Fiat 500 US Market

Well. I put a deposit on a Prima and Had the recent opportunity to participate in Fiats online commercial shoot. Not sure when the commercial is airing but I made a collage and did some filming. I will post a pic of the collage and some other folks here for you to see. JJ

Mine is the one with the Stigg at the wheel...LOL..
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That's great! Where are you? I heard they were starting this in California and moving across the country.

 

Yes in Socal. They did this shoot two weekends ago..

 

I take it this is you?

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3reozHifzts[/ame]

 

Left or right? These are the best ones!

 

Just got off the phone with my dealer, confirmed I am getting the first one in the state. The dealers have been told 18-21 days from release at the factory, but they don't know when the cars left yet.

But they did offer to deliver it to my house.

 

So I test drove a Sport at the local dealership this evening. Well the Fiat Studio is not up yet.

Anyway, I had the sales-woman, her younger sister, and a random tall guy (he was checking out the car too and sat behind me) all in the car and everyone seemed to fit well. Performance didn't seem to suffer. So it was fun. I only drove around the west side surface streets and didn't get past 3rd.

Anyone think it would be nuts to use the car to make a dash to Florida (say to watch the Sebring 12-Hour)? A bit like Purgatory in a Heinkel? I don't want a car just to drive around in the city.

 

I drove the Euro version for about 100 milesin the USA, including highway. I'd not hesitate to drive it anywhere...and the US version is even better. It will be my daily driver, 100 mile round trip commute.

 

In my test drive of the Sport, I went on the interstate and rode 10 miles at 70+ mph. Very smooth and composed.

 

I'm heading to Germany on Sunday with my checkbook, going to see about tracking down an original one.

 

So is it four nine oh, or four ninety?

 

Oh if you only knew some of the funny sheet I said that day... They were nice... Yea its me... Busted...

 

The shifter and steering felt a slightly sloppy. Anyone else notice this? Would the sport button have fixed it? I only figured out that it was off / on in the last few minutes.

 

The sport button does indeed tighten the steering. I wouldn't ever drive with it off, after feeling what it was like that way. It really should say BUICK and illuminate when it's off, for people who want the feel of an American car. With Sport "on", it's nice and tight steering.

The shifter is what it is, and the clutch pedal is quite light.

 

http://www.leftlanenews.com/chrysler-begins-deliveries-fiat-500-prima-edizione-models-video.html

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=141Bn7sOVOc[/ame]

 

I've been running a 1.4 Sport Euro 500 for about 3 months now, and I'd like to share some driving impressions. The car in question is black on black leather - 16in Sport wheels (red calipers) - Chrome pack, rear spoiler, Front and rear fogs and rear tinted windows.

Initially I loved it. The steering is light, but sharp when in Sport mode, and it loves to rev. You stick it rather than steer it and there is a lot of mechanical grip. In fourth gear it will happily cruise at 60mph (with plenty more underneath you if you need it) and is genuinely a fun car to drive quickly. Its great around town and easy to park (especially with the parking sensors). For short journeys or Sunday blasts on country lanes its excellent, and I can imagine just as fun as something double its price.

My hesitations arrise when you get on the motorway. Although the car is equiped with a sixth gear, I find as soon as I go above 65 mph the car begins to rattle, is noisy and seems stressed. It will happily exceed 70 if needs be, but in my opinion control is compromised and it certainly doesn't feel as stable.

Throttle response it lazy, but this is soon rectified with Sport button pushed. I also often find myself wanting more power, or torque. From standstill I find it hard to keep up with other traffic without absolutely revving the pants of of it. Brakes are excellent although noticable fade is felt after long hard drives. (they are also very squeaky on mine).

Fuel consumption is good, however nowhere near as good as the 1.3 Turbo Diesel I ran before this car. Consequently outgoings have increased, but this may just be down to the fact this car urges you to push it harder and harder. Sound is great providing a really nice throaty warble at low revs, and a loud whine at high revs.

I'd reccomend this car to anyone, perhaps as a second car. Its certainly good fun and will make you smile; loads

 

Thanks for the driving impressions. Just note that the ride in Americanized cars is probably better (in fact testers have said so). Fiat realized Americans travel more highway miles and modfied it accordingly.

 

I can only give you the driving impressions of the 60 horsepower euro 5 speed a 08 vintage as I had the privilege of driving it to Concorso Italiano summer of 08. The power was obviously low but the bad part (something I am told was fixed with a sway bar) was the high speed handling. It was scary as it would bump steer badly from the rear at high speeds if you hit a dip in the road. I did however get the 60 horse power model up to 90miles an hour. Just one other observation. The engine only had 11000 miles on it but it was already leaking oil from the valve cover gasket....Yes it is a Fiat....

 

90 Fiats at home? This guy has a Charlie Sheen-like problem!

The car looks "cute". I think there is a market for a European version of a Kia. But, I need to see an Abarth before I give up my Mini S. The car needs to be toughed up and faster.

There is no way in the world I would buy a Kia or Hyundai, ever. That pretty much leaves Mini and Fiat in the small car category for me.

It will be interesting to see resale values for Fiat over the years. Mini actually is quite good for it's category.

 

MINI's resale is reputed to be good, but I learned the hard way that you have to be careful how you spec it when you order, not to mention what happens when you modify (and the MINI market is full of modifiers.)

When I was selling my '05, I learned that potential male buyers liked the 6-speed, the open airbox, the Miltek exhaust and the anthracite wheels, but were insecure about being seen in a yellow convertible.

Women wanted a yellow convertible, but were disappointed that mine was loud with "dirty wheels" and without an automatic transmission.

Yep, I managed to create an equal opportunity offender, and I had a hell of a time selling it.

I'm going to be mindful of that when I spec my Abarth (who am I kidding? I'll wind up with another sales albatross that will please me to no end in my short ownership...it's my lot in life, it seems.)
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Mine's all macho. Anthracite with Cooper white racing stripes and white roof, full leather interior, sunroof, panasport type wheels, 6 speed, and an S with "Works" package.

It's 235 HP of kick butt. The Abarth has some work to do to impress me.

 

Nah, it never will.

It'll never beat my M3 in any numerical test either.

But I like the Fiat. And if this guy likes the base model enough to daily drive it, I can't wait for the hotrod version.
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Sean is no Sheen.

He's a great guy. I've been to his "Garagemahal" He is a Fiat person as he says.
Active member, very active member of F.L.U. (Fiat Lancia Unlimited).
You couldn't meet a nicer car guy.

JD

 

I saw the FIAT 500 at the car show this week, and am finally driving one on Friday.

At 6' and 1" tall I fit just fine.......and all the controls fall into place perfectly. The car is spectacular in person, very well done in terms of fit and finish and styling/design........hopefully, if it drives to my liking, mine will be a yellow on black sport model which has an MSRP of $18K CAD + taxes.

The Chrysler dealers here are 4 months out on factory orders right now....so I will take delivery in January 2012, and pay $1K to give back my leased SMART car a few months early.........

 

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