Back in the day, buying a fast car meant just that: You walked into a dealer, put your money down and drove out with something quick. Nowadays, the fashion is to offer drivers of performance cars special driver training packages to enhance their skills in a safe environment, and the latest to do so is Fiat's Abarth brand.

In the greater scheme of things a Fiat 500 Abarth may not need quite the same skill set as you'd need for the latest Porsche or Aston Martin, but there's never any harm giving yourself a few extra talents. A new 'Abarth Track Experience' will let drivers develop their driving skills across a series of disciplines including autocross and head-to-head challenges. It'll also teach drivers about driving dynamics and performance driving.

Events in California, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and Illinois will allow drivers to push the little 160-horsepower cars to their limits in a way they might not experience on the streets--but the skills learned should help with street driving too. The one-day events kick off this month--those wanting to find out more or register can head to the website www.abarthexperience.com.

For more on the Fiat 500 Abarth, be sure to read our first drive report on the 2012 model.

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