Where have you gone, Aurelio Lampredi?
Go ahead, write off the new 2017 Fiat 124 Spider two-seat roadster as a Mazda Miata wearing Italian rally drag. After all, this revivified 124 Spider is made in Japan, by Mazda, alongside the MX-5 Miata, and it shares with it most every structural and general mechanical design. That this Abarth version has a limited-slip differential and four more horsepower than a regular 124 Spider squeezes out of its Fiat-made, 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder doesn’t change the fact that there’s a lot of Miata substance here.
But then there’s the Aurelio Lampredi factor. It’s Lampredi’s 22-year-long legend as chief engineer at Fiat that the 2017 124 Spider Abarth must contend with. Lampredi, who drew up Ferrari racing engines in the early 1950s and joined Fiat in 1955, designed the Fiat Twincam four-cylinder engine that powered all the original 124 Sport Spiders from the first 1967 model until the last one left production in 1985 as the Pininfarina Spider. And Lampredi was running the Abarth racing division when it campaigned the original 124 Spider Abarth Rally in competition between 1972 and 1975.
Lampredi’s spirit inhabited the original 124 Spider, from the way that Twincam engine revved to how the five-speed transmission shifted—and that the four-wheel disc brakes almost nearly always stopped the car. It had a distinct character that could practically be seen in how the Veglia gauge needles danced, and the raw 90 horsepower (in ’67) snort of its exhaust. And the Abarth version was good enough to win the 1975 European Rally Championship.
Italian-Adjacent Tailoring
The new 124 Spider Abarth’s appearance has a swagger to it that’s missing from lesser 124 Spiders. Most of that machismo stems from its more open, darker-colored lower grille opening and the “gunmetal” finish on the side mirrors and roll bar. The test car featured the optional ($1995), hand-painted (!) matte black hood and trunklid to give it more of a competition vibe, though it does inspire questions about how to wax the car.
A big fail are the ridiculously large, cheap-looking “Abarth” scorpion badges on the nose and trunklid. They’ve got all the subtlety of plastic WWE championship belts from the bargain bin at Toys ’R’ Us. It’s a design misstep that borders on inexplicable.
With better-padded door panels and more shiny bits on the dash (such as the vent rings), the 124 Spider Abarth’s interior looks a bit nicer than the Mazda’s cockpit. Beyond that, the Abarth was equipped with $1195 worth of Recaro seats covered in a faux sort-of suede that Mazda doesn’t offer. For the narrow of butt, these Recaros are fantastic. For those with wider tails, however, well, at least the standard seat upholstery has horizontal ribs in the traditional Italian style.
Starting at $29,190 including a $995 destination charge, the tested 124 Spider Abarth had every option except an automatic transmission ladled onto it. That brought the total price to $37,870.
Fiat’s old Twincam four was a rev-happy little thing that made a wonderful sound and produced practically no torque. It bore more resemblance to the original Miata’s 1.6-liter engine than it does to Fiat’s new MultiAir turbocharged four, which revs only reluctantly, makes practically no sound at all, but produces gobs of torque from off-idle to the 6500-rpm redline. The original’s European 1.4-liter Twincam made 90 horsepower while the new 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo engine is rated at 164 horsepower.
Actually, there is a nice resonant noise coming out of the four exhaust outlets. But it’s still impossible to drive any car while standing behind it, so this bit of aural theater is lost on the driver.
Mangia Torque
Because the Abarth’s turbo engine rates at 184 lb-ft of peak torque compared with the Miata’s naturally aspirated 2.0-liter four’s measly 148 lb-ft, the 124 Spider uses the six-speed manual transmission from the previous-generation Miata to handle the load. It’s still good in the Fiat—short, quick throws, precise gating, and the subtle feel of gears meshing that rises up through the boot around the awkwardly blocky knob. But the current Miata gearbox feels better still.
