It’s common knowledge that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will introduce its own sporty car that shares platforms with the Mazda MX-5 Miata, to be called the Fiat 124 Spider (an homage to the sports car that Fiat created back in the late 1960s). The roadster will reportedly use a relatively modest 1.4-liter turbocharged engine that makes 135 horsepower. That should be OK for the lightweight two-seater, but The Sleuth hears that a planned Abarth-branded performance version will blow the doors off the regular-strength Spider and its MX-5 relation by employing the same 237-horsepower 1.75-liter engine that was developed for the Alfa 4C coupe. Alfa is a Fiat brand. The Abarth version of the Fiat 124 is expected to arrive by mid-2017, a year after the regular-strength model’s launch. The Sleuth thinks that Mazda should look into this for the Miata.
The 237-horsepower engine from the Alfa Romeo 4C will find a new home in the Fiat 124 that shares a platform with the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
