I drove one of these today had a good 40 minute run on both dual carriage way and back road.

WOW - what a winner they have, bearing in mind that I drive a remapped Furby and this is well smaller in both physical size and engine.

The engine:- Despite its size, like the Furby once beyond 2k rpm this picks up very smooth and is quite rapid looking at the speedo.

Chassis / Suspension :- The setup is quite firm but you dont get teeth jarred over potholes, reminds me very much of the std Furby setup, but being lower doesn't appear to roll as much.

Interior:- Clock setup is unique, with the speedo chasing the rev counter, and the other information being right in the center. Information is all together and easy to pick up, no hunting around from centre to find what you want.

In reality the whole interior package blends design and functionality absolutely spot on for such a small car.

Seats are supportive and comfortable, the model I drove seat adjustment was the base only and tilted back down towards the floor.

Steering wheel only has up / down adjustment.

Front passenger seat has storage underneath which can be accessed by lifting the base.(same way as moving rear seats in Furby).

Build quality and feel for a fiat are a revalation , but time will tell if the rattles appear and annoy.

Whist the boot is small ( what do you expect from such a small car) 50/50 split seats are an optional extra. :(

The biggest surprise came when I closed the door from the outside, I had to open and do again, it was a heavy solid thud, like you would get from a top end Merc or BMW, well impressive makes the Furby sound quite hollow.

I have found my Furby replacement in September unless Skoda announce a date for a new vRS. SORRY SKODA you've lost another customer with dawdling.

Great little car from Fiat from what I have seen.

Not that cheap though but,fair enough if it is a good product

Sounds like a fun little car. Is it marketed as a sporty car or is it just a happy coincidence it has firmish suspension and a decent engine?

Chris

nice review... I'm awaiting a drive in the 100hp 1.4 petrol "sport" they have at my dealers....

if you want to replace the furby vRS you could wait for the arbarth... 155bhp 1.4 turbo

Sounds like a fun little car. Is it marketed as a sporty car or is it just a happy coincidence it has firmish suspension and a decent engine?

Chris

the have "pop" = basic, "lounge" = luxury, and "sport" = well, sport! this is the one with the lowered and harder suspension....

Am I the only man in this country who doesn't understand the appeal of this "shoe" on wheels? :confused:

Am I the only man in this country who doesn't understand the appeal of this "shoe" on wheels? :confused:

Yes probably .

Saw one in the flesh for the first time today on display outside my local Fiat dealers..... Looked spot on, a definate challenge to the new Mini I'd imagine

i might go and try and blag a test drive in one as i think they are awesome

As a recreation of the original 500 it looks far better than the BWM Mini effort - may pop down to the Fiat dealer sometime

Saw one yesterday in red. I don't think that is the colour for it. Made it look a bit ordinary.

Saw a Mitsubishi i yesterday too. Bonkers looking thing.

Saw one in the flesh for the first time today on display outside my local Fiat dealers..... Looked spot on, a definate challenge to the new Mini I'd imagine

Funny you should say that, the guy who designed it also designed the new mini! I thought them rear lights looked familiar!

Ifc958, i hope yourl buy a black one, dont think i could put up with the girly white!

Whats the MPG on them things?

I bet its mentally low! I wouldnt be surprised if the tax was non-existent as well!

Is it possible to re-map them?

You got me thinking now!

Iv just been on the website and built my own fiat 500 and it was over 12k!

Saw one of these the other day in sheffield.

Quite a tidy motor, i think weve found claires new car for when she passes her test

Saw one of these the other day in sheffield.

Quite a tidy motor, i think weve found claires new car for when she passes her test

What a bloody lucky girl!:P

, dont think i could put up with the girly white!

:

The police do:)

I thought white was the new silver.

The 1.3D is 75BHP which sounds slow to me, but it only weight 980kg, how does this compare to the power to weight ratio of a Fabia VRS?

The police do:)

I thought white was the new silver.

The white with the red cheques down the side actually looks spot on:thumbup:

I'm thinking white with the italian colours in stripes looks smart.

Iv been building fiat 500's all morning (dont tell my boss!)

If i bought the 1.3D pop, in white, 16'' alloys, red chequered side sticker kit, door bump gaurd with logo, leather gator and leather stearing wheel with controls on them for just a smidge over 10k!

Monthley payments would be £50 less than im paying on the VRS, id be getting up to 78MPG, tax and insurance is cheaper and i would have paid for the whole car in the same amount of time as if i kept my VRS!

To say im tempted would be a understatement! Iv booked a test drive!

This is a winner, the dealers are selling them like hot cakes so dont expect much if any discount

If you can hang around the Abarth 500 SS is due to be released in September, that comes with a little more "attitude" :):)

Ifc958, i hope yourl buy a black one, dont think i could put up with the girly white!

Whats the MPG on them things?

I bet its mentally low! I wouldnt be surprised if the tax was non-existent as well!

Is it possible to re-map them?

You got me thinking now!

if you go for the 1.3 m/jet, you get 75bhp, and 75 mpg!! tax is £35 a year

and it remaps to about 105bhp

personally I prefere the 1.4 petrol 100bhp..... very revvy, red lines past 7,000 :eek:

If i were to buy though, I'd wait for the arbarth models

Spyshots of the Abarth. Remember this is disguised so expect the finished version to be styled slightly sweeter, I believe these are taken near the Nurburgring so some serious testing being done

Rumoured at 180 bhp & thats before its tweaked :)

Fiat 500 Abarth SS

yeah, the arbarth will apparently be comming in 120bhp and 155bhp flavours, with the SS weighing in at 180bhp :eek: that should be cracking in a car so small, and now worries with a big heavy engine spoiling things, will all be done from the current little 1.4 turbo