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The Abarth 124 Spider uses Fiat's 1.4 litre MultiAir turbo making 170hp, not the naturally aspirated Mazda engine from the MX-5 it shares a body with. That turbo is the reason it responds to tuning the way the MX-5 does not: a Stage 1 remap takes it to around 200hp and 320Nm on our rolling road, with no hardware changes, and the torque arrives a long way earlier than standard.
Measured on our Mustang AWD rolling road in Maidstone. Wheel figures, drivetrain loss added for the flywheel numbers.Several specialists had attempted to tune the Abarth 124, but seemed to hit issues. Power curve wasn’t stable, couldn’t get suitable gains etc. It seemed common belief that the only way to get power from the 1.4 Multiair powerplant was to add a tuning box. After studying the ECU type, and looking at a few stock files we couldn’t really see any reason for the lack of success, so had a car booked in for development work.
Simon brought his stunning 124 down to us for the works to be carried out, this nearly new car offered a totally clean slate with no mechanical issues to have to work around.
First we performed a quick health check using our diagnostic testing equipment as per standard pre-dyno process. Following this, we put the vehicle through a set of stock dyno runs and data logging. Data logging the engine in standard form allows us to understand every aspect of the ECU. Our first data log and dyno run revealed the engine was making 181BHP at the flywheel with 294m of torque, up 50Nm over manufacturer figures.
Carefully analysing the recorded data logs we started re-calibrating the engine ECU data for a Stage 1 tune. Our aim was a safe 200bhp and 300Nm tune using standard engine components. Using our specialist ECU programming equipment we wrote the newly developed software to the ECU. We then preformed a post tune data log to ensure everything is reacting well to the new map.
For this tune, we wrote between 20-30 different maps applying fine adjustments to make the perfect tune. It’s this meticulous attention to detail demonstrates the care we take when producing each one of our maps.
Abarth 124 Results
With final numbers of 205BHP & 320Nm we exceeded our targets, whilst maintaining a totally safe AFR – Abarth 124 ECU Tuning really does transform how the vehicle performs!
Photos from the build
5 photos of this Abarth in our Maidstone workshop. Tap any to enlarge.
Questions we get asked
What engine is in the Abarth 124 Spider?
A 1.4 litre MultiAir turbocharged four-cylinder from Fiat, rated at 170hp. The car shares its body and chassis with the Mazda MX-5 but not its engine, which is the single most important thing to know about tuning one.
How much power does an Abarth 124 make remapped?
Around 200hp and 320Nm at Stage 1 on our dyno, from a standard 170hp and 250Nm. That is roughly +30hp and +70Nm on software alone, and the torque increase is what you feel.
Is it the same as tuning an MX-5?
No, and this is where people get caught out. The MX-5 of the same era is naturally aspirated, so software gives it very little. The Abarth has a turbo, so it responds properly. Same shape, completely different answer.
Does it need any hardware?
Not for Stage 1. If you want to go further, an induction kit and a less restrictive exhaust give the map more to work with, and we would write the file around what you have fitted rather than selling you a generic one.
Is the 124 related to the Abarth 595?
They share the 1.4 turbo family, though in different states of tune and installations. We have tuned a great many 595s, including our own JFA260 conversion, so the engine is very familiar ground for us.
How long does it take?
About two hours through the diagnostic port, including a road test. We keep your original file so the car can be put back to standard whenever you want, and you can add dyno runs for a before-and-after graph.
