Your vita just got a little more dolce: The Abarth 500 is headed to the United States, and we'll see it on dealer lots in the first half of next year.

Awesome.

As AMG is to Mercedes-Benz and M is to BMW, Abarth is to Fiat, and the Abarth 500 made its North American debut today at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The Italian conglomerate's performance division upgrades the cinquecento's suspension and brakes and gives it optional 17-inch wheels and unique Abarth badging. The new car also squeezes 160 horses from the Fiat's 1.4 liter turbocharged MultiAir mill. Do a little long division and you'll see that's 117 horsepower per liter. More importantly, it's all from a car that weighs just 2,533 pounds.

We enjoyed a week with a base Fiat 500 earlier this year and had only one complaint: It was molto lento. Sure, it's got Fashion Week style, and you can scoot around town and park nearly anywhere, but merge onto a highway and you'll be counting all 9.4 seconds it takes to get from uno to 60. One Berlusconi, two Berlusconis, three Berlusconis ...

It's fun to drive a slow car fast, but it's more fun to drive a fast car fast, which is why we're glad that Fiat got stung by the scorpion that is Abarth. Reviews from Europe, where the car has been on sale for about three years now, claim the Abarth is never at a loss for power, offering up mid-range acceleration that belies its size. Top Gear called it "brilliant, brilliant, brilliant."

Chrysler calls it "the Italian high-performance car for everyday driving," and despite the Michigan-built MultiAir and final assembly point of Toluca, Mexico, the Abarth's Italian-ness is as much a selling point as its performance. A Civic will probably get you better gas mileage and a Mini can fit more cargo, but only the Abarth brings the bunga bunga.

Perhaps the horsepower boost will also jumpstart flagging sales: Fiat had hoped to sell 50,000 cars in their triumphant return to the US, but so far has moved fewer than 16,000.

Photos: Chrysler