wheel Abarth 500 2011 Owner handbook (in English)

Dear Customer,
Thank you for choosing Abarth and congratulations on your choice of a Abarth.
We prepared this booklet to enable you to know each detail of your Abarth and use it correctly. Please, read it carefully
before driving your car. You will find information, tips and important warnings regarding the driving of your car to help you derive
the maximum from the technological features of your Abarth.
You are recommended to read carefully the warnings and indications, marked with the respective symbols:
personal safety;
the car’s wellbeing;
environmental protection.
The enclosed Warranty Booklet lists the services that Abarth offers to its Customers:
❒the Warranty Certificate with terms and conditions for maintaining its validity
❒the range of additional services available to Abarth Customers.
Best regards and happy motoring!
The special features of the new 500 Abarth make the car captivating through its unmistakeable appearance,
stylish yet traditional and, at the same time, practical in terms of performance and safety thanks to the new
elements that have been introduced. The miniskirts, the rear spoiler and the inclined connector to the underbody
improve the drag coefficient, the geometry and road holding at speed. The twin exhaust pipes are fitted at the
sides of the incline at the specular outlets of a single transversely mounted silencer. The front and rear
symmetrical air intakes are practical and the first ones allow the flow of air for cooling the two specular
intercoolers, while the second ones permit the outlet of the flow at the rear. The introduction of the TTC
system (Torque Transfer Control), which improves the transfer of engine torque to the wheels, makes the
vehicle safer and more pleasant to drive, especially when cornering. Comfort is improved thanks to the introduction
of the anti-roll bar which involves a reduction in shock absorber pressure thereby making the vehicle less rigid.
Every feature of the 500 Abarth passenger compartment, from the turbo analogue pressure gauge, the
steering wheel with three spokes and shaped grips, the aluminium pedal assembly, the gear lever with an
ergonimically designed grip and the seats with head restraints built-into the backrest,
is designed to give the car a sporty appearance.
This Owner Handbook contains descriptions of the various new 500 Abarth trim levels therefore you should find
the information that relates to the version you have purchased.

2
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CARDASHBOARD ...................................................................... 3
SYMBOLS ............................................................................... 4
THE FIAT CODE SYSTEM.................................................. 4
THE KEYS .............................................................................. 5
INSTRUMENT PANEL AND ONBOARD
INSTRUMENTS..................................................................... 9
MULTIFUNCTIONAL DISPLAY AND
RECONFIGURABLE MULTIFUNCTIONAL DISPLAY 12
MENU FUNCTIONS............................................................ 14
TRIP COMPUTER ................................................................ 21
SEATS ...................................................................................... 23
HEAD RESTRAINTS............................................................. 24
STEERING WHEEL .............................................................. 25
REARVIEW MIRRORS......................................................... 26
CLIMATE COMFORT.......................................................... 27
HEATING AND VENTILATION ...................................... 28
MANUAL CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM .................... 29
AUTOMATIC CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEM ............. 31
EXTERNAL LIGHTS............................................................. 34
WINDOW WASHING....................................................... 35CEILING LIGHTS ................................................................. 36
CONTROLS........................................................................... 37
INTERIOR FITTINGS........................................................... 39
SUNROOF.............................................................................. 41
DOORS .................................................................................. 43
POWER WINDOWS........................................................... 45
BOOT ...................................................................................... 46
BONNET................................................................................. 49
ROOF RACK/SKI RACK .................................................... 51
HEADLIGHTS........................................................................ 51
ABS SYSTEM ......................................................................... 53
ESP SYSTEM ........................................................................... 54
EOBD SYSTEM ..................................................................... 57
“DUALDRIVE” ELECTRIC POWER
STEERING SYSTEM ............................................................. 58
SOUND SYSTEM.................................................................. 59
AT THE FILLING STATION ............................................. 61
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT............................. 62
Y Y
O O
U U
R R
C C
A A
R R

