70 EWN 22 - 28 June 2023
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MOTORING
Abarth 595 is a characterful gem! ROAD TEST by Mark Slack
ICONIC is a very overused word but particularly in re gards to cars. However,
there are a few cars that can genuinely claim to be iconic and the Fiat 500 is certainly one of them. In its modern incarnation, like BMW’s MINI, it is heritage reborn and continues to be
a huge success for Fiat. It is hard to believe it has been around since 2008 and in Abarth form is a particular ly fun drive. It’s not espe cially fast, but really em phasises that cars don’t need to be fast to be fun. Priced from €27,251/ £23,225 the Abarth 595 lineup is all powered by a 1.4litre turbocharged petrol engine driving the front wheels through ei ther a manual or CVT au tomatic gearbox. There’s a firm but still comfortable ride with the benefit of confident cornering across more twisting roads. The petrol powerplant offers two power outputs, 165 hp or 180 hp, and compromis es of the 595, 695 and 500e allelectric, with both sa loon and cabrio versions in the lineup. The Abarth 500e will take you 164 miles on a single charge, so not longdistance material, but a striking commuter car.
ABARTH 595: This is one I was very sorry to hand back.
The leadin 595 offers standard fare such as dual drive electric power steer ing with a sports function and fabric sports seats. Al so present is air condition ing, Bluetooth, Car Play, Android Auto, front seat height adjustment, auto lights and wipers, rear parking sensors and pow ered and heated door mir
rors and 16inch alloy wheels. Where the 595 shows its age is in terms of practicali ty with a small boot and only three doors. Huge fun on cross country roads and easy round town, things are not so settled on major A roads or motorways. It tends to be a bit noisy with a drone from tyre noise.
Although it has been re cently tweaked these are tweaks rather than a major overhaul to its design. Therefore, it may be beaten by competi tors in terms of practi cality and equipment, but the Abarth has a character lack ing in more main stream rivals Apart from looking the part the Abarth sounds gorgeous at tickover, not in a broken exhaust kind of way but there’s a lovely burble and once on the road and pushing the revs the sounds contin ue to impress. It has such character compared to many mod ern cars and also broad ap peal. My young supermar ket delivery chap went into verbal overdrive when he saw it. This was one I was VERY sorry to hand back.
