Fiat Releases the Special-Edition 500 Cattiva

Fiat shows off the mischievous side of its cute 500 with the 500 Cattiva, which was first shown in concept form at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. Apparently, Cattiva describes "a person or situation that is naughty yet cool" in Italian. The 500 Cattiva might not really be "cattiva," but it sure does try hard to be.

The Cattiva can be ordered on the 500 Sport and the 500 Turbo. While the Cattiva model does not add any mechanical upgrades, it does feature many darkened elements. The lighting pieces are all darkened, there's a Nero-painted (black) roof, there's a Nero-painted rear tailgate spoiler, and the 16-inch wheels are finished in a two-tone design.

Inside, the dashboard trim is painted a sooty black instead of the body-color paint other 500s use. The seats are upholstered in Nero and Grigio (black and gray) cloth stitched with silver thread. Leather seats that are black are also available. Regardless of seat upholstery, the steering wheel and shift knob are both wrapped in black leather as standard equipment.

Since the 500 Cattiva has no mechanical changes, the base 500 Cattiva that's based off the 500 Sport is still powered by the 101-horsepower four-cylinder. It can be had with either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 6-speed automatic. The Turbo-based Cattiva, meanwhile, comes with the 135-horsepower, turbocharged version of the base four-cylinder. As with the non-special 500 Turbo, the 500 Cattiva Turbo is exclusively a manual-transmission car.

The 500 Cattiva starts at $19150 for the 101-horsepower trim and $21150 for the Turbo, including the $800 destination charge. That means the Cattiva is $850 more expensive than comparable, regular 500s. The 500 Cattiva hits Fiat dealerships near the end of this year.

Comments

2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L Review

These pictures aren't of the actual vehicle, but the colors and trim level are correct. Those of you who have been following this blog since its inception know that my parents have two cars: a 2006 Nissan Sentra and a 2005 Mazda MPV. Well, we recently swapped our dear little MPV for a 2003 Odyssey. The reason for that is, well, there isn't much reason. It's mostly to spice things up in our lives and have a different car for a change without spending any extra money. Our Odyssey came with every bell and whistle you could get in a minivan in 2003, including a factory-installed DVD entertainment system, leather seats, heated seats in the front, and dual power sliding doors. First impressions were a mixed bag. The engine was very smooth, quiet, and powerful, apparently typical of Hondas, but there was a rough patch between 1000 and 1500 RPM or so. You can't feel the road textures at all while driving the car, but it crashed loudly over larger bumps. Loud can als...

Mini's Continuation of Expensive Little Cars

The John Cooper Works (JWC for short) moniker for Mini has meant high performance. Now, the Cooper John Cooper Works is supplemented by the bigger John Cooper Works Countryman. An all-wheel-drive, 1.6-liter turbocharged four cylinder powered fun little hatchback might lead you to believe it would be sensibly priced, but the JWC Countryman instead starts at $35550, and that's only the beginning of the story for more options. At that point, you can get a lightly equipped sports sedan than is more powerful and far more refined than the JWC Countryman would be. If you really want Mini's British charm and relatively go-cart like handling with more space than a regular JWC Cooper and an even costlier JWC Cooper convertible, this is it for you. The JWC package does get you 19-inch wheels and red trim inside and out, though. If you're looking at competitors, the Volkswagen Golf R will have to be the sole car. Its starting price is within $200 of the JWC Countryman's, and...

2014 Porsche Panamera

So yesterday, the refreshed Panamera was revealed, along with all the details of the upgrades. The big news are the styling updates, more power, a plug-in hybrid model, and a new long-wheebase model. Starting with the engine updates, the base 3.6-liter V-6 engine produces 310 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 10 horsepower. The 400-horsepower, 4.8-liter V-8 for the Panamera S and 4S trims makes way for a new twin-turbocharged V-6 that makes 420 horsepower and 384 pounds-feet of torque. The Panamera GTS looks and handles much like the Turbo, but it uses the S's engine. Meanwhile, the Turbo's twin-turbocharged 4.8-liter V-8 gets a horsepower bump of 20, to a good 520 horsepower and 516 pounds-feet of torque. The Turbo S is discontinued for now. All of the above engines are mated to Porsche's PDK dual-clutch automates manual transmission. Finally, there's the Panamera S E-Hybrid, which is a fairly significant upgrade from the previous S Hybri...

From the Passenger's Seat

Search This Blog