Fiat’s recent North American introduction has seen mild success due to the spiking rates of fuel, forcing some Americans to ditch their beloved SUV’s for a more economical, yet fun option.

This continues with the Fiat 500 Abarth, a more sporty and speedy version of the 500. With 160bhp and a price tag of $22,000, the new Abarth certainly isn’t cheap.

Let’s compare the prices with other sporty cars like the 2012 Mustang v6, coming in at $22,300 or even the 181hp Mini cooper S with a retail price of $23,800. We believe Fiat is going to price itself out of the market unless they offer more for the American consumer.

The Abarth is powered by a 1.4 liter turbo engine with 160hp at 5500 RPM and 170 FT LB of torque. It also comes with a five speed manual gearbox.

Performance numbers for the U.S. version are not available at the minute, but our used Fiat 500 from the U.K. is a pretty nippy ride. We will update as soon as we receive further information.