2014 Fiat 500 Cult – First Drive
The 2014 Fiat 500 is about to debut at the Geneva Motor Show, but we’ve already had a go in it!
By Shahzad Sheikh
Can you believe this car has already been around for seven years?! Time for a new model, an update and an overhaul then. So here we go. Presenting the new 2014 Fiat 500. Ta da!
2014 Fiat 500 updates
Yep, I know what you’re thinking. It looks exactly the same. Well the 2007 design still looks fresh and appealing and when Fiat asked their customers what they wanted, they all replied: ‘leave it as it is.’ So they did.
Instead they offer new colours, wheels and interior trim, plus better kit. Including a new 7-inch TFT digital instrument panel developed by Magneti Marelli. It’s similar to the previous analogue display in the style that the speed, revs and trip computer information is displayed. The centre of the display shows an image of the car and you can select what you want it to show including navigation information.
There’s also a new edition dubbed the ‘Cult’. A range-topper it comes with 16-inch alloys, gloss black glass roof with sunroof, leather steering wheel with remotes, air con and other goodies.
The Cult 0.9-litre TwinAir Turbo
At the launch in Italy we had the opportunity to drive a Cult version with the 0.9-litre TwinAir Turbo with a six-speed manual gearbox. You may well be thinking there could be nothing weedier than a sub-one litre TWO cylinder engine, but nothing could be further from the truth, especially for a power unit that’s won numerous accolades and is one of the cleanest and most fuel efficient petrol engines out there.
The fact is that this is no wimp either. Nor does it have the lowest output of the engine range – it actually puts out 105bhp, which is more than the 1.4 we lasted tested here in Dubai! It’s subsequently also quicker and faster with a 0-100kph time of 10 seconds and a top speed of 188kph. Plus if you press Sport the digital display transforms from ‘Eco’ to ‘Turbo boost’ mode. Cool!
To drive though, it feels even more lively. This is a lightweight tipping the scales at way under 1000kg and the benefits of that become immediately apparent. Even with two blokes on board the little 500 felt quick, eager and urgent.
Driving the new 2014 Fiat 500
The manual transmission just makes this car – I know the auto has been improved, and is really not that bad once you learn how to get the best out of it, as I did in my previous review, plus the fact that it’s highly unlikely that any manual cars will make it to our shores – but boy it feels so right to be shifting gears yourself in a little Fiat 500. This is the way this was meant to be driven.
It now has six speeds, and first gear seems a bit short as a result, you run out of revs very quickly, but that’s because the little motor gives its best early on, and there isn’t much more to come anyway. Get it up into second and third and you’re less likely to visit the rev limiter, and the torque seems to come on strong with greater potency.
So you work the gears to keep the motor buzzing whilst confidently chucking it about and corner carving thanks to this Fiat’s incredibly agility, improved poise and marvellous dexterity. You get up the momentum and keep it up, with just enough grip and feedback through the steering to allow you to yank it left and right though hardly lifting off the accelerator.
It’s fun. A lot of fun. You can throw it about with abandon, nip through tight gaps, take it to the edge of its grip around the bends, and all the while bystanders will be applauding and cheering you on. Or at least that what it feels like from within this happy little car.
Space in the front is remarkably accommodating for two large dudes, the controls are lovely to use, easy to understand, and the new revised semi-digital instrument panel is beautifully presented and thoughtfully laid out.
Verdict
Unfortunately we’re not getting the TwinAir engine – at least not to start with. The Middle East will continue to get the 1.4-litre MultiAir option – a four-cylinder producing 100bhp at 6500rpm and 97lb ft of torque at 4000rpm.
This is not the most practical, affordable or indeed sensible car in the small car segment, but it is by far one of the most desirable. And the driving experience just affirms that smile you end up with when you first look at this car, remains plastered to your face when you’re peddling it from behind the wheel.
What a great feel-good car!
2014 Fiat 500 – The Specs
Price: 0.9-litre TwinAir not available in our region. We’ll get the 1.4-litre MultiAir (100bhp and 97lb ft) with prices starting from around AED65,000.
Engine: 0.9-litre two-cyl TwinAir Turbo, 105bhp @ 5500rpm, 107lb ft @ 2000rpm
Performance: 0-100kph 10s, 188kph, 4.2L/100km
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Weight: 940kg
