500 Acceleration

[RacerRon]

I've seen some U.S. reviews of the 500 where the reviewer is mildly complaining about the lack of speed from the tiny 1.4 liter engine. What we tend to forget is how slow small cars were 40-50 years ago. Here's some examples:

0-60 mph Times in Seconds
1957 Fiat 500 - no time, the car's top speed was 56 mph (took about half a day to reach 56 mph).
1961 Mini Cooper - 17.6
1962 Renault R8 - 17.8
1971 Fiat 128 - 15.5

If we compare the new 500 against other cars in it's class, the little Fiat stacks up pretty good.
(Source: Car and Driver)
2012 Fiat 500 - 9.7
2011 Ford Fiesta - 9.3
2011 Mazda 2 - 10.2
2011 Mini Cooper standard - 8.4 (from Miniusa website)

[prima 109]

Yeah, it is an economy car.  What do they expect?  It's built with fuuel efficency in mind, not how fast it can accellerate.

[cinquecento]

To me, anything under 10 (or even above, really) is more than adequate.  I've found that running through the gears is just as much fun as mashing the pedal on a big-V8 AT vehicle.  My 1976 MB 240D probably takes about 20-25 to get to 60 and you can still do everything you need with it if you're smart.  Besides, you can still get up to freeway speeds where you just maintain anyways.

A 500 would be an outstanding first car for a new driver, IMHO.

[RacerRon]

I agree with Prima and Cinquecento. Also, you should be able to insure the 500 pretty cheaply. I think there is another thread about insuring the 500.

[sjmst]

Well, there are two issues.

One it is on the slow side. Those 0-60 numbers are fair at best. I've already seen someone on facebook who drove it say it is too slow to get on the highway.

Second, while it is an economy car, its MPG falls short of what was expected.

So while it can be touted as fun to drive with good mileage, it is not a star in either the speed or MPG category.
Still, it shines in other areas, and overall.

[Giallo Edizione]

sjmst wrote

Well, there are two issues.

One it is on the slow side. Those 0-60 numbers are fair at best. I've already seen someone on facebook who drove it say it is too slow to get on the highway.

Second, while it is an economy car, its MPG falls short of what was expected.

So while it can be touted as fun to drive with good mileage, it is not a star in either the speed or MPG category.
Still, it shines in other areas, and overall.

Reviewers seem to agree that the 500 performs best in gears 1-3 wound up to the high end of the tach, but has nothing in 4, and 5 is only good for highway speed cruising. It's possible the facebooker drove it like like an economy car and got the resulting slow entry.

[MrJones]

My only experience with the 500 was with a rental in France--so not exactly an even comparison--but I remember the rare occasion I had to travel by highway it was pretty pathetic (it took forever to reach highway speeds). It was also, loud--but that's in part because it was a diesel.
But on the narrow roads of France it was quick, agile and responsive to acceleration. It did quite well, I thought, in high rpm. I expect the U.S. version to perform at least as well, and probably better (especially in terms of the suspension, which I thought was a little mushy or soft).
It had plenty of pep and I hope the US version keeps those positive traits.

[sjmst]

BTW, I drove the European version and I thought it was fine. My point is in numbers alone, it is not top of its class. But a car is more than just what the numbers say.

[sam500]

I do have to say, I test drove the 500 yesterday, and even though its little 1.4 is not the fastest out there, if you're not afraid to rev it (and you definitely should not be) it has no problem getting up to speed on the freeway. I did have to adjust my driving style a bit so it wouldn't feel sluggish, but once I did, this car was a blast to drive (I think this will be the main problem with a lot of people's test-drive comments). In fact, the engine sounds great, and it handles really well. Definitely put a giant grin on my face.  Yes, it would be nice to have a few extra ponies under the hood to make it faster (come on Abarth!), but for now I'm happy as a clam.

[sjmst]

That's great, Sam. Thanks for the feedback. What else? Any pics? What color was it?

[sam500]

You're more than welcome! I wish everyone had a chance to play with this car for a little while, at least while we wait for our own.

