Abarth Fiat 500 news - Austro nought - 2008

It was never going to take long for the tuning brigade to get their hands on the Fiat 500, so it's no surprise that the entrepreneurial gents at Austria's Oberscheider Chip Tuning (OCT) have given the little Cinq the full spanners 'n' carbon fibre treatment.

What is perhaps more surprising is that they chose to tune up the diesel 500 instead of the petrol. It's a fairly modest overhaul, in truth - power is up from 75bhp to a useful 90bhp, with torque up by 26lb ft to 133lb ft.

That means the oil-burning 500 will now hit 60 in a very respectable 9.9 seconds, and although there's no word on top speed, we'd expect it to top the 99mph of its untuned cousin.

None of which excuses those black powder wheels. Fine on an Exige or a Clio Cup, not so good on a 500. There's only one word in 500 modification, and it starts with 'A' and ends with 'barth'. You've been warned, fly-by-night Euro-tuners.