FIAT 500X HATCHBACK 1.5 Hybrid 48V Top 5dr DDCT

With June Neary

Introduction

Fiat's 500 is the citycar of the moment. June Neary looks at the revised version

Will It Suit Me?

I'm pleased to say that I don't remember the original Fiat 500. It was half a century ago that car was launched after all. So I can't tell you whether the latest Fiat 500, now recently updated, is a true retro tribute to the original. Sorry. But of course, like me, you don't care. All that matters is that it's cute, it's nippy and it's the latest thing to be seen in. A MINI? That's so yesterday..

Practicalities

I was a bit disappointed to learn that for all its Italian heritage, this car is in fact built in Poland. Oh well, better news comes in the realisation that it has a reputation as an entertaining steer. At 1.65m wide, 1.49m high and 3.55m long, the 500 doesn't take up a great deal of space. For reference, a MINI is much wider, a little lower and a fair bit longer. Even little runabouts like Hyundai's i10 or Volkswagen's up! won't fit into some parking spaces the 500 will be able to squeeze into. My local Lidl supermarket has a ridiculously tight underground carpark, so I can testify to the benefits of this. I tried the revised mild hybrid version but to me, it looks no different. As before, delicious design details drip from this design. It's like a tiny pearl, especially when the ivory finish interior fitted to my test car is specified. There's a very well-judged blend of retro chic and ruthlessly modern contemporary design inside, with circular head restraints, a glass roof and iconic 500 badging on the Panda-sourced dashboard. Chrome-ringed vents and a fascia that can be specified in the same colour as the body are just some of the interior design features. The exterior treatment is cool and clean too. The neighbours had a good old stare.

Behind the Wheel

Fiat knows how to make great little engines for great little cars. But I did wonder what the petrol mild hybrid version might be like. Fiat claims that it's one of the world's cleanest and greenest four-seater petrol-powered production cars. My expectations weren't high. Something driven by battery packs perhaps? Or perhaps so feebly powered that it would struggle to show a bike courier a clean pair of tailpipes. I was wrong. The latest 1.0-litre engine has decent pulling power and works via a 6-speed manual gearbox integrated with a 12-volt 'BSG' 'Belt-integrated Starter Generator', allowing for a quiet, vibration-free restart of the internal combustion engine in Stop&Start mode. The new system also involves lowering the entire power unit 45mm so the car behaves better on the road thanks to the lower centre of gravity. In preference to a 500, you could save a few thousand and buy the more practical Fiat Panda with the same mild hybrid tech. But then, you only live once and how often are you going to need five doors in a citycar anyway? If it helps you to justify things, Fiat claims that body rigidity is around 10 per cent better than the Panda's, so in theory, the 500 should be slightly more crash-proof.

Value For Money

As before, there's a choice of fixed-top and convertible 500 models. The open-topped 500C variants require a premium of around £2,500 over their standard counterparts. If you're happy with tin-top 500 motoring, then you'll find pricing that's a fraction higher than before, yet which still starts just shy of £12,600 for the baseline Pop version. Is that good value? Well, trendier town tots nearly all cost more. You'll need to find at least £2,000 more on top of Fiat 500 prices to buy an equivalent MINI. Fiat's Panda is one of the cheapest cars to own, so the '500' will prove little different. Expect well over 50mpg (53.3mpg [WLTP]) in regular use and an NEDC-rated CO2 emissions figure of 88g/km (down from 114g/km before). If you decide to go for the open-topped 500C variant with this engine, you'll see no penalty for either economy or emissions. Depreciation won't be anything like at MINI levels but will be much better than you'd expect on a Panda. Which is good news since insurance costs shouldn't be much more expensive.

Could I Live With One?

I much prefer this approach to retro design to the kind of thing BMW have delivered us with the MINI. It seems more real somehow - and infinitely more exciting. The fact that it's more affordable too is just the icing on the cake. Right now, this remains one of the most fashionable things you can be seen in up and down the high street. How long it will remain that way is, of course, quite another question..

Body Glass

Dark tinted rear windows

Rain sensor

Electric front and rear windows

Rear wiper

Heated front windshield

Heated rear windows with wash wipe

Privacy glass

Brakes

ESC including ASR, MSR, Hill Holder, ABS, EBD, ERM,DST, BAS

Electronic parking brake

Brake assistance system

Chassis/Suspension

Active roll mitigation

lower ride height

Communication

Apple car play/Android Auto

E-call

Driver Aids

Parkview rear parking camera

Power assist steering

Lane assist with intelligent speed assist and traffic sign recognition

Adaptive cruise control

Front and rear parking sensors

Blind spot detection system

Driver Convenience

Stop/start system

Driver Information

3.5" Colour TFT

7" HD touchscreen DAB radio with bluetooth,3D navigation, Aux-in and USB in central tunnel

Drowsy driver detection

Driving Mirrors

Electrochromic rear view mirror

Dark grey electrically adjustable door mirrors

Electric, heated, and power folding door mirrors

Embellishment Trims

Dark ambient Myron details

Dark grey dashboard with bezels

Entertainment

USB port

6 speakers

Exterior Body Features

Silver Sport badge on fender

Dual chrome exhaust

Sporty exterior styling with dark grey mirror caps, door handles and tailgate handle

