Most liked posts in thread: Fiat 500, no threat at all

Oh baby a tin snail for the new millennium. Citroen 2CV FTW! I think that is what Seb Loeb is driving these days.

If you want French & specifically Renault buy a Nissan Versa. Whole lot of Renault DNA in there.

Nice to see FIAT has managed to keep some of the old FIATness intact on the 500. Using a timing belt & interference engine, brilliant! As I recall it was loads of fun replacing the head on the 124 twin cam engine. Maybe that was because it was my buddies car.

Nathan as a member of a certain generation it is our duty to remind these youngins how it was in the old days when cars rusted out & broke down.

 

:idea: Chrysler and Fiat in business together, it shows. This car(at least to my eye) has similar lines and styling as the PT Cruiser. 2 cts.

Jason

 

It would make sense since both are retro renditions.

Most of the lines on the new 500 are off the old 500. I'm quite impressed at their ability to hold onto the original styling of the classic. They did a great job IMO.

 

You're right, they did do a nice job. Looking at the original, I had almost forgotten what a "real bumper" looked like. Cars did actually had one once. I remember old pick-up trucks, with a board bolted to it and they really pushed things with it. :cornut:

Jim

 

Rally comes through again with another great photo...

I think the person who was responsible for designing the new 500 also designed the new MINI. Frank Stephenson I believe. He seems to have a real talent at designing retro-cars. Maybe he could make the retro-VW Bug look good.

 

And now for something completely different....from Autoblog



The 2012 Fiat 500 may just be launching here in the United States, but elsewhere, Fiat appears to be working on an all-wheel-drive 500 to battle the high-riding Ford Fiesta and Chevrolet Sonic that have both been recently spied. Rumors have suggested that the AWD variant will be introduced around the same time as the slightly facelifted 500 in Europe.

This 500 mule is clearly rides higher off the ground than the normal car, and our spies point out that a reworked exhaust system is present on this test car – a result of the reworked underpinnings. We expect the 500 AWD to arrive sometime in 2012, though it is unclear whether or not this model is destined for consumption here in the U.S.

 

Fiat will probably priced in the 15-17K base...:idea:

 

I specc'd out a "Sport" model with a few options, it came to just over $20K.....

 

I really like the look of that awd 500. looks like it is ready to rally on the forest roads of southern Ohio. Nice change from all the wrx rally cars.

 

Review on Winding Road e-zine: Winding Road | Driven: 2012 Fiat 500 Sport

You might be surprised at their conclusion.

 

:cornut: Yup.........squashed(and probably improved) PT Cruiser

Jason

 

You make it sound like the MINI's interior isn't entirely plastic too?:confused5:

Maybe it's just my MINIs but the number one complaint I hear from car enthusiast friends when they get in my car is "I love these cars, but I don't think I could handle the plastic-y interior". Between that and all the dash rattles and clanks, I'm not sure I would consider the first gen MINI interior high-quality or well refined. The r56 interior does feel a bit more refined though.

 

Yep although some pretty cool styling, there be some pretty cheesy plactic bits... One of the first things I had to do was get some leather downtubes.. Still haven't come up with a satisfactory solution to the door tubes for lack of a better description...

 

Yep if the Fiat interior guality has not improved over years past, the MINI interior is better quality... Anyone remember the X19? The dealers were having to repair the interiors by the time they got through shipment to the US....

 

Comparing the Fiat 500 to a Mini Cooper is like comparing apples to oranges.

I rented the new Fiat 500 this past summer in Italy and took it on a 2 week 1600km road trip. I initially reserved a Fiat Punto 1.2L, then upon arriving at the Rome airport and seeing what a small pos the Punto was, I decided to upgrade to the new Fiat 500. I felt it was reasonable at 39 euros a day with unlimited mileage. To give you a comparison, a Mini Cooper base was about 90 euros a day to rent (rip off).

I'm not sure how the car will do in the American market. I'd best compare it to a cross between a VW Beetle and a Smart Car. The car feels small, even on the tiny Italian roads where other super compact cars are common; I'd almost be nervous to drive it in America.

The car itself was definitely fun and easy to drive. Sporty is not the proper word to use, but I'd say it felt light-weight and peppy, especially with the 5 speed gearbox. The car definitely had substantial body roll; yet pushed it to it's limits it would begin to understeer and felt safely predictable.

My friend and I essentially lived out of the car for the 2 weeks while we had it. We camped out in a tent for the majority of the time, and only spent a few nights in a hotel. Like the Mini, the Fiat's interior was actually quite spacious considering how small the car looks. My friend (who drives a late 90's Honda Accord) said the interior looked just like my Mini's, which sort of aggravated me, but I guess to the untrained eye, the retro styling is quite similar.

We spent several days driving through small hill towns in Tuscany; the street signs there are very confusing and we often got lost on narrow streets in tiny hill-top cities and had to reverse up to a 1/4 mile before we had enough room to turn around. Thank god the car has good visibility and rear view mirrors. When driving between major cities on the autostrada (Italian interstate) the Fiat naturally had a sweet spot at about 68 mph, and I believe I topped it out a couple times around 175km/h.

If you watched the last James Bond, Quantum of Solace, in the opening car chase scene, Bond is in a high speed chase in his Aston Martin DBS alongside a narrow winding road that borders beautiful Lake Garda. As a Bond fan and driving enthusiast, I sure as hell had to drive along that road, even if it was in a 96hp rental Fiat. We got lost driving out of Sienna and finally made it to Lake Garda a couple hours before dark. At first I was frustrated that we couldn't take our time and enjoy the scenery because it was about to get dark; however I quickly changed my mind because driving alongside the road and overlooking the lake at sunset was one of the most spectacular things my eyes have ever seen. For all I cared, the Fiat 500 could have been an Aston Martin and it wouldn't have made much of a difference.

To sum it up, I feel that the Fiat 500 does a very good job at everything it is designed to do. I have nothing but positive things to say about the car, then again I am somewhat biased because I rented it in an ideal setting. However, if I was in the market for a new small compact car I wouldn't choose the Fiat 500; I'd probably be boring and stick with a well known and reliable Honda, Toyota, Ford, or maybe even another MINI.

 

I enjoyed your report Cooper..... Tuscany huh.... I'll bet that was a wonderful trip to remember.

 

Cooper...driving someone else's car, again!

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