Most liked posts in thread: Fiat at LA Auto Show 2012

You all are funny. Remember all the negative comments about the Countryman when it was introduced? I feel the 500L is a minivan not a small SAV.

 

2013 Fiat 500C Abarth rocks you like a hurricane



The 2013 Fiat 500C Abarth is debuting in the City of Angels. It's the super-tuned version of the 500C combining all the best of fresh-air motoring and heightened performance from the scorpion-badged marque. As with the vanilla 500C, the Abarth's folding canvas roof opens all the way at up to 50 miles per hour, and will slide back to the rear spoiler at up to 60 mph.

Sweetening is found everywhere else, with Fiat's 1.4-liter MultiAir good for 160 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque in Sport mode (155 lb-ft standard), which takes the baby hatch from standstill to 60 miles per hour in just over seven seconds. Shifting is via a five-speed manual, but the sound of that engine running straight from the dual exhaust pipes to your ears with no roof to intervene should help you forget about the anachronistic transmission.

Underneath its skimpy bits of metal, the Abarth gets tons of tweaks compared to the 500C to support its sporting nature. Things like a reworked suspension with stiffer springs, larger half shafts and CV joints, quicker steering and larger brake rotors, a three-setting ESC and optional 17-inch alloys all add to the fun. The cabin throws plenty of black leather around, along with one-piece seats that get racing harness pass-throughs.

If the engine note isn't enough to satisfy your aural requests, the 500C Abarth is the first convertible in the world to get a Beats by Dr. Dre audio system, boasting six speakers and a subwoofer. Buyers can also take advantage of the Abarth Driving Experience free of charge, taught by instructors at – of all things – the Richard Petty Driving Experience.

source:2013 Fiat 500C Abarth rocks you like a hurricane

 

2013 Fiat 500e finally ready to rock down to Electric Orange Avenue



For a car that Fiat didn't want to build, the company sure has a lot to say about it. The damn near mythical Fiat 500e is finally here, and a trip utilizing its 100-mile range would probably give you just enough time to finish reading the press releases that came with it.

Among the highlights are the color, Electrico Arancione – Electric Orange to the Anglophones among you – with contrasting white lower fascia, available only with the Bianca Perla (white) interior treatment. There are three exterior treatments, Nero (black), Bianca Perla and the eSport Package, that decide the color of the exterior accents (like the front fascia and mirrors) on the car's five available hues of Argento (silver), Grigio (gray), Bianca Perla and Nero, and that aforementioned Electric Orange that can only be had with Bianca Perla. The e-Sport Package gets the Nero interior and blacks-out the hatch in Nero trim work, black wheels and a "gradient-style" graphic along the door for "a high-voltage look."

The leatherette interior comes in two colors, either Nero or Steam, and gets Electric Orange accents. Electric-car touches include the seven-inch TFT screen in the dash that provides basic driving information as well as the status of the battery, range and general vehicle info.

The bodywork has been resculpted for less drag, the result being a 13-percent improvement in aerodynamics and a decrease in coefficient of drag from .36 to .31. It's been done through tweaks like the perforated (Fiat calls it "dot matrix") front fascia and side sills, resculpted mirror caps and rear spoiler, bellypans under the car and 15-inch wheels with flush faces.

That's to make easier work for the 111-horsepower electric-drive motor with 147 pound-feet of torque and its 24 kWh, all so that it can provide the estimated range of "more than 80 miles" on the 15-inch Firehawk GT low-rolling resistance tires. Fiat says that city driving "typically" yields "greater than 100 miles." The rating is an "estimated 116 miles per gallon" and charging time on a 240-volt outlet is less than four hours. An iPhone and Android smartphone app keeps owners remotely notified of electric-car tidbits, and the TomTom navigation system can provide EV-friendly routes.

source:2013 Fiat 500e finally ready to rock down to Electric Orange Avenue

 

As an ex Fiat 500 owner...I'm not impressed...

 

^I wonder if the headlight trim ring lights up like the Rocketman?

 

The designer that penned the new Fiats is the same designer that penned the new MINIs.