8
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
IGNITION
SWITCH fig. 7
The key can be turned to 3 different po-
sitions:
❒STOP: engine off, key extractable,
steering locked. Some electrical devices
(e.g. car radio, central door locking sys-
tem, etc.) are enabled
❒MAR: driving position. All electrical de-
vices are enabled
❒AVV: engine start.
The ignition switch is fitted with a safety sys-
tem that, if the engine does not start, forces
to return the ignition key to STOPbefore
repeating the starting operation.
Never extract the key while
the vehicle is moving. The
steering wheel would be locked as
soon as the steering wheel is turned.
This also applies to when the car is
towed.
It is absolutely forbidden to carry out
whatever after-market operation in-
volving steering system or steering col-
umn modifications (e.g.: installation
of anti-theft device) that could badly
affect performance and safety, cause
the lapse of warranty and also result
in non-compliance of the car with ho-
mologation requirements.
WARNING
fig. 7F0S0007Ab
STEERING COLUMN LOCK
Engaging
When the key is at STOP, remove the key
and turn the steering wheel until it locks.
Disengaging
Rock the steering wheel slightly as you
turn the ignition key to MAR.

23
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
Seat height adjustment
fig. 18
Operating lever Cit is possible to lift or
lower the rear area of the cushion to
achieve the most comfortable driving po-
sition.Backrest tilting fig. 19
To tilt the backrest, operate the lever D
(movement a) and push the backrest for-
ward until it locks (movement b); release
the lever Dand, pushing the backrest,
slide the seat forward (movement c).
SEATS
FRONT SEATS
fig. 16F0S0013m
fig. 17F0S0014m
Fore/aft adjustment fig. 16
Lift lever Aand push the seat forwards and
backwards: your arms should rest on the
steering wheel rim while you are driving.
All adjustments must be
made with the car station-
ary.
WARNING
After releasing the lever, al-
ways check that the seat is
locked on the guides by trying to
move it backwards and forth. If it is
not locked, the seat may move unex-
pectedly and make you lose control
of the car.
WARNING
fig. 18F0S0015m
fig. 19
2
34
6
5
1
DD
F0S0154m
Back rest angle adjustment fig. 17
Turn knob B.

25
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
STEERING WHEEL
It can be adjusted vertically (for versions/
markets, where provided).
For adjustment. bring the lever A-fig. 22
downward to position 2then position the
wheel and lock it bringing lever Ato po-
sition 1.
fig. 21F0S021Abfig. 22F0S022Ab
Perform these operations
only when the car is station-
ary and the engine is not running.
WARNING

34
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
LOW BEAMS SIDE/TAILLIGHTS
fig. 30
With the key on MAR turn the knurled
ring to
2. If low beams are activated, day-
light lights are deactivated and taillights and
low beams are activated. The warning light
3on the instrument panel will come on
at the same time. With ignition key on
STOPor removed, rotate the knurled
ring from position Oto position
2. The
light
3on the instrument panel turns on
and all taillights and number plate lights
turn on.
MAIN BEAMS fig. 30
With knurled ring in position
2, push the
stalk forward toward the dashboard
(steady position). The warning light
1on the instrument panel will come on.
They switch off pulling the stalk toward
the wheel (low beams turn on).
FLASHING fig. 30
You can flash the beams pulling the stalk
toward the wheel (unstable position). The warning light
1on the instrument
panel will come on at the same time.
DIRECTION INDICATORS fig. 31
Move the stalk to (steady) position:
up (position a): right-hand indicator
down (position b): left-hand indicator
Warning light ¥or Îwill blink on the in-
strument panel. Direction indicator auto-
matically turn off, when the car travels
again in a straight direction.
Lane change function
If you want to signal that you want to
change lane, move the left stalk to un-
steady position for less than half a second.
The direction indicator of the selected
side activates for three blinks and then au-
tomatically turns off.
EXTERNAL LIGHTS
The left-hand stalk operates most of the
external lights. The external lights can on-
ly be switched on when the ignition key
is on MAR. The instrument panel and the
various instrument panel controls will
come on with the external lights.
DAYLIGHT LIGHT (D.R.L.) fig. 30
(for versions/markets, where provided)
With the key on MARand the knurled ring
on Othe daylight lights automatically turn
on; the other lights and the internal lighting
do not turn on. The daylight lights auto-
matic switch on function can be en-
abled/disabled using the display menus (see
paragraph “Multifunctional and reconfig-
urable multifunctional display” in this chap-
ter). If daylight lights are disabled, with
knurled ring in position Ono light turns on.
fig. 30F0S030Abfig. 31F0S031Ab
Daylight lights are an alter-
native to the low beams
during daylight travelling, when they
are mandatory, and their use is al-
lowed when low beams are not
mandatory.
Daylight lights do not replace low
beams when travelling in tunnels or
during the night.
The use of daylight lights is governed
by the Highway Code of the country
you are in. Keep to the rules.
WARNING

