Fiat 500: Well-built, well-equipped and superb to drive

March 19, 2010 (Gulf News) - My family had two Fiat 500s during my childhood. One time my father parked his white one next to another white one (they were pretty much all white), returned from the bank and promptly unlocked the car, started it and drove off. Five minutes later he realised he was in somebody else's car.

Fiat's build quality has improved somewhat from those days, when you could unlock and start a 500 with a toothpick.

Looking at one of the first new 500s to arrive in the region (and one of 500 to be sold here), represented by Western Motors from Abu Dhabi, I'm actually amazed at the level of refinement oozing out of the little thing's every pore.

Sure, I've seen them whizzing around Europe whenever I visit there, but I've never actually had a proper face-on-glass look, let alone attempted to unlock it and drive away using my office drawer key.

Cinquecento all grown up

The cool thing about the new Fiat 500 is that it has a completely different job description this time. It's not meant to mobilise a war-ravaged Italy, it's just meant to put young, funky people on wheels. Starting at Dh73,000 and topping off at Dh80,000, it's a proposition the 200-per-year prospective buyers should eagerly accept. Obviously a Yaris or Peugeot 207 — similar proportions and similarly equipped — will cost you over 20 grand less, but have you ever seen anyone look good in a Yaris? Right. And anyway, a Mini Cooper will devour your pocket with its 100k sticker.

Of course, the Mini doesn't have a 1.4-litre wheezer struggling with 99bhp, but that's another point we'll get to in a bit.

You can have your Fiat in almost any colour you can think of, and proper colours too, not just a dozen shades of grey most manufacturers offer these days. You can also pick from a range of wheels (16in on our car), upholstery or leather options (although leather is on the top Sport spec car only), different stereo and AC systems and even kit it out with stripes, racing numbers and other rubbishy things like that. Our test car came in canary yellow which made me feel a bit odd driving it, if you know what I mean.

But it was well equipped and well built for something the size of a jerry can, despite being the mid-range Lounge trim. At 3,546mm long, it's 150mm shorter than the Mini and 50mm narrower, but 80mm taller.

This last bit means that the front seats are mounted high too, the driver having a commanding position providing the feeling of an SUV shrunken down to half the size. It also means superb visibility; even the blind spot is usually in the corner of your eye, and a slight twist of the head means you're looking out the tiny rear window.

All the regular stuff is standard throughout the range, such as central locking, leather multifunction steering wheel (reach and rake adjustable), electric mirrors and windows, but our Lounge also gets Blue & Me (basically Bluetooth in Fiat speak), a better radio/CD/MP3 player, front foglamps and an electric sunroof. That's a great equipment list and even better is the execution of the interior, with the chequered cloth and body-matching dash.

However, the speedo and tach are ineligible. Fiat tried too hard with the new-age font there.

The performance specs are nothing to shout about, on paper at least; 16V normally-aspirated 1.4-litre (upcoming Abarth adds a turbo) producing 99bhp at a sky-high 6,000rpm and 131Nm of torque from a Himalayan 4,250rpm. So you know what that means — revving galore. Despite the low digits, the engine is actually surprisingly springy and pulls the 500 to 100kph from zero in 11 seconds.

Honestly, because of its size and rev-happy nature, it feels quicker than that. Top speed is a frankly scary 180kph (trucks and SUVs will blow you off the road if they pass at speed on Emirates Road), but there is an aspect of the little Fiat that genuinely does its best to ruin the entire so-far-awesome experience. Over in Europe, obviously, no one in their right mind chooses the optional Selespeed six-speed gearbox, but here, the clutchless manual is standard.

It is a shocking gearbox. The joystick protruding from the transmission column feels plasticky for a component you'll spend a lot of time caressing, plus its play is light. Thankfully though, you pull it to go up a gear and push it to shift down, motorsport style. And the problem with this ‘auto' is that it's so awful in ‘auto' mode, that you're far more likely to shift yourself. Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

Changes take forever, you lose half your revs, it's noisy and really jerky in traffic and doesn't hold you steady on slopes. Lift off the throttle and engage gear yourself and you'll be much happier with the result. Of course, in that case you may as well throw a clutch pedal into the mix and make it a proper car altogether.

Because even this 99 horsepower sprite revels in the twists and turns of the, er, suburban roundabouts.

The rack and pinion steering provides ample feedback from the 6.5in-wide tyres, while the rump follows eagerly and even steps out of joint should you cane it through a right-hander and suddenly lift off. The MacPherson struts up front with lower wishbones, despite being the ABC of front suspensions, do a remarkable job of keeping the front track exactly where you want it. The springs, on the other hand, seem in a constant argument with road imperfections. And always lose.

Still, the ride is fair for a small car and actually better than the Mini's, although that's not much of a boast. But all in all, it is a fantastic car to steer and utterly satisfying on an empty, winding road; proof you don't need massive power to enjoy yourself, just simplicity and lightness. And it is super light too; at 930kg, the 500 is more than 130kg lighter than the Mini. As a result, it's also economical, but I can't prove that since I was red-lining it most of the time.

Verdict

With dealer support and great prices for the funkiest car on sale in the UAE, the Fiat 500 has to make it onto your shopping list of small cars. Fun, cheeky, well-built, well-equipped and superb to drive, the only problem you may encounter is a slightly longer wait for your manual to arrive, and a manual it must be if you want maximum fun. The Selespeed is like a thorn in a dog's paw in this car. You don't hate little doggies do you? Help it. Take the thorn out. Spec a manual, and you'll have the coolest tiny-hot-hatch in town.

Specs & rating

• Model: 500
• Engine: 1.4-litre inline-four
• Transmission: Six-speed Selespeed
• Max power: 99bhp @ 6,000rpm
• Max torque: 131Nm @ 4,250rpm
• Top speed: 180kph
• 0-100kph: 11.0sec
• Price: Dh73,000 (base)
• Plus: Great handling supermini, unique styling, wide options list
• Minus: Weird gearbox