Fiat Seicento with a 490 HP Abarth Engine

The Fiat Seicento was built from 1997–2010 and was powered by either a 899 cc or 1108 cc inline-four. The smaller engine produced 39 horsepower and only 54 horsepower in the larger version. One courageous owner has swapped the factory engine out for something that produces almost 12x the power.

The owner decided to install a 1.4 L T-Jet inline-four from a Fiat Abarth 500. The engine produces 490 horsepower and 354 lb-ft (480 Nm) of torque running on E85 fuel and a Garrett GT2871R turbocharger on 31.9 psi (2.2 bar) of boost. The engine was also upgraded with a ported head, 2000 cm Bosch injectors, upgraded camshafts and valve springs.

Behind the engine sits an upgraded four-paddle clutch and flywheel connected to an Abarth C510 five-speed manual transmission with a Torsen limited-slip differential.

Since the little two-door hatch only weighs 1,610-1,650 lb (730-750 kg), the car has a power-to-weight ratio of 3.28-3.36 lb/hp. For comparison a 2013 McLaren P1 is 3.63 lb/hp and a Ferrari LaFerrari is 3.68 lb/hp.

Source: RacingForum.pl (build thread) and photos by Piotr Cegliński (more photos) via Piotr