Road Test Feature: Fiat 500 1.4 16v Sport
Price: £10,900
‘Nostalgia’ and ‘retro’ styling has had its fair share of success and failure in the car market. The successes, such as the revived Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini, and to a lesser extent the Jaguar S Type – are cars reminiscent of an era denoting fond affection of both the car, and the era to which they belonged.
So Fiat has thought it fit to revive the trendy little 500 then, and whilst it shares the dimensions of competitor brands, such as the Nissan Micra, this cute little city runabout is quickly winning the hearts of many.
Car of the Year
Its ‘USP’ if you like, is that it is a car with endless personalisation options, and as a result you are unlikely to see any two Fiat 500’s looking the same. It’s a concept that has clearly worked, and if the 500 has an achievement to boast, it is that it is the official European Car of the Year for 2008.
Winning much passer by affection whilst parked on the road, a further curious peak at the interior from any stranger sparks a second smile. Seated up front the 500 feels spacious, unbelievably so for its small outward appearance, and the back seats will seat young adults (and we are talking teenagers here) with surprising comfort.
Reaching for and securing the seatbelts up front proved a frustratingly fiddly affair for driver and passenger alike, and although the dash is a trend setter with an array of comprehensive switchgear, its endless push button options for in car entertainment, heating, and minor controls is not altogether user friendly, especially when taking your sight away from the road to operate them on the move.
Performance
On the road our 16 valve Sport proved quite noisy, and the independent wheel MacPherson suspension system didn’t provide the most endearing ride. When driven hard the 500 corners flat, prone to understeer slightly, and not keen nor particularly receptive to changing direction enthusiastically - not a feature you’d expect from an Italian Sporting car – even this modest one. The gearbox slots into gear nicely, but if you’re pushing the car hard, firm, accurate and precise changes are needed - especially from first to second- to avoid dropping mistakenly into fourth. You’ll need to press that Sport mode button often too in order to stir up some lively performance – otherwise, the 500 is just, well,……slow.
But ah yes, that Sport button livens things up somewhat, and pushed hard and driven with attitude, the 500 has surprisingly good cross country pace. You have to work hard for it though, making the 500 earn its keep for every bit of that ‘Sport’ badging. Handling thresholds on the car are high and safe, despite the lack of engaging feel into fast bends – you need to put too much steering effort into it really to get it tucked into that bend; quite frankly the Fiat 500 is much happier in a straight line. But those brakes do a great job at scrubbing off the speed – and yes it all matters, as this is the Sports version of the car, and as such it needs to satisfy the demands of the sporting driver.
Now here’s the good news. A full tank for about thirty quid and an average 45 mpg. But the tank holds only 35 litres so if you’re forever in urban traffic you’ll still be visiting pumps fairly regularly – its still nice to put 25 quid in the tank though and see it go from zero to near full – that alone put a smile on my face for the whole day.
The citizens friend
What’s more, everybody seems to like you when you’re behind the wheel of the Fiat 500 – maybe its because it fits the ‘green save the planet small is beautiful’ lobby, but personally I thinks its more to do with the way it looks – like a small car with a bit of style….at last.
The Abarth, a special performance version of the 500 is due in the UK in early 2009; we hope that car will be the mating of style and truly sporting performance. Can’t wait to tell you if it does…….. Arrividerci!
Kevin Haggarthy
Specification:
Type 4cyl in-line
Max power output: 100 bhp
Max Speed 113 mph
0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) 10.5 secs
Fuel Consumption
Combined cycle: 44.8 mpg
Insurance Group : 6
Price £10,900
Price: £10,900
‘Nostalgia’ and ‘retro’ styling has had its fair share of success and failure in the car market. The successes, such as the revived Volkswagen Beetle, the Mini, and to a lesser extent the Jaguar S Type – are cars reminiscent of an era denoting fond affection of both the car, and the era to which they belonged.
So Fiat has thought it fit to revive the trendy little 500 then, and whilst it shares the dimensions of competitor brands, such as the Nissan Micra, this cute little city runabout is quickly winning the hearts of many.
Car of the Year
Its ‘USP’ if you like, is that it is a car with endless personalisation options, and as a result you are unlikely to see any two Fiat 500’s looking the same. It’s a concept that has clearly worked, and if the 500 has an achievement to boast, it is that it is the official European Car of the Year for 2008.
Winning much passer by affection whilst parked on the road, a further curious peak at the interior from any stranger sparks a second smile. Seated up front the 500 feels spacious, unbelievably so for its small outward appearance, and the back seats will seat young adults (and we are talking teenagers here) with surprising comfort.
Reaching for and securing the seatbelts up front proved a frustratingly fiddly affair for driver and passenger alike, and although the dash is a trend setter with an array of comprehensive switchgear, its endless push button options for in car entertainment, heating, and minor controls is not altogether user friendly, especially when taking your sight away from the road to operate them on the move.
Performance
On the road our 16 valve Sport proved quite noisy, and the independent wheel MacPherson suspension system didn’t provide the most endearing ride. When driven hard the 500 corners flat, prone to understeer slightly, and not keen nor particularly receptive to changing direction enthusiastically - not a feature you’d expect from an Italian Sporting car – even this modest one. The gearbox slots into gear nicely, but if you’re pushing the car hard, firm, accurate and precise changes are needed - especially from first to second- to avoid dropping mistakenly into fourth. You’ll need to press that Sport mode button often too in order to stir up some lively performance – otherwise, the 500 is just, well,……slow.
But ah yes, that Sport button livens things up somewhat, and pushed hard and driven with attitude, the 500 has surprisingly good cross country pace. You have to work hard for it though, making the 500 earn its keep for every bit of that ‘Sport’ badging. Handling thresholds on the car are high and safe, despite the lack of engaging feel into fast bends – you need to put too much steering effort into it really to get it tucked into that bend; quite frankly the Fiat 500 is much happier in a straight line. But those brakes do a great job at scrubbing off the speed – and yes it all matters, as this is the Sports version of the car, and as such it needs to satisfy the demands of the sporting driver.
Now here’s the good news. A full tank for about thirty quid and an average 45 mpg. But the tank holds only 35 litres so if you’re forever in urban traffic you’ll still be visiting pumps fairly regularly – its still nice to put 25 quid in the tank though and see it go from zero to near full – that alone put a smile on my face for the whole day.
The citizens friend
What’s more, everybody seems to like you when you’re behind the wheel of the Fiat 500 – maybe its because it fits the ‘green save the planet small is beautiful’ lobby, but personally I thinks its more to do with the way it looks – like a small car with a bit of style….at last.
The Abarth, a special performance version of the 500 is due in the UK in early 2009; we hope that car will be the mating of style and truly sporting performance. Can’t wait to tell you if it does…….. Arrividerci!
Kevin Haggarthy
Specification:
Type 4cyl in-line
Max power output: 100 bhp
Max Speed 113 mph
0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) 10.5 secs
Fuel Consumption
Combined cycle: 44.8 mpg
Insurance Group : 6
Price £10,900