I went last night 15 minutes before they closed, so I was a bit rushed, and didn't get a ton of time with the car. No pictures this time, but I am seriously considering going again tomorrow during the day, and testing it again, maybe for a bit longer. Not sure if they'll let me take a ton of pictures, since they have a fair amount of people from around the country over for dealer training.

The car I tested was silver (like the one in the stunt video). I liked it, but I'm still quite smitten with the red. The seats are comfortable, as is the driving position, although it seemed a bit high. On the road, the car seems bigger than it actually is. The clutch and shifter felt good, and light. The orange glow of the instrument panel and radio fit quite nicely with the sportiness and style of the car.

At first I wanted to be really careful with the 500, revving it lightly, and it just seemed slow and underpowered. However, I got over it quickly, and that's when the car lit up. Even if it's not super powerful, hearing the 1.4 go is reason enough to smile. It doesn't seem strained, just excited. Like many reviews say, 3rd gear is definitely your friend. The Sport button made it a bit more responsive, which was nice. Somehow, when you're driving the car you forget about all the numbers floating around online, and just have fun.

The car looks great, and is a real head turner. Apparently, it is quite popular around the area. I'll post more once I get another go. Anything in particular you'd like to know/see?

[sjmst]

Good report, thanks. Was Silver the only color they had? I am getting the red too, and I am still curious as to what shade of red it is.

[sam500]

Well, Silver's all they have for test-driving. I saw a few more cars (rame, black, and grey) but they were headed to Dodger Stadium where FIAT's having a driving event for the dealers.

[ciddyguy]

sam500 wrote

Well, Silver's all they have for test-driving. I saw a few more cars (rame, black, and grey) but they were headed to Dodger Stadium where FIAT's having a driving event for the dealers.

Ooooo.... Very nice review and more of what I needed to know. As for revving the motor, I was reminded of that recently in my truck (92 Ford Ranger w/ 4.0L V6 and 5spd manual, 2WD) to let the RPM's hit about 4000 before shifting into 2nd or 3rd, 4th dosn't do much else other than keep the rpms's at 3K up to about 70 when 5th is necessary (really tall gears here) and it'll keep the motor at 3K RPM's until at least 85mph and the end of the speedo and the truck comes alive indeed. :-)

As for the acceleration #'s mentioned in this thread, that's about on par to what I thought and I felt the 9.7, 0-60 was quite good for cars like this, in fact, it's fast for this size motor and HP and I thought the Mazda 2 was one of the slower cars as I read a review that no matter what you did, it didn't have much oomph to it even though it was a 1.5L with 100HP, the 1.4L sounds much better.

My former Civic, a 1983 1500DX hatchback with 5spd only had 67HP and I never felt it was slow, but it DID weigh in at something like 1800# and it was a hoot to drive, even on the freeway on long trips.

[sketch]

I've been driving a 2006 Prius for nearly four years. It tests around 10.6 seconds from 0-60, and, even laden with four passengers and luggage, it is not, in any way, "too slow to get on the highway".

Just because a car isn't capable of accelerating as quickly as many others says nothing of its performance in traffic.  I've had no trouble, in a slower car than the 500, accelerating off the line more quickly than over 95% of the traffic I encounter when the mood strikes.

America is spoiled on power.  I think we'll all find that, realistically, the Fiat's acceleration is more than adequate.

[Jim McKenzie]

wonder what the feel will be like with the automatic, where you cannot do the compensating revving methodology...

[sjmst]

I hear that the automatic is actually quite peppy

[Gavin]

Isn't the auto a "shifty" auto? So for a more sporty feel you could rev it higher by using the semi shift thingy that I don't know the name of :)

Gavin

[sketch]

I'm sure the automatic will perform as needed, and the Sport button should change the shift points to make it even better.

I'm almost certain the automatic is a manumatic, from my memory of photos of the shift gate.  No paddle shifters, though.

[Ciddyguy]

Nope Sketch.

I did research on this and it's a conventional 6spd automatic with torque converter and is sourced from Aisin Reiki in Japan.

Now this may not be the automatic they stay with for the long haul, but it does have the sport shift and uses a gated shifter and is a pretty decent shifter from all accounts of it so far, other than it reduces mileage somewhat, which may be due to the gear ratios but can't say for sure though.