NF500 / tuning kit

We somehow failed to pick up on this first time around, but it seems many outlets have just starting reporting on a small but significant nugget of information revealed at the last weeks unveiling of the Fiat 500 Abarth.

Abarth officially revealed that an Esseesse tuning kit will be available for the 500 come November, which will boost power further still over the Abarth version to 160 hp. The kit will be available either at time of order, or as a retrofit, reportedly to 500s under 20,000 km or one year old.

Should be fun.

So says Auto Express, who’ve whipped up some photoshop images of how they believe the new Fiat 500 Abarth will shape up when launched later in 2008.

Auto Express have changed their view about the forthcoming line up from previous articles, and now seem to agree with our own predictions of a 135 hp Abarth and 155 hp Abarth SS, while their earlier predictions of a 180 or 200 hp Abarth SS version have shifted to an official tuning kit offering a power figure somewhere in that ballpark.

The piece doesn’t really say or show anything new for 500 devotees, but as you can read the article for free online there’s no harm in reading a little more 500 hype as the UK launch creeps ever nearer. You can see the photos and read the report on the Auto Express website