First Impressions

[Giallo Edizione]

Look, Enzo fits! Snugly in "my side" of the garage, along with its new friend, Trusty the Streak, my '74 TR6 ( and everything else that is "mine" or "my problem". Like the wood, the tractor and plow, etc. )Matches the John Deere and the kayak nicely, I must admit.

[Doodles]

Minuszka wrote

" the passenger seat 100% needs to be fixed ASAP " - how can Fiat be made aware of this? I noticed the problem when test driving what looked like the "pre-production" model and was hoping that it will be fixed for the PEs but obviously not.

I don't see anything wrong with the passenger seat.
Why would you want to sit almost on the floor?
Unless you are real tall its just a matter of getting used to it.
My other car is a cross over van and you sit high in it, so its just a matter of
getting acclimated to it. Sitting higher means you can see more of whats a head of you.
Try it ,you'll like it.

[Jeff]

Very nice!

[Gavin]

Doodles wrote

Minuszka wrote

" the passenger seat 100% needs to be fixed ASAP " - how can Fiat be made aware of this? I noticed the problem when test driving what looked like the "pre-production" model and was hoping that it will be fixed for the PEs but obviously not.

I don't see anything wrong with the passenger seat.
Why would you want to sit almost on the floor?
Unless you are real tall its just a matter of getting used to it.
My other car is a cross over van and you sit high in it, so its just a matter of
getting acclimated to it. Sitting higher means you can see more of whats a head of you.
Try it ,you'll like it.

Are you joking? I don't mind sitting high...but I'm not even 6 foot and my head was touching the roof.

Sitting high is fine, having to slouch to see out the front window and not bang your head on every small bump in the road, not so much.

Gavin

[sal]

Look at he bright side; you'll be in the drivers seat most of the time .

And, who knows maybe theres a way to lower the seat some how .

[sal]

A different subject right now :
What i'm finding annoying about the interior is the loud alarm
when you don't have the seatbelt on. There must be a way to silence it or at least tone it down.
The instrument cluster is too bright, isn't there a way to dim it? other cars do.
I wonder how long it will take before it burns out?
Conversely, the speedometer and tach is so dark during the day that you can't easily see it unless your nose is through the steering wheel. Fortunately, the speed is also on the bright dsiplay.

[sal]

I get the impression that some items in the interior are a little delicate.
The window lifts look that they could be broken if handled roughly.
The same with the inside door handles if pulled on too hard .
I'm not suggesting any thing is cheap, just that using a little finesse could go a long way in preventing difficulties.

[Minuszka]

" What i'm finding annoying about the interior is the loud alarm
when you don't have the seatbelt on. There must be a way to silence it or at least tone it down.  " - you can adjust those in the menu by using the 3 buttons of the EVIC controls. Page 34 of your manual.

[Giallo Edizione]

sal wrote

A different subject right now :
What i'm finding annoying about the interior is the loud alarm
when you don't have the seatbelt on. There must be a way to silence it or at least tone it down.
The instrument cluster is too bright, isn't there a way to dim it? other cars do.
I wonder how long it will take before it burns out?
Conversely, the speedometer and tach is so dark during the day that you can't easily see it unless your nose is through the steering wheel. Fortunately, the speed is also on the bright dsiplay.

I agree about the brightness,. The very bright center EVIC tricks your eyes into seeing the speedo/tach as dim, in my estimation. When I get my windows tinted, I'm going to get some extra scrap material to tint the center EVIC. That should make the speedo seem brighter and allow for lowering the overall brightness so all those orange lights on the center stack aren't so glaring.

Or not.

[cogtooth]

The PDF manual on page 82 seems to state that the EVIC display is adjustable for brightness.  The buzzer volume on page 85 is not clear whether the volume affects the seat belt warning.

[Giallo Edizione]

cogtooth wrote

The PDF manual on page 82 seems to state that the EVIC display is adjustable for brightness.  The buzzer volume on page 85 is not clear whether the volume affects the seat belt warning.

