chassis and slightly different suspension. I think ride hight is the same as a standard A500 here though.

Hope this helps ; )

No idea if an esseesse kit is coming for the NA model. Mopar (Chrysler) sell bits as a sort of official aftermarket thing.

The euro model uses a smaller IHI turbo that spools up quicker.

That's interesting, I didn't actually know it was a revised engine for the north American model. Maybe I will just waitress out then and see if an essesse kit comes out in the next year.

Do you people happen to know how the UK model got the horsepower boost in the Essesse kit? As far as I know it was a simple ECU remap but I'm not sure if that was all that was done.

AMCMechanic said:

That's interesting, I didn't actually know it was a revised engine for the north American model. Maybe I will just waitress out then and see if an essesse kit comes out in the next year.

Do you people happen to know how the UK model got the horsepower boost in the Essesse kit? As far as I know it was a simple ECU remap but I'm not sure if that was all that was done.

Click to expand...

ECU and air filter.

So, the whole essesse kit consists of new rims and tires, ECU remap, new air filter and new shocks and lowering springs?

Not an ecu remap, a new ecu. I also don't think the ss kit includes dampers, or at least it didn't originally.

the dampers are still the same for standard and esseesse versions. Just the springs are changed but you can buy an additional suspension upgrade (koni) that does give the desired effect.

AMCMechanic said:

That's interesting, I didn't actually know it was a revised engine for the north American model. Maybe I will just waitress out then and see if an essesse kit comes out in the next year.

Do you people happen to know how the UK model got the horsepower boost in the Essesse kit? As far as I know it was a simple ECU remap but I'm not sure if that was all that was done.

Click to expand...

UK SS kit is 160bhp

Early SS kits replaced the ECU, later ones just a remap.

I think the change came around the time the A500c SS kit was launched, also possibly same time as Konis were included.

Since the 595s (revised SS) was launched, the kit structure is more complicated as...

595 Turismo = roughly same as SS with Koni, without SS wheels.

595 Competizione = roughly same as SS with Koni, without SS wheels, but includes Sabelts and Monza.

So there are various kits aimed at chipping away at your savings in more easily justifiable chunks, rather than the full SS kit. Glad my A500c SS was ex demo!

The NA model is a different kettle of fish - it uses the Multiair engine that is fitted to the Abarth Punto Evo / Mito Cloverleaf.

So, the 595 was never available in North America? That's interesting. I've been doing some more digging online into the North American models and it looks like I might try and do something similar to the venom concept that debuted last year, it was around 205 hp and used koni suspension and an Ecu piggyback module from a tuning company that worked with fiat to develop it, I can't remember off the top of my head what the name of the company was

Yes that's the Mopar stuff I mentioned.

Oh, ok. I'll have to do some more digging to see what this will do to my warranty. But the wheels are turning now. I just finished doing a full 3M Job on the car, so no more rock chips are in my future. And I have to do some tinting, but after that we will have to see what I get done first.

If you haven't seen it already, checkout the 500 Madness site. Lots of info on the Mexican built A500 and comparison with the Polish built Euro version. Lots of products to empty your saving too!