DETROIT — I’m a day short of finishing a week-long test drive of the 2012 Fiat 500 and I’ve come to the conclusion that the most important attribute of this car is the front seats. Here’s why.
The Fiat 500 is a subcompact car. It has a 90-inch wheelbase, an overall length of 139 inches, it’s 64 inches wide, 59 inches tall and it weighs in at 2,434 pounds. Actually the car’s poundage is less than that when it is equipped with a five-speed manual transmission. I had the six-speed automatic.
My point is that because of its high seating position, at times I actually felt like I was sitting in a crossover. The 2012 Fiat 500 was not overwhelmed by other vehicles, just about all of which were bigger; in most cases much bigger. I really never got a sense of just how small the Fiat 500 was until after I got out of it; that’s a good thing.
Safety oftentimes is about perception. And one of the impediments to Americans buying smaller more fuel efficient vehicles is that the bigger the vehicle the safer it is thought to be. If American buyers don’t perceive the Italian Fiat 500 as a really small car while they are actually driving it, then they will feel comfortable in it; and feeling comfortable can be translated into feeling confident. Fiat needs to attain that comfort level because the 500 already has the wow factor.
During my week-long test drive I was peppered with questions about mileage, how did I like it, how did it ride and how much did it cost. And these questions were thrown at me from other drivers while I was driving. The Fiat 500 is a peoples’ car. I’ve driven some six figure vehicles around here and I never got that many questions or that many second looks. The Fiat 500 said I was different but pragmatic, cost conscience but stylish and apart from the pack. In other words, I was cool because the Fiat 500 said so.
It was powered by a 1.4-liter four cylinder engine that made 101 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque and it had an EPA rating of 27/34 mpg in city and highway driving. By American standards and the numbers you’d think this was a putt-putt of a car, but not so. Obviously, I wasn’t leaving tread marks on the pavement, but neither did I find the front-wheel-drive Fiat 500 lacking in road worthiness.
The car handled well, cornered great and acceleration was not breathtaking, but neither was it snail like. I never found myself in trouble because of a lack of power. The engine was fairly smooth for a four-banger; at first I thought it could have used a little more sound proofing but it occurred to me that the rhythmic engine revolutions were part of the Fiat 500’s character.
The car doesn’t come with a navigation system; you have to get that in the aftermarket; but it had everything else: Bluetooth, satellite radio, CD player, auxiliary audio jack, tire pressure monitor and a fixed glass roof are amongst the creature comforts.
Enthusiasts will remember the Fiat Cinquecento upon which the Fiat 500 is based. The car was sold from 1957 to 1975 as economical and practical city transportation. The Fiat 500’s styling cues come from the original. The old car had the look of a bread box with a hood cut out and headlights. The new Fiat 500 is a lot taller, a little longer and contemporarily styled. It has the appearance of a soft A shaped wedge.
There are three trim lines: Pop, Sport and Lounge. I had a top of the line Lounge that featured leather trimmed bucket seats, heated front seats, rear park assist, an auto dimming rear view mirror and 15-inch aluminum wheels.
For all this, Fiat stuck a sticker on my test vehicle that read $21,800.
Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com.