I don't see where it says the EVIC can be separately controlled from the speedometer or dash lights. I sure can't find it on EVIC choices or anywhere on the dash. My tint guy said go to a kids store or maybe art store and look for static cling clear plastic pieces ( like the old Colorforms but clear)  and make a circular form to fit over the EVIC so it's less bright. BTW does the blinking : in the time display bug anyone like it bugs me?

[Mike S]

The insulated pad from Campione does a good job keeping the interior cooler. I had mentioned earlier that I would get one and try it and for Florida it will be a good to have.

[sjmst]

I went to Fiat of Westbury to sign the paperwork today. The plan was to do that tonight, then get my car tomorrow.

Turns out that the dealer was missing a New York DMV form, soooo...I will pick up Monday at about 5PM. (I hope).

I did get to see MY CAR though! I have seen these cars and driven one, yet I forgot how really small they look! I can see why people take a look and think they should get 90 MPG.


Some other observations:

I checked the handle on the passenger's seat, and did not think it looked or felt that cheap

Yes, the passenger's seat is set high

The quality overall seems very good.

I didn't care for the wheel's black pockets in the pics, and still don't. I prefer the graphite of std Sport. I may change the wheels.

The stripe..meh, would not order one if not already there, but no immediate plans to change it.

The graphite dash...meh, would not order the car that way, but no immediate plans to change it.

I have rosso, but find myself drawn to the grigio and bianco as well.


There were about 6 cars on the studio, and I was like a kid in a candy store. They looked like jewels. I wanted one in every color.

I will follow up with pics and more comments upon delivery.


For now, here is a shoddy pic of my number, which is a pretty cool number, if I do say so myself.

[Gavin]

Got mine and driving it quite a bit today...some thoughts.

Fun. Lots of fun. I'm afraid my scooters will get neglected (there is something to be said for not having to put on leathers and helmet for every trip out of the house)

Cute. Tiny. Surprisingly comfortable. Good sound system. No issues with defects it seems...a small scratch down low on the kick panel below the drivers side door...dealership is going to detail it.

Haven't driven a stick in six years...not one stall or issue...very very easy stick. The stick sits high, but works perfectly with my arm on the arm rest. Quite comfy.

Lower side door panels are cheap plastic...would replace them someday if an option, but most likely I will just ignore them. Mostly the car just feels solid and well made...which makes the cheap plastic stand out a bit more I guess.

Side passenger seat....well my wife loves it...she sits so high :). We call it the wife's seat...wives should love it if the are like my wife... 5'4". She has plenty of head room and a great view ahead. I did take my brother for a short ride (6'3")...he was actually ok too, but he always sits with his seat laid back like a gangsta with the seat at least half way reclined.

All in all I am quite happy...which is good since I just bought a car I had never even driven :)

Would have felt silly if I had hated the ride.

Trying to drive it "easy" but it is tough to do...she rides like a 2 stroke scooter...she just wants to be rev'ed and rev'ed hard...she feels best at shifts around 5k...it is hard, and seems sacrilegious, to shift her at 3k rpm...keeping the shifts at 4k is hard enough:)

Hope to have her fully broken in this weekend...but I have a 100 mile scooter ride around Albuquerque on Sunday...wondering if I should take my 500 instead...

Gavin

[sjmst]

My wife is 5'4" in too. WINNING.  

[Fiat500USA]

sjmst wrote

I went to Fiat of Westbury to sign the paperwork today. The plan was to do that tonight, then get my car tomorrow.

Turns out that the dealer was missing a New York DMV form, soooo...I will pick up Monday at about 5PM. (I hope).

I did get to see MY CAR though! I have seen these cars and driven one, yet I forgot how really small they look! I can see why people take a look and think they should get 90 MPG.


Some other observations:

I checked the handle on the passenger's seat, and did not think it looked or felt that cheap

Yes, the passenger's seat is set high

The quality overall seems very good.

I didn't care for the wheel's black pockets in the pics, and still don't. I prefer the graphite of std Sport. I may change the wheels.

The stripe..meh, would not order one if not already there, but no immediate plans to change it.

The graphite dash...meh, would not order the car that way, but no immediate plans to change it.

I have rosso, but find myself drawn to the grigio and bianco as well.


