What is it?
The 595 Esseessee is essentially a lightly modified version of the existing 595 Competizione that has been wheeled out as part of Abarth’s 70th birthday celebrations.
It marks the return of the Esseesse badge, which was previously the preserve of the Italian brand’s hottest models until it disappeared a few years ago when the Abarth 500 morphed into the 595.
So what’s new? Well, the most obvious change externally is the adoption of the neat 17in multi-spoke alloy wheels that are an Esseesse trademark, while elsewhere it gets the same recently reprofiled bumpers as the standard 595. Inside, there’s a pair of bespoke figure-hugging Sabelt high-backed seats with a carbonfibre shell and some natty red stitching, while carbonfibre trim also covers the pedals and the dashboard. It contrasts a little jarringly with the otherwise cheap-and-cheerful plastics, but most of what you see and touch feels of decent quality. Elsewhere there’s a TFT instrument pack and a turbo boost gauge sitting in a pod just to the left of the steering wheel. It’s not exactly tasteful, but it’s completely in keeping with the 595's fun-loving character.
Under the stubby bonnet is the familiar 178bhp turbocharged 1.4-litre engine, but here it breathes in through a BMC filter and exhales from a switchable carbonfibre-tipped AkrapoviÄ twin exit exhaust. There’s no more power than the old Competizione, but the Esseesse gets that model's Brembo callipers for its 305mm front discs, plus a limited-slip differential. The suspension is largely carried over, including Koni’s frequency selective dampers. All very promising.
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Fantastic, Really
FFS
FFS
irritating!!
i should really like these, but i can't stop staring at the front overhang! Stop messing around, put an alfa v6 where the back seat should be, and make it look more like the original
500s are great little cars to
500s are great little cars to drive and price aside this is great, would like to see an abarth with less aggressive and more retro styling personally. It is amazing that it still uses the original modern panda platform when it's successor was a more modern platform and was discontinued.