It takes a slight moment for the turbo to spool up, and then it tips in rather than hitting hard. There may be four more horsepower in the Abarth than the regular 124s, but that quartet of ponies, product of the “sport-tuned exhaust,” can’t really be felt.
By historic small-roadster standards, the 124 Spider Abarth’s swift 6.7-second zero-to-60-mph time and 15.1-second tarantella through the quarter-mile at 91 mph is admirable. Back in 1979, C/D included a Fiat Spider 2000 in a six-way sports-car blowout comparison test. By then, the Lampredi Twincam engine had grown to 2.0 liters in displacement and shrunk to 80 emissions-strangled horses. That car took an agonizing 11.2 seconds to reach 60 mph and oozed through the quarter-mile in 18.4 seconds at an awful 76 mph. The Fiat finished that test ranked sixth out of six.
Today’s stronger Fiat would’ve run a close second to the ’79 Corvette in acceleration, but it couldn’t match the current Miata’s performance. In C/D’s first test of the 2016 MX-5 Miata, it sped to 60 mph in 5.9 seconds and ran the quarter-mile in 14.6 seconds at 95 mph—0.8 and 0.5 seconds quicker, traveling 4 mph faster than the Fiat at the end of a drag strip. The most frustrating thing about the Fiat MultiAir engine is how unforgiving it can be when hustled. Screw up a shift or bog down in the wrong gear, and the engine loses its turbo edge and goes limp. Our top-gear 30-to-50-mph test found the engine in a hole–it took many long seconds more than the Miata did to complete that task, after which it was fully on-boost and handily outran the Mazda from 50 to 70 mph. In reality, both cars would need a downshift to zip around even the slowest traffic, but this nobody-home sensation is an aggravation that the Miata engine better resists. Atop that, the Mazda makes a more engaging, and louder, sound. This adds a little more fun when you’re flinging it, although it can be tiring on extended cruises.
Fiat tunes the 124 Spider Abarth’s chassis with a touch of entertaining oversteer. With the driver sitting only barely forward of the rear axle, it’s a sweet sensation that makes diving into corners that much more delicious. In contrast, the Miata is a bit more neutral and seems to stick more tenaciously, even as its body leans over more.
Most Miatas and 124 Spiders ride on 17-inch wheels with a fairly narrow 205/45R-17 Bridgestone Potenza S001 summer tire at all four corners, so the differences in feel are attributable to the tuning of the dampers, springs, and anti-roll bars. But the Abarth uses the Potenza RE050A of identical size, a tire Fiat says it chose for better grip and to complement the suspension tuning. The 124 Spider Abarth circled the skidpad at 0.87 g while the Mazda stuck all the way to 0.90 g, which leads us to believe the S001 is actually the grippier tire. Put it all together, and the Mazda has an eager, antsy, on-its-toes readiness, while the Fiat is more settled but ready to romp.
Both cars can be had with sweet Brembo front disc brakes – Fiat charges $1495 for them (Mazda includes the brake upgrade in a $3400 package that also brings BBS wheels, a proximity key, and assorted body add-ons on the Club trim level). The Fiat’s 171-foot stops from 70 mph feel great, even as it took 13 feet longer than the Mazda, but it’s the fade-free performance while barreling down mountain roads that’s most reassuring. Option money well spent, we’d say.
By now, where a car is assembled is almost beside the point. That this is a Fiat made by Mazda in Japan doesn’t mean it can’t carry forward both the original 124 Sport Spider’s styling and its spirit. Italy isn’t missing from this Abarth, but Aurelio Lampredi is. The current MultiAir engine simply doesn’t have the dramatic, mechanical flair that Lampredi built into his Fiats.
Our ideal 21st-century 124 Spider Abarth would have a naturally aspirated four that spun up aggressively and sang out with a vibrant growl. You know, something like the 2.0-liter four in the Miata, but with lighter rotating and reciprocating internals. Somewhere inside Fiat—er, FCA—there must be an engineer ready to follow Lampredi’s example and build that. So get to it.