There were about 6 cars on the studio, and I was like a kid in a candy store. They looked like jewels. I wanted one in every color.

I will follow up with pics and more comments upon delivery.


For now, here is a shoddy pic of my number, which is a pretty cool number, if I do say so myself.

Congratulations sjmst!  I'm with you, they look like little jewels in the showroom. Love that number!

[pdxplm]

Took my first test drive of a Sport Manual.  We got to the lot and there must have been 8 Red PE's sitting there.  

First impressions, wow, an amazing car!  Waiting for the Sales person for the test drive, walking around the car, the details were phenomenal.  Everything seemed very tight and well put together.  The manual sport did have the Auto Temp control, so it is an option!!!

Now for the test drive...took me awhile to get used to the gas/clutch.  Seems like the little bugger wanted to GO!  Jumped on the freeway and definitely had some good pickup!

No real road noise per say, manual was definitely one of the best I have driven, the car was very solid!

Sales people were great too, no pressure, just the car sells itself.

[Giallo Edizione]

Dealer got some 40 or more cars delivered this week, Pops, Sports and Lounges and just about every color, except silver and yellow, each of which they already had one, the tester, and the one I bought. Easily over 50 on the lot now.

For those who haven't seen them yet, most colors look very good, depending on the model. The metallic colors brighten right up on the Lounge models with the chrome details. The two tone interiors with the white details are fantastic. Blue will look terrific on Sport. They had a couple of blacks but they were till dirty from transit so can't comment on those. Rame very very nice. Red without the PE black details is really nice, even on the Lounge. The light green is a very retro color, not all will like it, but with the white detailed dash and two - tone seats the interior is absolutely retro fantastico, if that is your thing.

So now having seen all the colors, there aren't any I'd call ugly. Definitely something for everybody.

I got to test drive a Lounge. The car is definitely a different experience from the Sport. This one was blue and the blue dash is very nice to look at. It drives like it weighs 500 lb more than my Sport. It feels like a bigger car than it is, as compared to my  Sport that feels about like it looks. Its  more solid ride through the bumps and just generally a smoother overall feel - as it should. When I got back in my Sport, the Sport felt harsher, more jittery. The combination of softer springs and shocks and 1" more rubber on touring tire sides really comes through. I found the automatic to be very smooth in the normal setting though the engine has that small engine with an automatic sound. When I put it in sport mode, the steering of course stiffened, but the automatic really changed its character.  I was driving in a residential area so not a good test for the sport setting, but on flat ground around 40 mph give or take it was really searching around for a gear it liked. Not great feeling, but perhaps not a fair test. I'd say the normal mode is very comfortable for around the town and highway cruising and you'd likely use sport setting less often than you might in the manual. I did not try the autostick mode. The seats in this model were the standard Lounge cloth. Very nice feel to the cloth and the seats were really comfortable. Flatter than the sport ( which for us old guys is nice) but still held well. It had a sunroof, not glass top. Looking at the glass top models though it looked like I'd fit just fine (which I don;t with the sunroof) and the fixed glass tops are much larger and they also have the pull out sunscreen. Finally, the white background on the speedo and tach make those much much easier to see ( I don't know about the rest of you but with sunglasses on I can just barely make out the speed and revs when I am driving. Not to mention the reflection of the yellow dash right in the driver side rear view mirror).

My guess is the Pop rides very much the same if it has the same suspension. All told, if these had been on the lot when I bought mine, I would have been very very tempted. Manual is cool, but the solid feel of the Lounge, the glass top, the white dash board detailing and the comfy seats would have gotten very serious consideration from me. Ah but no buyer remorse. I'm happy with my Giallo Sport to bridge the time till the Abarths hit the market.

[fredfrey]

If you're into smooth rides... you're going to HATE the abarth.

[italophile]

Giallo Edizione wrote

 The light green is a very retro color, not all will like it, but with the white detailed dash and two - tone seats the interior is absolutely retro fantastico, if that is your thing.

Giallo,

Would you snap a picture of the light green one if you get a chance?  That's what I ordered, but I was going by the swatch more than anything.  Other than the one video review that's floating around, I haven't seen any good pics of that color.