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Fiat 500 Review

Sam Worth
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What's good?

– Unique
– Classy cabin
– Cute looking

What's bad?

– It’s not cheap…
– …or the most practical

What's the score?

7/10

Overview

The Fiat 500 is a city car born in 1957, which still manages to turn heads in today’s world with its 1950’s-style look. There’s no doubt the 500 still has its adorable face and cute bum. But since 2007, apart from its makeover in 2015, not much else has changed. Fiat claims a lot of changes have been made over the last decade, but apart from an updated front bumper, LED headlights and a colour coded blanking plate inside the tail lights, not a lot has altered.

However, that’s not a bad thing. Just like the Range Rover hasn’t changed much, and people are still buying them. So, what’s the issue? There isn’t one. What Fiat are doing, is they’re keeping the design of the admirable small bubble car and giving it modern features, which is what most people want. The fact they haven’t increased the size of it, still gives customers the small car to use around town or in the city, which is what the original 500 was made for in the first place.

The 500 comes with six trims, Pop, Lounge, Sport, Star, Rockstar, and Launch Edition. Starting from £12,540 for the Pop, up to £16,670 for the top-of-the-range Launch Edition. There is of course the hot Abarth 500. But let’s not get carried away eh?

Drive

All models come with a choice of two engines, the 1.2-litre 68bhp petrol which comes with a five-speed manual and an automatic. The other engine is a 1.0-litre 69bhp mild-hybrid engine, which comes with a small electric motor and battery pack, offering a six-speed manual only. There used to be a punchier 0.9-litre two-cylinder turbocharged TwinAir engine which packed out 84bhp and 104bhp, but it’s no longer available.

I tested the 1.2-litre engine, which works well and has just enough power for poodling around town. It manages 0-62mph in 12.9 seconds and a top speed of 101mph. In no way is it fast, but we’re talking about a city car here, where you don’t need a lot of power for going to your local shop, do you?

For a small car you sit reasonably high up, and there’s good visibility thanks to relatively large windows and wing mirrors. The 500 is easy to drive and has a fun personality, too. The handling isn’t great, but it can be fun on some bends. As the body is distinctively round, it makes you feel like you’re driving around in a big bubble. The steering is reasonably light and has a city mode button to lighten the steering even more, to help around town. But even without it activated, it’s not challenging to manoeuvre.

Out of town, the 500 isn’t at home. It’s not entirely comfortable on long journeys but what else would you expect from a ‘city’ car? You may also feel the need to pick up the revs slightly to keep up with the fast-moving traffic, but again, city car.

Interior

Onto the interior, where the fashion continues. The 500 still holds its retro style look around the cabin. There’s a wide choice of personalised features to add, which all look quite funky, I’ve gotta say. You can get the dashboard trim in a selection of colours, including the same colour as the exterior paint. The seats, steering wheel and a few trims also come in various colours.

It’s not just the inside, but the outside you can personalise to your liking, too. With chrome trims, different coloured mirror covers and stripes that run along the side of the car, as well as on the bonnet and roof. You can even get colourful key covers. Blimey, no wonder this car sells so well. It’s like buying a rainbow.

Let’s get back on track. The interior is tidy and very eye appealing. It features a retro style steering wheel and door handles, old style chequered seats with circular head rests and a 7-inch touchscreen with DAB, Bluetooth, and USB. The infotainment system is responsive enough, although it can seem a little bit fiddly to begin with, but it fits in nicely to the dashboard.

I wouldn’t recommend buying the Sat Nav add-on, as the infotainment screen is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The screen itself has a matte finish, so you won’t get any glare from the sun or fingerprint marks each time you operate it. There’s an optional 7-inch TFT instrument cluster for £275, opposed to the standard circular shaped speedo and rev counter, with a small digital display inside which looks smart.

As for the two rear seats, there’s not a great amount of room and it can feel a little bit cramped if you’re sitting in the back. Before you ask. No…there is no five-door version of the 500. But Fiat do offer a much larger version of the 500, called the Fiat 500L. Before you go-ahead and Google it, be prepared to be disappointed. It looks awful.

The boot is quite small, 185-litres without the rear seat area and 550-litres with the rear seats down. Yes, it really is small. But that’s not really a problem as most buyers will only use the car for light shopping, rather than packing up all their holiday luggage or using it for trip to B&Q.

Verdict

Overall, the Fiat 500 certainly stands out compared to its rivals, with its iconic look. There’s no surprise how well it sells because it has so much character and history to fall back on. It may be slightly pricey, but it’s a classy car, and you can’t put a price on that.