- Joined
- 3 May 2004
- Posts
- 17,725
- Location
- Kapitalist Republik of Surrey
The ongoing saga of the new car in the 69 household. Today we test drove the latest Fiat 500 auto. Though we have the Peugeot 207 on our shopping list, finding a good auto example has proved quite difficult. The trump card is that we'd have taken up a red Fiat 500 if one turned up first, because we both like the car. And it's got a metal bootlid, which means it'll hold a bike rack. Most of the other superminis we've looked at have had glass bootlids and can't take roof bars, which is no good for us.
Test drive first is always sensible, however...
We wanted the 1.2 for economax motoring, despite being prepared to spend £9k. I was worried about the power because it's only 67hp, which isn't much more than my Anglia rolled out of Dagenham with in 1968. That said, it is a light car and modern fuel injection give a lot more bottom end than old engines ever had. Needed to check though, in case we wanted the 1.4.
First impressions are quite pleasing. For a small car you're quite high up and the seating position is very comfortable. Steering wheel is a good size and where you can really grab it and get all over it if you need to. Interior is quite a lot nicer than the competition with painted panels instead of thin textured black plastic. There was a surprising amount of space in the back considering it looks so small, and I could have handled a short journey back there despite being 5'10 with long legs.
The new auto is a robotic manual, so it's not a traditional auto box. It's got strange controls, no creep and the engine is stop-start. When you roll to a stop with your foot on the brake, the engine cuts out and restarts the moment you take your foot off the brake. How this works on a steep hill I'm not sure, but it felt like without some serious handbrake practice you'd end up rolling into the car behind you at least once. I didn't like it. It was also incredibly slow at reacting. In most autos if you want to force a gear change you push the throttle down a bit to make the box react and it kicks down. This one really took some jabbing and the drop-down was very very slow indeed. You did sit there wondering when or if it was going to do it, in both economy and sport modes - another thing I didn't like. It wasn't short of power though and the 1.2 shot it up the road with no problem at all, plus the engine wasn't noticeably labouring or making a lot of noise.
The dealbreaker for me was the centre console. Sitting in the driving seat my right leg was quite comfortable, but my left leg was hard against the console and held at an uncomfortable angle with my foot slightly turned in. After a few minutes driving I did figure out that there was a foot rest, but it's in the wrong place and my leg was still being held at that uncomfortable angle. This was exactly the same in the manual, so nothing to do with the auto model. That, coupled with the fact that the pedals seemed to be quite a long way off the floor and I kept missing them when I moved my feet, broke it for me.
I really really wanted to like the 500. It's got so much going for it, but there is simply no way I'd be able to drive it any distance.
Test drive first is always sensible, however...
We wanted the 1.2 for economax motoring, despite being prepared to spend £9k. I was worried about the power because it's only 67hp, which isn't much more than my Anglia rolled out of Dagenham with in 1968. That said, it is a light car and modern fuel injection give a lot more bottom end than old engines ever had. Needed to check though, in case we wanted the 1.4.
First impressions are quite pleasing. For a small car you're quite high up and the seating position is very comfortable. Steering wheel is a good size and where you can really grab it and get all over it if you need to. Interior is quite a lot nicer than the competition with painted panels instead of thin textured black plastic. There was a surprising amount of space in the back considering it looks so small, and I could have handled a short journey back there despite being 5'10 with long legs.
The new auto is a robotic manual, so it's not a traditional auto box. It's got strange controls, no creep and the engine is stop-start. When you roll to a stop with your foot on the brake, the engine cuts out and restarts the moment you take your foot off the brake. How this works on a steep hill I'm not sure, but it felt like without some serious handbrake practice you'd end up rolling into the car behind you at least once. I didn't like it. It was also incredibly slow at reacting. In most autos if you want to force a gear change you push the throttle down a bit to make the box react and it kicks down. This one really took some jabbing and the drop-down was very very slow indeed. You did sit there wondering when or if it was going to do it, in both economy and sport modes - another thing I didn't like. It wasn't short of power though and the 1.2 shot it up the road with no problem at all, plus the engine wasn't noticeably labouring or making a lot of noise.
The dealbreaker for me was the centre console. Sitting in the driving seat my right leg was quite comfortable, but my left leg was hard against the console and held at an uncomfortable angle with my foot slightly turned in. After a few minutes driving I did figure out that there was a foot rest, but it's in the wrong place and my leg was still being held at that uncomfortable angle. This was exactly the same in the manual, so nothing to do with the auto model. That, coupled with the fact that the pedals seemed to be quite a long way off the floor and I kept missing them when I moved my feet, broke it for me.
I really really wanted to like the 500. It's got so much going for it, but there is simply no way I'd be able to drive it any distance.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
