He Said, She Said: Test driving the Fiat 500
Magali Eysseric and Patrick St-Louis: our test drivers of the month and the Fiat 500.
The premise of the He said, she said chronicle is simple: we lend a press vehicle to a couple to test drive for two weeks. The only thing we ask them to do is to take note of all of their impressions, both good and bad.
Each of the test drivers has to keep their opinions to themselves so as not to influence the other. Easier said than done, right?
This month, Magali and Patrick test drove the Lounge version of the Fiat 500 with a four-cylinder (1.4 litres and 101 horses) and six-speed automatic gearbox. Sticker price: $23,025 (with features such as panoramic sunroof, heated seats and back-up assist), excluding transport cost ($1,400) and taxes. Note that the Pop base version starts at less than $16,000.
Here are their impressions:
She said
Name: Magali Eysseric
Age: 40
Drives: 2011 Hyundai Tucson
Occupation: Accountant (Mégatube Industries)
Magali conducted the test drive of the Fiat 500 like the true accountant that she is, by carefully noting all of her impressions, then separating them into “pro” and “con” columns. The verdict?
First, the pros: “I like the look of the Fiat 500, both inside and out. It’s crazy, all of the possible passenger compartment combinations! Both the look and feel of the controls is really cool. Also, the interior space is surprising and comfortable. Even those taller than six feet don’t feel trapped in the easy-to-access seat. And in the trunk, we managed to carry all of the groceries.”
Good fuel consumption
Given that her regular vehicle is an SUV, naturally, she found that the little Italian was good on gas: “I have to fill up my Hyundai Tucson every four days, but I was able to go a whole week in the Fiat 500 on one tank. And I wasn’t even on empty!”
And she had nothing but good things to say about its performance: “For a small car, I liked its power. I particularly enjoyed the sport mode and automatic transmission’s manual shifting. It makes the ride different – it makes it seem less like a small car. The handling is also very good. I’m no granny at the wheel: I like to take on curves and with the Fiat 500, I felt safe. And, as a special bonus, the sound was lovely.”
Our test driver didn’t hide her praise for the sunroof, along with its innovative sliding perforated cover: “You can get fresh air without the sun beating down on you. It’s great.”
Over the years, Magali has test driven a lot of vehicles, but never has she had so much difficulty getting used to a car. “It took me five days to figure out the Bluetooth, whereas it took me only five minutes with my Tucson. The controls behind the wheel? I discovered them by accident and since you can’t see them, you have to deduce what they control.”
Magali also found the on-board information hard to decipher. “I liked being able to read actual and average fuel consumption or the distance to travel, but this information is abbreviated and stuck in a round screen barely as big as a clementine.”
The devil’s in the details
“Also, you never know if the heated seats are on or not, since there’s no indicator light. A few times I even had to take out the owner’s manual, and I discovered another function that I didn’t know existed. Basically, the Fiat 500 isn’t user-friendly and, at the expense of safety, you’re forced to take your eyes off the road to manage to handle all its technology.”
There were other negatives: “The blind spot is horrible. And since I’m not very tall, I had trouble reaching the controls on the dashboard. I also had to stretch to put my coffee in the cupholder on the floor. A raised console would have been more practical, too. It would have made storage possible – and believe me, there’s barely any storage spaces in front at all.”
Despite these irritants, Magali says that she really enjoyed test driving the little Fiat 500: “Although it took me time to figure it out, I had a lot of fun driving it right from the start. And furthermore, everyone looks at it, finds it nice and gives it the thumbs up!”
He said
Name: Patrick Saint-Louis
Age: 37
Drives: 2006 Jeep TJ
Occupation: Aviation technician (Avianor)
As was the case with Magali, Patrick’s job influenced his test drive of the Fiat 500. He builds plane cockpits for a living, so his first impressions dealt with the car’s assembly: “I found the soundproofing deficient and I quickly understood why: near the sunroof, the body isn’t uniform and the door joint cracks. It would crack less if it was a single piece and if a piece of rubber was installed instead of a simple piece of felt.”
Patrick also designs aircraft seats, and he found the front seats of the little Italian uncomfortable: “They’re too hard and too encompassing. I felt like I was trapped. Furthermore, the sunroof takes away a few inches of headroom and the only way for me to be comfortable was to push my chair back as far as possible and to recline the seatback. I would have been better off test driving the convertible version!”
Although he felt restricted by the height of the roof, Patrick praised the Fiat 500’s interior space, “particularly its width.” And like Magali, he liked the perforated cover: “I drive a Jeep with no roof or doors, and ironically, I like the fact that you feel the air without really feeling the sun.”
And Patrick found that “the finish is impeccable. For a car at that price, the passenger compartment is very nice, both in terms of aesthetics and quality.”
More details
However, just like Magali, Patrick found the information gathered in the centre of the dash very difficult to understand. In addition, with regard to the commands behind the steering wheel: “I didn’t like that I was constantly catching them. You turn and...oops, you turn up the volume by accident.” And the Bluetooth? “What a piece of junk!”
Patrick and Magali agreed on another point: “The blind spot is terrible. The pillar at shoulder height is too wide for you to see anything.” He continued: “I’m a guy, so I looked under the hood Umm... How do you change the oil? The engine is so compact that you don’t see anything at all.”
To end on a positive note
In the end, Patrick didn’t like the Fiat 500, right? Wrong: “For a small car, it’s surprising. First of all, I was impressed by the handling and the suspension doesn’t bang. It’s very smooth.”
Power? “I was able to go 120 km/hr climbing a hill. That’s great acceleration! And fuel consumption was a meagre 5.2 litres. Holy smokes!”
Patrick definitely would have preferred a manual transmission, but he still liked the automatic and its AutoStick mode: “Shifting with the stick is flawless – tap-tap and it responds.” However, our test driver was less happy about the sport mode. “When you put the pedal to the metal, you see the red zone move closer, you think that the kickdown is going to begin, but it doesn’t. You have to lift your foot to get a second wind.”
Basically, Patrick liked the Fiat 500 enough to forgive its faults. “In fact, if I lived in the city, I would buy that little car. You can park it anywhere, it’s economical and a lot of fun to drive, and everyone’s gaga over its look. Even guys love it!”
