Driving the Fiat 500

Faced with an unexpected trip south, I did something I seldom do; I flew there myself in a borrowed aircraft and that meant renting a car. Now depending on who you talk to I'm frugal and environmentally conscious or just a cheap bastard; I arranged for a subcompact car. The rental car representative was set to put us in some sort of Toyota or Nissan, but I spied with my little eye a cute Fiat right in front. We asked if it was available, it was, and soon we were on the road to our hotel, having a bit more fun than we bargained for.

Think Small

Americans' ability to embrace smaller, more fuel efficient cars (not to mention public transit) seems to be directly proportional to the cost of fuel. The popular attraction of small cars may be cyclical, but there is a growing segment of the US population that embraces pint-sized vehicles on principal. Make no mistake, the Fiat 500, or Cinquecentos, is a small car inspired by the original model produced from the late 1950s until the late 1970s.

Rear sear room and headroom are two common litmus tests for US car buyers, despite the safe wager that most US cars are seldom carrying more than the driver and one passenger. Still, many consumers may shy away from the Cinquecentos for this very reason. We loaded up ours with three people (including the driver) and a two suitcases for a tolerable, 15 minute trip. That experience made it clear that the Fiat 500 is mostly a one- or two- person car.

Ever been in one of those parking lots that is just a bit too tight to be comfortable and wondered what kind of car could negotiate such small spaces? The Cinquecentos is that car with its 90.6 inch wheelbase and 30.6 foot turning radius. Even the narrowest roads and tightest parking slots can be negotiated with aplomb. The Cinquecentos can't compete with the Prius or Insight on fuel economy, but at 30 MPG city and 38 MPG highway, this car is no slouch.

Driving Experience

Entry and exit from the front seats is simple if you're under 6 feet tall, but clambering in and out of the rear seat is challenging for most people over 6 years of age. Once in the driver's seat, the ergonomics are good even if the steering column doesn't telescope. Visibility is very good, save the rear blindspot. A convex mirror applied to the driver's side-view mirror would be a good idea.

Pulling away from a stop reveals two things - the small engine (hey, that's where the fuel economy originates, right?) and the slightly herky-jerky, automatic transmission. The shift points seem okay, it's just that the shifts between first and second are a bit bone-jarring. You can opt to shift manually and with some practice you might do a better job. Selecting sport mode only makes things more vigorous so unless you are a die-hard G junkie, you'll probably want to avoid it.

The steering is nimble and though I didn't do anything as scientific as a skid pad test, I did find the Fiat handled nicely around town. On the highway the ride is surprisingly smooth and relatively quiet, but the steering at higher speeds is a bit twitchy.

Driver Amenities

The controls, knobs and buttons are not as cheap or flimsy as I had read in the press. I did find the driver's display a bit confusing, with the speedometer and tachometer arranged in a concentric fashion. There are no extraneous labels and no differentiating colors to distinguish these two instruments.

The sound system has a nice design, including a USB charging adapter in the glove box, bluetooth integration, and voice recognition. The voice recognition system was one of the simpler ones I've used and I only had to consult the driver's manual to get the bluetooth code for pairing my iPhone. The rest, I figured out by trial and error without much error which is always the sign of a good user interface.

All in all, I found the Cinquecentos to be an engaging, fun car. The Cinquecentos offers good fuel economy, nice extras for the driver, and a reasonable sticker price. Don't scoff because your next car just might be a Fiat.