2008 FIAT 500 Review
April 8, 2008 by Anthony Crawford
You honestly don’t expect too much from a 1.4-litre engine with 74kW and 131Nm of torque, unless you strap on both a turbo charger and supercharger as Volkswagen have successfully done with their Golf 1.4 TSI GT Sport.
While acceleration won’t set the world on fire as you move off the line at the site of a green light, I wouldn’t say the Fiat 500 Sport is slow either. It’s a comfortable pace, as long as you bury the right pedal and keep it there until you shift into third gear, and then the car takes on a rather sporty character. It even sounds good.
Mid-range acceleration is better than I expected and if you were to push on, you would hit your top speed of 182km/h.
But Fiat has spiced up this model with a small round button on the dash, which, simply says, “Sport”. Hit that once, and you’ll get a slightly quicker response time when accelerating together with a heavier weighted steering or less power assist. Either way, it inspires a more spirited driving experience all round.
For such a small car, its nice to end up with six-speeds on the floor. Make that, six effortless and very quick gearshifts. It’s an absolute joy to drive. And stop panicking about stop start driving in peak hour, if you live in hilly terrain. The 500 has Hill Holder too, which I first experienced in the new WRX. The moment you take your foot off the clutch, the car holds still and doesn’t roll back, allowing you to get on the accelerator and gently move off!
Why this feature isn’t standard kit on all manual cars is a complete mystery. More people would opt for the cheaper manual variant more often, no question.
Fiat also needs to be commended for the front seat design. They are some of the most comfortable seats I have ever sat in, and can accommodate most body shapes. Not what you expect in a car of this size.
does anybody know what is the name of the glossy material in the dash?
I have put about 7000km on a blue 1.4 auto with black panorama roof. People keep stopping me and giving thumbs up for cool. Got the lounge and glad i did. Blue and Me is tops. Love the sport button. Am getting 5.2 litres/100km doing 110km/hour on the M1 between brisbane and the gold coast. Bought this instead of the mini. Any gold coast or Brisbane fiat clubs for the new fiat? call me on 0410695812. I am starting a club if no one else will.
Nice effort and report S/P.
Keep up the good work! :-)
Cheers
F-0
PS If they where priced more *normal* i would have already purchased one, ATECO is making far to much margain for mine.
Hi stinky pete. Im thinking of buying a new Fiat 500 2moro. Just very unsure on the power and how it will handle daily. I have to travel from brisbane to movieworld on the M1 daily and im affraid i wont be able to go 110km/hour on a 1.4 litre engine on a daily basis without overheating the small enine. This is my only dilema im having with this car!!
Please let me know if this car is powerfull enough to not hit the high revs and hurt the car.
Ian ian_starr@email.com
Would a baby seat fit into the back seat of tis 500? Would other baby stuff squeeze into the boot as well?
Guys who call this piece of shit classy and stylish need to “seriously” examine their own styles and class. Just because its ITALIAN it doesnot make it stylish and classy (common thinking amongst people who think every thing italian is stylish ).
I sat in this crap and drove it as well and MATE i aint payin 2000 $$ for this let alone 26000K. Unless you are a midget this is no use to any one ( no offence to midgets )
fk u Sandy ‘cheese dick’, ITALIAN itself explains the good quality of something.. if ITALIAN things arnt stylish thn tell me what is?
ok maybe that wz too harsh.. sry.. :P
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I have 1.4 Sport 6 speed, 16i alloys, sunroof. Delivered Dec 08. The car is brilliant. It makes you hang out to drive it everywhere. Engine is sporty with great Italian 4 cylinder exhaust note. Steering, handling and braking is excellent! Bluetooth works well but voice command software is not so crash hot (Microsoft!). 6 speed gearbox is great and fun to use.
I am continually asked about the car and complimented on it even by complete strangers. To those people complaining that it is too small for a family (or to fit Sandy’s fat moron head in!), go and buy a bigger car! This is not the intention of this car, it is designed for 2 person with occassional 4 person trips.
It is not cheap to buy but hey what you pay for is fantastic safety, green low pollution engines and fantastic looking and very clever styling and design. Something the Italians are renowned for. You wont get that from a Hyunday, Mazda, Toyota or the other mainstream makes. So if you want value for money go buy one of them. But if you want a small car with something a little bit special, consider the 500 (or Mini) and enjoy. Thank you Fiat for having the guts to do something out of the boring mainstream and for adding some excitement back in to the non-prestige car market!
Late posting from me, but I wanted to be fashionably late like this car. I wish this car was around in 2006 in Australia when I was buying my Golf 5, still a good car, but obviously doesn’t have the panache of this little thing! Maybe I will consider it over a Punto or Polo in a few years time.
I THINK THIS CAR IS A DAM DEATH TRAP. I WOULD’NT WASTE MY MONEY ON THIS MOUSE TRAP. SURE THE HECK NOT FOR NO 26,000 THOUSAND EITHER. THATS JUST MY FRAME OF MINE ANYWAYS.
Too Small for Australia and they price it around the same as the Corolla/Tiida and Other things in the next size class.
^^^^^^Franz Chong
Errrrr, NO, its NOT made/sold to compete with that garbage you listed.Its a fair price v the others its selling against, ie the Mini and the Bettle.
So your totally WRONG, its infact very fairly and low priced against those other 2 listed above, oh and VASTLY superior in every way too.
Cheers
F-0
this car sux!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is way over priced and not even an eye catcher, its a piece
Great car, I just bought a 1.4 Sport with leather and 16inch wheels for $23k drive away, at that price I think its great value compared to a mini.
For the bogans that slate the car, its not meant to be compared to run-of-the-mill mazdas and fords, its something different. Unfortunately Australia may be a little too backwards to fully appreciate this car like the europeans do.
Even without reading the review I would say the Polish built Italian Fiat 500 is a no brainer over the British built German Mini most especially at these prices.
Style-wise the 500 is a no contest winner in and out. The Mini’s plastic retro dash and knobs are shockingly ugly and are an assault on the eyeballs whereas the Fiat’s interior is far superior in looks and styling – easy winner in my book.
Can’t wait for the retro version of the 1962 Ford/ Lotus Cortina to come out! Is anyone at Ford listening in?
Even without reading the review I would say the Polish built Italian Fiat 500 is a no brainer over the British built German Mini most especially at these prices.
Style-wise the 500 is a no contest winner in and out. The Mini\’s plastic retro dash and knobs are shockingly ugly and are an assault on the eyeballs whereas the Fiat\’s interior is far superior in looks and styling – easy winner in my book.
Can’t wait for the retro version of the 1962 Ford-Lotus Cortina to come out! Is anyone at Ford listening in?
I have a 1.4 Sport with DualLogic 5sp no clutch. Bought for what it was designed for – a FANTASTIC town car for me and my PC and occasional client but it handles the freeways easily. More room in this than you think and more fun to drive than 90% of the barges that pass for cars these days. You can dive it like your granny if you want or press “sport” and drive it like you stole it. It makes people smile and attracts positive interest everywhere. These should be all over the place but Fiat’s chequered history here and scarcity of competitive dealers probably hold it back. If you spec up “competitive” models with all the safety and electronic gear that the 500 has you’ll come out close together price wise. At this stage – I won’t part with it! Couldn’t.
stinkypete – it’s called “painted plastic” :)