Posted : 28/02/2009

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Taking the Fiat Punto S2000 rally car that has been marching across Europe from victory to victory as its inspiration, Fiat’s performance division, Abarth, will turn up the heat on the Punto at the Geneva Motor Show this week with the launch of the Abarth Punto SuperSport.

Equipped with a 16-valve 1.4 liter engine pumped up to deliver 132kW, with 270Nm, the Abarth Punto SuperSport hits a top speed of 215km/h and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds.

In addition, a variable backpressure dual-mode exhaust system enhances engine sound, producing the distinctive throaty roar over 4000rpm so beloved of rally and motorsport fans who have seen the Punto S2000 in action. With performance features like these, there can be no doubt that this is a car whose whole heart and soul is in racing.

Performance also benefits from a number of changes in ride height and trim attitude, giving the car a more solid stance with firmer, shorter springs, 215/40x18 tires and specially designed 7.5x18 alloy wheels. This puts the car into a real sprinter’s crouch, dropping its roll center by 20mm. Just as important, the brake system features cross-drilled discs all round, together with high-performance front brake pads.

On the inside, the SuperSport boasts Sabelt Abarth Racing leather-upholstered seats – lightweight and track-approved, as befits the car’s sporting spirit – and the Abarth Blue&MeTM MAP satellite navigator with telemetry capabilities developed with Magneti Marelli. This innovative device provides four different functions.

The first – Monitoring – displays the main in-car parameters (rpm, vehicle speed, engaged gear) acquired and transferred by the Blue&MeTM system to the PND Portable Navigation Device via Bluetooth. The Track function, accessible if the driver is on one of the circuits stored on the device’s SD memory card, displays a set of additional information such as the car’s location on the track (provided by GPS) and lap times.

The third function – Configuration – makes it possible to store telemetric data for a route and associate them with a personalized session identified by the driver’s name, circuit and date. Stored information can be easily retrieved and analyzed later with the fourth, Analysis, function.

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