In our quest to bring the very best information, vendors and dealers to Fiat owners here in America, Fiat500USA.com is happy to announce the well known European tuner, TMC Motorsport, has come on board as a sponsor of the Fiat 500 USA Forum.
Based in the UK, TMC Motorsport has hands on experience tuning the Fiat 500 Abarth and wants to bring its expertise here to American 500 Abarth owners. Below is a little background on TMC Motorsport to better acquaint yourself with the company. Afterwards, make sure you check out their website and stop by their forum and say hello.
TMC Motorsport was started in 2005 by owner Daron Brown, having been involved in the tuning industry for more than 15 years. Since the conception of plug and play tuning devices in 1996 we have actively worked to advance the technology of these devices to provide very similar results to ECU remapping without making permanent changes to the vehicle.
This type of system is now very popular amongst new car owners with concerns about losing their warranty by making permanent changes to their car. Also, since 2009, many new cars have security locked ECU’s and can’t be remapped without breaking open the ECU to program directly to the processor inside with soldered cables. These units now account for more than 70% of our business and are sold around the world.
In 2010, after selling plug in tuning kits to many owners of the new Abarth 500, TMC bought an Abarth Punto Evo with the new 1.4 MultiAir engine. We had visited car shows in UK and really liked the Abarth brand with its unique style and very punchy 1.4 turbo engine. It was great looking, full of character and, more importantly, a very easy car to upgrade in many ways. The stock suspension and brakes were fine for the 135 bhp the car had, but when upgraded to over 160 bhp these were clearly inadequate.
Abarth themselves offered the Esseesse upgrade kit, which included upgraded brakes and wheels and a power hike to 160 bhp, but the price tag was quite high and many owners could not afford to do it and were looking for cheaper but high quality alternatives. This is where we saw a niche in the market to supply parts at an affordable price but still giving top quality brand names.
Abarth themselves offered the Esseesse upgrade kit, which included upgraded brakes and wheels and a power hike to 160 bhp, but the price tag was quite high and many owners could not afford to do it and were looking for cheaper but high quality alternatives. This is where we saw a niche in the market to supply parts at an affordable price but still giving top quality brand names.
Since 2010 the Abarth market has evolved quite rapidly and spread around the world, albeit in small numbers. Even with the world economy in recession, there was still a strong following for this iconic brand and more and more companies started to produce custom upgrades for the cars.
Just recently the Abarth 500 has been launched in the US and Canada, initially in quite small numbers and with some minor body changes, additional safety features, and the Abarth Punto Evo 1.4 MultiAair engine, which is more powerful with just over 160 bhp in stock form, has more torque than the older 1.4 T Jet engine and produces lower emissions. This engine is a real piece of engineering genius, having won engine of the year for two years in a row, and in the Abarth 500 will make the perfect match of performance and economy.
Just recently the Abarth 500 has been launched in the US and Canada, initially in quite small numbers and with some minor body changes, additional safety features, and the Abarth Punto Evo 1.4 MultiAair engine, which is more powerful with just over 160 bhp in stock form, has more torque than the older 1.4 T Jet engine and produces lower emissions. This engine is a real piece of engineering genius, having won engine of the year for two years in a row, and in the Abarth 500 will make the perfect match of performance and economy.
Over the last year our range of parts for Abarth cars has grown enormously. We can now offer performance upgrades up to 237 bhp and we are currently working on a 250 bhp and 300 bhp conversion. We have a range of suspension and brake upgrades including the massive 10 pot Tarox brake upgrade. We also offer many body styling parts including carbon fibre and a wide choice of alloy wheels, seats and accessories to make each Abarth unique to your own taste.
We have also recently signed a one year deal to sponsor Sarah Franklin, who is one of the few women racing in the British Production Car Championships. In a converted Abarth Assetto Corse track car, Sarah is having a very successful year so far and TMC is proud to be part of that success. Working with this race team has also given us access to buy Assetto Corse parts direct from Abarth and offer them to our customers, where they were previously not available to the public. These include the famous rear wing, OZ racing alloys, hood air intakes, front grille, and front splitter.
Although there have been mixed reports about differences between the EU spec Abarth 500 and the US spec, there are many things that we already know for certain: our exhausts, if fitted as cat back or turbo back systems, will fit US models perfectly (we have already fitted them) and the wheels and brakes are the same as US models. Suspension is also fully compatible, so is our plug in tuning kit.
Some parts, however, will not fit. The stunning Sabelt race seats will fit in the US car but as the US model has some additional safety features in the seats, like weight sensors and active head restraints besides the side airbags, there would be a lot of work involved bypassing these features, which we believe would deter most buyers.
Given the launch of Abarth in US, we started to look for a means of communicating with potential US and Canadian customers, and worked out a deal sponsoring the FIAT 500 USA FORUM to have an open arena to discuss Abarth and try to answer any questions that new or potential Abarth owners may have.
So, to finalize, I would like to say a big hello to all of the forum members, and please feel free to ask any questions you have regarding Abarth or any of the parts we offer for them. There is a time difference of 6-8 hours between UK and US, so please allow for this in awaiting a response.
Our website address is www.tmcmotorsport.com and you will see the Abarth section in the products drop down menu. If there are any parts you would like that you don’t see, please ask as we can source almost anything Abarth.
The email address is info@tmcmotorsport.com and the same address is used for MSN and Windows Messenger. SKYPE address is tmc-motorsport and contact number including UK dialling code is 001 44 2890 507999.
Again, thank you for allowing TMC to be part of your forum. I know you will enjoy your Abarths as much as I enjoy my own and I look forward to answering any questions you may have.
Best Regards,
Daron
TMC MotorsportDaron
Fiat 500 Abarth accessories
TMC Motorsport
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