Body coloured wheel arch extensions

Rear side wing doors

Dark grey fog light surround

Body colour bumpers and side skirting

Rear spoiler

Front door sills

Exterior Lights

LED tail lights

3rd brake light

Dusk sensor

Heating/Cooling/Ventilation

Automatic dual zone climate control

Interior Features

Satin chrome air vent and touchscreen surrounds

Front sliding armrest

Black fabric floor mats

Black leather wrapped gear shift

Techno leather steering wheel with audio controls with alcantara inserts

Steering wheel mounted paddle shift

Satin chrome steering wheel bezels

Height adjustable steering wheel

Cloth upholstery

Parcel shelf

Auxilliary 12V power socket

Cooled glovebox

Front armrest

Interior Lights

Courtesy light on sunvisor

Packs

LED Pack - 500X

LED lights pack - 500X

Safety

6 airbags - Front, side and window

Height adjustable seatbelts

Manual passenger airbag deactivation function

Tyre pressure monitoring system

Child locks on rear doors

3x3 point rear seatbelts

Front and rear seatbelt reminder

Seats

Heated front seats

Seat back pockets

3 seat bench in 2nd row

Height adjustable drivers seat

Third rear headrest

60/40 split folding rear seat

Two rear head restraints

Front head restraints

Single front passenger seat

Security

Deadlocks

Passive entry and keyless go

Remote central locking

Immobiliser

Wheels - Alloy

18" Alloy wheels

Emissions - ICE

Particles: N

HC+NOx: N

WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb: 129

Standard Euro Emissions: EURO 6

WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb - TEL: 129

WLTP - CO2 (g/km) - Comb - TEH: 131

Engine and Drive Train

Fuel Delivery: TURBO DIRECT INJECTION

Cylinders: 4

Cylinder Layout: IN-LINE

Number of Valves: 16

Camshaft: SOHC

Catalytic Convertor: No

CC: 1469

Engine Layout: FRONT TRANSVERSE

Compression Ratio: 12.5:1

Cylinders - Stroke (mm): 92.2

Cylinders - Bore (mm): 71.2

Transmission: SEMI-AUTO

Gears: 7 SPEED

Fuel Consumption - ICE

WLTP - MPG - Low - TEH: 42.8

WLTP - MPG - Low: 43.5

WLTP - MPG - Medium: 61.4

WLTP - MPG - High: 55.4

WLTP - MPG - Extra High: 42.8

WLTP - MPG - Comb: 49.5

WLTP - MPG - Low - TEL: 43.5

WLTP - MPG - Medium - TEL: 61.4

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb - TEL: 5.7

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Medium - TEH: 4.7

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Medium - TEL: 4.6

EC Directive 1999/100/EC Applies: 0

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Low - TEH: 6.6

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Low - TEL: 6.5

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb: 5.7

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Extra High: 6.6

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - High: 5.1

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Comb - TEH: 5.8

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Medium: 4.6

WLTP - FC (l/100km) - Low: 6.5

WLTP - MPG - Comb - TEH: 48.7

WLTP - MPG - Comb - TEL: 49.5

WLTP - MPG - Medium - TEH: 60.1

General

Special Order: 0

Special Edition: 0

NCAP Safety Assist %: N

Based On ID: N

NCAP Child Occupant Protection %: N

NCAP Adult Occupant Protection %: N

Timing Belt Interval Frequency - Months: N

Timing Belt Interval Mileage: N

Service Interval Frequency - Months: 12

Service Interval Mileage: 9000

Insurance Group 1 - 50 Effective January 07: 19D

NCAP Pedestrian Protection %: N

NCAP Overall Rating - Effective February 09: N

Did at least one aspect of this vehicle's safety give cause for concern?: 0

Badge Power: 130

Badge Engine CC: 1.5

Vehicle Homologation Class: M1

Manufacturers Corrosion Perforation Guarantee - Years: 8

Manufacturers Paintwork Guarantee - Years: 3

Standard manufacturers warranty - Mileage: 999999

Standard manufacturers warranty - Years: 3

Coin Description: Hybrid 48V

Coin Series: Top

Alternative Fuel Qualifying: 0

Performance

Engine Torque - MKG: 24.5

0 to 60 mph (secs): 0

0 to 62 mph (secs): 9.4

Engine Power - PS: No

Engine Power - BHP: 130

Top Speed: 121

Engine Power - KW: 96

Engine Torque - RPM: 1500

Engine Torque - NM: 240

Engine Torque - LBS.FT: 177

Engine Power - RPM: 5250

Test Cycles

RDE Certification Level: RDE 2

Emissions Test Cycle: WLTP

Tyres

Tyre Size Front: 225/45 R18

Tyre Size Rear: 225/45 R18

Tyre Size Spare: TYRE REPAIR KIT

Wheel Type: 18" ALLOY

Wheel Style: N

Space Saver?: 0

Alloys?: No

Vehicle Dimensions

Wheelbase: 2570

Width: 1796

Length: 4264

Width (including mirrors): 2025

Height: 1580

Height (including roof rails): 1603

Weight and Capacities

Max. Towing Weight - Braked: 1450

Max. Towing Weight - Unbraked: 600

Fuel Tank Capacity (Litres): 48

Luggage Capacity (Seats Up): 350

No. of Seats: 5

Luggage Capacity (Seats Down): 1000

Turning Circle - Kerb to Kerb: 11.05

Minimum Kerbweight: 1405

Exterior Body Features

Metallic paint

Special solid paint

Special metallic paint with black bicolour roof

Paint - Metallic

Metallic - Venezia blue

Metallic - Italia blue

Paint - Solid

Solid pastel - Ice white

Paint - Special

Special solid pastel - Passione red

Metallic bicolour - Italia blue with black roof

Metallic bicolour - Venezia blue with black roof

Metallic bicolour - Ice white with black roof

Metallic bicolour - Passione red with black roof

Special solid pastel - Cinema black

Trim - Cloth

Recycled PET Fabric - Black sporty seats with red stitching

Wheels - Spare

Space saver spare wheel