GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

Anyone ever run an Abarth 500?

Chris659

Ready to race!
Hey I was wondering if anyone has ever run against an Abarth 500? There's one near where I work that looks like it has had some work done to it but not sure what they're capable of... I hope to catch him one day while I'm in my car
 

1ashchuckton

Autocross Champion
Stock for stock it would not be a contest. GTI FTW! The 500 will win at the parking in small spot challenge.
 

Chris659

Ready to race!
The gti will win every time unless the fiat had a big turbo then those cars can get pretty mean.

I know the car has had some work done to it but not sure what. Mainly wanted to know what to expect in case he tried me. Sounds like I'll embarrass the shit out of him
 

syonxwf

Go Kart Champion
Hey I was wondering if anyone has ever run against an Abarth 500? There's one near where I work that looks like it has had some work done to it but not sure what they're capable of... I hope to catch him one day while I'm in my car

I ran one with him having FBO and tune a few weeks ago when I was still stage 2 (APR), and I blew past him like he was standing still. I heard he's going BT soon (from the tuner that works on his car, which is how I verified what he had done), but I haven't seen him again since then (and I'm K04 now anyways).

I looked around and it's looking like they're hitting around 260whp with a tune and big turbo, though I've also read that guys hitting 275whp are also having to do (or are at least being seriously recommended to do) internals, so my guess is that 260+ is pushing the envelope with those little engines. Even still, at 260whp they would be a pretty good match for a low output k04, at least in the lower speeds (sub 100mph).

All that being said, if he isn't big turbo, you'll smash him with K04.
 

Blakcard

Autocross Newbie
I know the car has had some work done to it but not sure what. Mainly wanted to know what to expect in case he tried me. Sounds like I'll embarrass the shit out of him

video....wanna giggle at it
 

Chris659

Ready to race!
I ran one with him having FBO and tune a few weeks ago when I was still stage 2 (APR), and I blew past him like he was standing still. I heard he's going BT soon (from the tuner that works on his car, which is how I verified what he had done), but I haven't seen him again since then (and I'm K04 now anyways).

I looked around and it's looking like they're hitting around 260whp with a tune and big turbo, though I've also read that guys hitting 275whp are also having to do (or are at least being seriously recommended to do) internals, so my guess is that 260+ is pushing the envelope with those little engines. Even still, at 260whp they would be a pretty good match for a low output k04, at least in the lower speeds (sub 100mph).

All that being said, if he isn't big turbo, you'll smash him with K04.

Wow! That's pretty crazy! They sound a lot like the Hyundai Turbo motors. An old co worker had a Veloster Turbo with custom tune and every bolt on practically and I was surprised at how low the power was compared to our cars. He was told anything above like 275-300hp would need bigger Turbo and full motor build!
 

fast2ghl

Ready to race!
Wow! That's pretty crazy! They sound a lot like the Hyundai Turbo motors. An old co worker had a Veloster Turbo with custom tune and every bolt on practically and I was surprised at how low the power was compared to our cars. He was told anything above like 275-300hp would need bigger Turbo and full motor build!

YUP.

GTI > then basically every other hatch.

The TSI is stout as fuck.
 

syonxwf

Go Kart Champion
Wow! That's pretty crazy! They sound a lot like the Hyundai Turbo motors. An old co worker had a Veloster Turbo with custom tune and every bolt on practically and I was surprised at how low the power was compared to our cars. He was told anything above like 275-300hp would need bigger Turbo and full motor build!

On a relative side note, one of the companies that does tuning for the Abarth, also makes tunes for the Veloster Turbo, Dodge Dart, Kia Forte, etc., basically all of these "eco" hot hatches. Each one of them has a smaller motor and a smaller turbo, and each one was really not designed to operate much above stock levels of power (from everything I've read). The VT's explode if you go too far over 240whp, the Dart's transmission can't handle much more than 225wtq, the Abarth I believe is in the same boat with it's transmission (as Dodge, since Fiat owns both), and I've read they too can't go much above 260whp before needing internals, the Forte is one of the only ones I haven't read much about, but my guess is that it's going to be similar to the VT. For the most part, those companies are making the bare minimum they can get away with so that the motors last until the warranty is up, and that's about it.

