Fiat 500 Review (26/07/2014)
And so it has been. Fiat were the next on the bandwagon, followed swiftly by such as Volkswagen, Skoda and Seat,! and most recently by the Opel Adam as cars which you could effectively design yourself.
The Fiat 500, however, has an emotional umbilical cord with punters because the originals of both cars were both massively successful machines in their era and thus also had a retro appeal for young and old alike.
The 500 is truly a fun car and in ‘S’ mode as we tested recently, the car has even more personality to add to the bubbly, joyous character we already know.
Undoubtedly people will have varying takes on the car’s potential usages: the first car to climb Everest; gets into the Guinness Book of records after someone fitted 10 of them into a phone box in Kazakhstan — you know the drill. For most of us however, it is nothing more than a town car and the ‘S’ version is just another take on the basic theme.
The tester was fitted with the diminutive but relatively hardy 1.2 petrol engine which is nothing like as much of a hoot as the brilliant 0.9 litre two cylinder unit, but which is a viable choice for many people. There’s 51kW (69bhp) on tap, although you have to flog it to 5,500rpm to extract that from it, but the top speed of 159kph and 12.9 second 0-100kph time demonstrate its relative weediness.
That said, parents looking to purchase a small car for their darlings will find these characteristics positively appealing on several grounds — safety being prime amongst them.
On the up side, it will return 4.8 l/100km (58mpg) over the combined cycle and with CO2 emissions of just 113g/km, fits into tax band 4.
As a boring old traditionalist — preferring content over style — I find it a touch sad to say the 500S will appeal to many people on the basis of its added style. Such as the new rear spoiler, body kit and chrome exhausts will light up people’s eye, while the sports seats, the car-specific gear knob and the Abarth steering wheel will add to the attraction.
It drives well — surprisingly so on motorway driving where once you get it up to speed, it can stay there with ease — and elsewhere it displays the sort of go-karty handling zest always intended for it, without being a crashy pain in the butt on bad surfaces.
Although nominally a four-seater, the rear is cramped and only really suitable for kids, but the two front seats are very well put together and for such a small car that makes long distance driving an appealing rather than a repelling prospect.
A grand little car then — if not cheap — but if you want something this cheeky and smart and which you can personalise the hell out of, then you won’t go too far wrong.
***
€15,800 as tested.
the 1.2 petrol is not the most exciting in the range but will suit many buyers for various reasons.
the test car has a few add-ons, putting an extra €400 on the list price, but the standard package is pretty comprehensive.
as cheeky and stylish a package as you’ll find out there.