35
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
WINDOW WASHING
The right stalk fig. 32controls windscreen
wiper/washer and heated rear window
wiper/washer operation.
WINDSCREEN WASHER/WIPER
The device can work only when the igni-
tion key is on MAR.
The stalk has 5 different positions (4
speeds):
Awindscreen wiper off.
Bintermittent.
Ccontinuous slow.
Dcontinuous fast.
Etemporary fast (unstable position).
The temporary fast function lasts as long
as you manually keep the stalk in that po-
sition. When released, the stalk will return
to position Aand the wiper will be auto-
matically stopped.“Smart washing” function
Pull the stalk towards the steering wheel
(unstable position) to operate the wind-
screen washer jet.
Keep the stalk pulled to activate with a sin-
gle movement the windscreen washer jet
and the windscreen wiper; the latter au-
tomatically turns on if you keep the stalk
pulled for over half a second. The wind-
screen wiper stops operating a few
strokes after releasing the stalk; a further
“cleaning stroke”, after a few seconds,
completes the wiping operation. “FOLLOW ME HOME”
DEVICE
This function allows the illumination of the
space in front of the car for a preset pe-
riod of time.
Activation
With the ignition key on STOPor re-
moved, pull the stalk towards the steering
wheel within 2 minutes from when the en-
gine is turned off.
At each movement of the stalk, the stay-
ing on of the lights is extended by 30 sec-
onds up to a maximum of 210 seconds;
then the lights are switched off automati-
cally.
Each time the stalk is operated, the warn-
ing light
3on the instrument panel
turns on and the display shows how long
the function remains active.
The warning light turns on the first time
the stalk is operated, and stays on until the
function is automatically deactivated. Each
time you operate the lever, only the per-
manence of lights increases.
Deactivation
Keep the stalk pulled towards the steer-
ing wheel for more than 2 seconds.
F0S032Abfig. 32
Do not use the windscreen
wiper to remove layers of
snow or ice from the wind-
screen. In such conditions, the
windscreen wiper may be subjected to
excessive stress and the motor protec-
tion which prevents operation for a few
seconds may trip. If the issue persists,
contact the Abarth Dealership.

37
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
CONTROLS
SPORT FUNCTION CONTROL
fig. 33
When the SPORT button A-fig. 33is
pressed the sports driving setting is turned
on featuring more responsiveness during
acceleration, an increase in drive torque
and more precise steering with greater ef-
fort required on the steering wheel.
When the function is active, the message
SPORT is displayed on the instrument
panel. Press again the button to deactivate
the function and return to the standard
driving mode.
IMPORTANT Pressing SPORT, the func-
tion is active after about 5 seconds.
IMPORTANT When in SPORT mode, ac-
celeration may be abrupt, This is typical of
this mode.FRONT/REAR FOG LIGHTS
fig. 33
(for versions/markets, where provided)
To turn on the front/rear fog lights, use
the button Cas follows:
1° Pressure: front fog lights on
2° Pressure: rear fog lights on
3° Pressure: lights off
When the front fog lights are on, the
warning light
5turns on on the instru-
ment panel; when the rear fog lights are
on, the warning light
4turns on on the
instrument panel.
Front fog lights are turned on with low
beams on.
CD
MENU
FMASAM 1 2 3 4 5 6 AUD
MP3 RND RPT TPM CD-IN EQ
LOUD AF LOC PTY TP TA RMB PBCD
BCA
F0S033Abfig. 33
HAZARD LIGHTS fig. 33
They turn on pressing the button B, re-
gardless of the position of the ignition key.
When the function is active, warning lights
Îand ¥on the panel blink.
To switch off, press again the button B.
The use of hazard lights is governed by the
Highway Code of the country you are in.
Keep to the rules.
Emergency braking
In the event of emergency braking the
emergency lights automatically turn on and
at the same time the lights
Îend ¥turn
on on the dashboard.
The function automatically turns off when
the emergency braking stops.
This function complies with the current ap-
plicable laws.