I think I posted this somewhere else here recently, but I know one guy that's local that has a N/A 2.4L Dart but bought a turbo for it and had it tuned and setup by the same local tuner. Stock he was around 165whp? Something like that...now he's at 213/220 (to the wheels), and that's as far as he can go before needing to do transmission work. At that point, he might as well have spent the 18-20k (car) + 5-6k(turbo) and + 3-5k transmission rebuild on a Charger R/T and still probably had room left over to tune and do bolt ons and been lightyears above his 2.4 Dart...:rolleyes:

The VT crowd is especially dense, they think their car stock is a "GTI killer" because they have the same amount of horsepower and are a lighter car; Hyundai however, like most manufacturers that aren't VAG, post crank numbers, so even though Hyundai claims 201hp, it's actually dyno'ing 165-175 at the wheels, whereas the GTI (specifically the MK6) was dyno'ing true to it's numbers, or sometimes even higher than claimed.

Even tuned those guys get really excited because when the tuners push the motor (dangerously high for the stock motor/turbo) and hit 275whp (give or take) - the problem is that they don't show it at the track. The tuner that hit those numbers, only managed a 13.875 @ 101...Stage 2 APR puts us at lower numbers than that, and despite being a heavier car we've had guys run 12.6 @ 107-109. No, most stage 2 guys aren't hitting those numbers, but I'm taking one of their "best" tuned and fully optimized against ours, and it's not even close, despite the numbers.

Anyways...I think I just went off in left field again, but it's definitely an interesting group of cars, and an even more interesting crowd that accompany them :lol:

I'm still waiting for a Veloster to try and race me, I never have had one try, though I have seen one that I know is tuned with FBO's and has a high number attached to it, just never seen him when there isn't traffic...

YUP.

GTI > then basically every other hatch.

The TSI is stout as fuck.

This. Very much this. I was just talking to the guys in the local Focus ST group and they want to set something up so that a couple of them can run me again. I ran a guy when I was the original APR stage 2 file, 235whp/280wtq, he was stage 3 on e30, at 280whp/360wtq, and from 55-110 I pulled 5-6 cars on him (yes, he was racing, he didn't miss a shift, though he did have some extra weight in an extra passenger and camping gear, it wasn't enough to make that much of a difference, and those are his words). Another guy just went Big turbo (he's sitting around 330whp/350wtq), raced a stage 3 e30 ST, and beat him by 3 cars...He still has room to go in his ST with the BT, but where he's at now, and considering I'm 80whp and at least 30wtq higher than where I was when I ran the other guy, I'm thinking it's not going to be pretty. No idea where their power goes, but it sure as shit isn't going to the ground...
 
Last edited:

Chris659

Ready to race!
I have seen a few ST's around town but never when I'm in my car or if I am we're not going the same direction or whatever...

IIRC, my old coworkers VT dyno sheet was in the 210-220whp range. He moved just before I got my new setup but he kept saying how he wanted to run to see how his car would hold up.

Now one of my current coworkers has a mid to early 90s civic with fully built motor and turbo and he wants to run me.

I'm aiming for the 350whp range once I get my high boost file (any day now...tap tap tap...HPA) and hopefully higher once I add dp w/m and run some high octane fuel whereas his car is already expected to be in the 350whp range and has to be considerably lighter then mine!

And he has drag racing experience as he also has a turbo c5 vette and has had fast cars all his life. Been drag racing for years so I already told him I'd run him but I highly expect him to win. I'm going to wait till after I get the LSD installed to try him since he wants to run from a dig.

He's fully building the motor and trans up on the vette and is expecting to easily make 750-800whp! The turbo is the size of my head! Makes ours look like a cute lil baby turbo
 

MK6BRO

Passed Driver's Ed
Haven't run one but I heard one a few months back with some work done to it and I have to admit it actually sounded pretty good. Nice exhaust and turbo sounds coming from it
 

bart2278

Go Kart Champion
I had a modified veloster and a 5th gen mustang gt modified, but probably just aesthetics(before the 5.0) try to race me, I was f23t, and they got embarrassed. They both got left in the dust, and when they tried to do a flyby, I dropped a gear and hit the gas and they just barely passed me until I hit 4th and I passed them again.
 
Top