Forza Motorsport 7: Performance is in the Air

This is the original Fiat 124 Spider in play and upon driving this classic Italian roadster in the world of Forza, it made you realize that driving one of these is like a step back in time to the classic motoring from the last century. The golden years of motoring, if you may, and even emerged from the time the fuel crisis stopped them from driving Ferraris on the open road and made the switch to smaller but fun-to-drive cars that catered to the essentials a true car enthusiast should live.



There's so much to love about the classic Fiat 124 Spider in every tangible way but for those who demand to drive the more modern version, here's the one you've been waiting for...



Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, your new Fiat 124 Spider, as emerged from Forza Motorsport 7's Samsung QLED TV Car Pack. Before I take a spin around this so-called by-product of the Axis Powers, as you say it, let's investigate the 21st century 124 Spider.



At the 2015 LA Auto Show, Fiat revived the 124 name as the newest open-top rear-wheel drive sportscar on the road, and while this is basically a Fiat, the shocking moment is that it was based on the Mazda Roadster (MX-5) ND and they're built at the same plant in Hiroshima, Japan.

Even though it features the same components as the fourth-generation MX-5, the Fiat 124 Spider differs from it because of the 1.4L MultiAir engine, shocks, and added length and cargo capacity compared to the MX-5.

The high-performance variant, the Abarth 124 Spider, was introduced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show and it was powered by an Abarth-tuned 1.4L MultiAir engine producing 170PS of power and 250Nm of torque while mated with a 6-speed manual gearbox. It does 0-100kph in 6.8 seconds and onwards to 232kph, faster than even the top-spec MX-5.



Even though it was just an MX-5 underneath, the Abarth 124 Spider I'm driving is no MX-5 indeed because thanks to its Italian engineering lurking around the Japanese-made Italian sportscar, there's a big reason why a 124 is better than the MX-5 in so many ways and in this Abarth version, it really explains a lot. It still drives like whatever lightweight open-top roadster should but because the power and dynamics are what set these two cars apart, the 124 is a tour de force unlike the MX-5 even though it's the byproduct of the Axis Powers if you call it. It has some character, it has some stance, it has some personality, and the bark that its donor car couldn't possess, and looks like Japan should be worrying about why an Italian MX-5 is better than the original MX-5. Could it be a conspiracy why a different version is better than the original even though they were made from the same assembly line? It's too early to tell but in the meantime...



I'm at the Top Gear Test Track on a rainy day to see if the modern 124, in Abarth guise, really is the true successor to the original 124, the one Jeremy Clarkson drove on his final day as a Top Gear presenter before he became the host of The Grand Tour alongside Richard Hammond and James May. Wait a minute, this Abarth 124 did feature in The Grand Tour with Hammond behind the wheel but anyway...





Looking back five decades, the Fiat 124 Spider is an all-time classic that likes to live up to the examples of the greatest lightweight sportscars in history, and in today's time, the MX-5-based 124 continues the tradition despite having spaghetti and sushi served on the silver platter. Some say that the normal 124 Spider wasn't as good as the MX-5 but thanks to the Abarth variant, it really did and it can outrun even a top-spec Mazda MX-5 with the SKYACTIV-G 2.0L on it. I'm starting to love this new open-top Fiat even more and speaking of which, who wants to see a quick lap with these beauties?


After a wet lap around the Top Gear track with the past and present 124 Spiders, here are the results...

Old 124 - 1:48.092 (wet)
New 124 - 1:38.683 (wet)

Five decades and looks like the 124 did evolve into something special, which isn't bad for an Axis Powers team-up that made us upset, very very upset why the Rome-Tokyo-Berlin Axis made its way through the motoring industry because of BMW, Toyota, Fiat, and Mazda. Looks like the car companies from the Allied Forces need to step up against the motoring Axis Powers. If the fat man who controls our lives once said the Germans are evil, why not the Italians and the Japanese?



Still, I am glad to drive the new 124 Spider in the game, even though it's long overdue just like the Alfa Romeo Giulia that I drove a couple of moments ago but I'm not done yet because later on, I will find out if the Italian version of the Japan's favorite roadster is better than the original. This should be interesting so watch for it.