53
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
ABS SYSTEM INTERVENTION
Intervention of the ABS is detected by a
slight pulsing of the brake pedal accompa-
nied by noise: such an event indicates that
you need to adjust your speed to the type
of road on which you are travelling.ABS SYSTEM
(for versions/markets, where provided)
The car is fitted with an ABS braking sys-
tem, which prevents the wheels from lock-
ing when braking, makes the most of road
grip and gives the best control when emer-
gency braking under difficulty road condi-
tions.
The system is completed by EBD (Elec-
tronic Braking Force Distribution), which
distributes the braking action between
front and rear wheels.
IMPORTANT To achieve maximum effi-
ciency of the braking system, a settlement
period of about 500 km is required: dur-
ing this time, avoid sudden, repeated and
prolonged braking.
When the ABS cuts in, and
you feel the brake pedal pul-
sating, do not remove your foot, but
keep it pressed; in doing so you will
stop in the shortest amount of space
possible under the current road con-
ditions.
WARNING
When the ABS intervenes, it
means that you are ap-
proaching the grip limit between tyres
and road: it is necessary to slow down
to adjust the speed according to
available grip.
WARNING
The ABS exploits the tyre-
road grip at the best, but it
cannot improve it; you should there-
fore take every care when driving on
slippery surfaces without taking un-
necessary risks.
WARNING
FAILURE INDICATIONS
ABS failure
It is indicated by the turning on of warn-
ing light
>on the instrument panel to-
gether with the dedicated message on the
reconfigurable multifunctional display (for
versions/markets, where provided), see
section “Warning lights and messages”.
In the case, the braking system will work
as normal without the extra potentials of-
fered by the ABS system. Drive carefully
to the nearest Abarth Dealership to have
the system checked.

54
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE
CAR
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
YOUR CAR
If warning light xonly lights
up on the instrument panel,
(with a message on the multifunc-
tional reconfigurable display, for ver-
sions/markets, where provided), im-
mediately stop the car and contact
the nearest Abarth Dealership. Leak-
age of hydraulic fluid from the brak-
ing system will compromise function-
ality of the braking system, either of
the conventional type or with ABS.
WARNINGESP SYSTEM (Electronic
Stability Program)
The ESP system is an electronic system
controlling the car stability in the event of
tyre grip loss.
The ESP system is therefore particularly
useful when grip conditions of the road sur-
faces change.
With the ESP in addition to the ASR (trac-
tion control with intervention on the
brakes and the engine) and the HILL
HOLDER function (device for setting off
on an incline without using the brakes),
there is also MSR (regulation of the engine
brake torque during downward gear
shifts), HBA (automatic increase in brak-
ing pressure during emergency braking)
and TTC (transfer of engine torque to the
wheels).
SYSTEM INTERVENTION
It is signalled by the blinking of the warn-
ing light
áon the instrument panel, to in-
form the driver that the car is in critical
stability and grip conditions. EBD failure
It is indicated by the turning on of warn-
ing lights
>and xon the instrument
panel together with the dedicated message
on the reconfigurable multifunctional dis-
play (for versions/markets, where provid-
ed); see section “Warning lights and mes-
sages”.
In this case, the rear wheels may sudden-
ly lock and the car may swerve. Drive
carefully to the nearest Abarth Dealership
to have the system checked.