You have probably seen we have reviewed the Abarth 595 Competizione and we love that little car. Bags of character and small, light and quick. The perfect car for nipping around town and having fun. 178bhp in a small lightweight car.
Now the Pogea Racing Abarth 500 takes it to a whole new level! its creators say it is: “a striking wide-body power athlete,” with a full carbon body er ok blimey!
Pogea say it will do 0-62 in 4.7 seconds (same as a Focus RS) punching out 404bhp! in a front wheel drive car that is very lightweight. We got torque steer on the front wheels in the Competizione; god knows how this car will get the power down. It is very quick, the 0-62 doesn’t sound as fast as we might expect considering the 178bhp car we drove does it in 6.7 seconds.
Clearly despite a wider stance, and limited 328lb ft of torque, carbon fibre body kit and Super Sport Michelin tyres the speed is curtailed due to “slip at the front axle” Getting all that power transferred to grip is a problem.
Apparently the 500 uses the same 1.4 engine, though it has been tuned within an inch of its life. So many parts of the engine have been replaced. Pogea say it took them 4 years to develop and hardly a single screw was untouched. It has been rebuilt, reworked from the bottom up and despite its power transfer issues it will go toe to toe with a Porsche 718 Cayman.
It will cost you £50,000 to buy, but be quick only 5 will ever be made!
