This Is How Fiat Plans to Do Battle With the Nissan Juke Nismo RS

8 years, 10 months ago - 23 December 2015, Carbuzz

Suddenly small crossovers have become a thing. Some say it all started with the Nissan Juke before quickly spreading to other brands such as Mini and its Countryman and, more recently, the Fiat 500X.

But Nissan, to its credit, has given the Juke a shot of adrenaline. The Juke Nismo RS has sort of become its own niche within a niche that’s attracting enough buyers and now Fiat wants in on the action. According to Autocar, an Abarth-tuned version of the 500X is set to arrive in time for the 2017 model year and is expected to be sold worldwide.

Power, more than likely, will come courtesy of the same 1.4-liter Multiair four-banger that’ll be found in the also upcoming Fiat 124 Spider. Abarth engineers are already hinting that the 500X Abarth will produce around 170 hp and power will be sent to all four wheels via either a six-speed manual or a six-speed dual-clutch. Just for comparison, the Juke Nismo RS has 215 hp from its turbocharged 1.6-liter four. Let’s see if Abarth can make something better than that.