Little Feat
I’ve always thought they looked great but could I live with one for a week, doing 100 miles a day on the motorway to and from work? I’m honestly interested in buying one, so this is the question I need to answer.
Day 1 Arrived home from work to find the bright white 500 sitting on my drive, so I took it to the supermarket. Parking is, as you’d expect, easy – it’s hardly, big is it?
The thick C pillars block the rear three-quarter vision a bit when you reverse into a bay, but the mirrors give a good view so it’s not a problem. Got out, pushed the door shut and it gave a reassuring ‘big car’ thud.
Walked away and looked back. It’s cute. Perhaps too cute. But it made me smile to look at it. Call me Mr Softie. Later, after nightfall, I couldn’t resist taking the 500 for a spin around the local country roads that I know so well. And it’s then that I discover that this 1.2 Lounge base model poverty spec fashion accessory of a city car has a dark side.
Initial impressions are that it handles mid-corner crap surfaces as well as anyone could expect, and grip levels seem more than adequate. The brakes are strong – discs on the front, drums on the rears. I played with it a little, maybe 60 percent attack, and it just wanted more. Impressive stuff, except that I couldn’t feel anything through the wheel, which unnerved me slightly.
Then I gave the engine a bit of a work out on sweeping A roads and it’s here that I discovered what a cracking little unit it is. I’ve been told that the 1.2 is better than the 1.4 but I haven’t tried the latter so I can’t comment. With this 1.2 you can pootle about and it’s fine – fit for purpose. However, to get anything close to a quick pace out of this unit you have to rev it. But the good think is, it loves it.
Take it all the way round the dial in second and the third-gear ratio really starts to make sense as you land in the power band (such as it is) and rev it some more. The noise is amusing, too. So I took the 500 back to the twisty bits and did it all again in a lower gear. Conclusion; if you want to be an absolute hooligan, this car will take a naughty pill and come with you to the party.
Admittedly, it’s not sportscar good, but for a base model glammed up shopping trolley, it’s a lot of fun. More smiles from Mr Softie. The only thing that irritated me was the lip of a storage cubby hole on the central console; it dug into my leg just below my left knee.
Day 2 Fifty motorway miles to work and fifty motorway miles home again. I can report that the (unequal length) windscreen wipers are excellent, the stalks for lights and wipers are perfectly placed, I understood the heater controls on the move without concern and I loved the position and feel of the gearlever. The heater worked fine too, while the radio/CD player is adequate rather than good. But the lip of the storage thing digging into my leg still drove me mad.
Had friends round for dinner in the evening. He (Z4 Coupe) thought it was fun but wouldn’t have been seen dead in it. She (A4 Cabrio diesel) thought it was wonderful and wanted to take it home for a cuddle. At work, my colleagues are similarly split and the Fiat 500 has become quite a topic of debate. We discovered the front lights have little eyelashes within the glass. I know you think that sounds bonkers but when you see one parked, go and look.
Day 3 Fifty motorway miles to work, another fifty motorway miles back home again. Showed the Fiat 500 to a chap (5 series diesel with all the toys) I do business with. He’s a big, tough bike racer turned successful businessman and he knows what he likes. He declared it was great, and even wanted to sit in it. He loved the interior trim, was impressed by the boot size and loved the way it looked. He slammed the door and the boot. “It doesn’t feel like Fiats of old.
This feels like quality,” he growled. He did look a bit silly sitting in the Fiat 500, though. He’s a big man and it looked like he was wearing it. In the evening, I took a little jaunt to a friend’s house for a cup of tea. He (builder’s van) laughed like a drain at the Fiat 500. Another friend in attendance (BMW X5 4.6S and long-time racer) thought it was very cool.
I drove it home with gusto – it really is great fun to drive quickly, although ‘quickly’ is relative. I get the messages from the rears and have started playing with it, getting the back end slightly loose, and it’s beautifully balanced. If only I could get more feel from the fronts. As I got out, I realised I really like the look and feel of the interior door handles.
Retro, but very right. Day 4 Fifty motorway miles to work, fifty motorway miles back home again. I have to admit that’s it’s not bad on the motorway. Obviously it’s not really what it’s ever going to major at, but it’s good enough for the 100- mile commute, although I had to rev it quite hard on the slip road to get up to speed. But hey, it loved it.
My only niggle after four days is that I still can’t find the perfect driving position and the storage box lip thing would need to be cut off if this was a keeper. Day 5+6 I was racing at Silverstone so I took my Jeep for the trip instead, but in the paddock was a 500 painted bright Ferrari red – one of the special edition courtesy cars that Ferrari dealerships hand out when a customer car is in for a bit of TLC.
It looked slightly lower than standard, ran on nice rims and it looked pretty cool. But I thought the Ferrari badges on the side were a little bit much, although the plaque inside was a neat touch. The driver told me he was enjoying it so much, he had used it for the journey instead of one of his other toys. In conclusion, I think the Fiat 500 is a fab little car. It does exactly what it says on the tin, and does it with style and skill at a reasonable price.
That’s perfect for girls of all ages but it might have a bit too much style for British men, many of whom feel the need to buy a car that somehow displays who they are, or who they aspire to be. There are apparently a lot of Fiat 500s in Brighton. Would I buy one? If I lived in Central London, yes. In black, lowered with trick rims so that it looks a bit more macho. But as it is, I’m waiting for the Abarth which I think I’m going to find impossible to resist.
Source: Road Magazine