Dear Fiat (FIAT?)
I did not love your little 500X crossover. Frankly, I find the notion ludicrous. In fact, the only reason I chose it as my rental car last week was because the keys were strangely absent from the cab of the Ford Edge SEL I really wanted to borrow. If I had not chosen your b ug-eyed cute monster, I would have had my choice of three different colors of four-cylinder Altimas. Not cool, Emerald Aisle. Not cool.
Thus, as fate had it, I chose the 500X. And like all the best love stories, our early ominous led to an eccentric, odd pairing that neither one of us wanted to end. Well, at least I do not have it. You probably do not give a fuck.
But that is our history.
No wonder I did not choose the Fiat 500X. It is the strange Orthodox entry into the subcompact space CUV a car company lacks identity on US shores. At a time when many Fiat dealers roll back under the roofs of neighboring shops Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep-Ram SRT-Plymouth-Godknowswhatelse, brand desperately needs a volume seller, not a market car niche that has sold only two thousand units a month once since launching half of 2015.
the stable, the Jeep Renegade, has not been popular with writers around these parts, and it is not hard to see why. It is more of a Jeep aesthetically it is functionally and aesthetics above are almost comical in their attempts to convince you of their validity. Hey, look at me! I am a Jeep! Really, I am!
But the 500X has none of that hype to live up and not capacity nickname terrain to prove. So what if you took this otherwise appealing content of the Renegade, he rounded a bit, and made more attractive to different segments of the population (such as women and boomers)? Well, you would have the 500X -. And a small car quite convincing
My first thought upon entering the cabin of the Fiat was, "Wow, this is much better than I expected." Unexpectedly after a week with the 500X, I am prepared to say it has the best interior available in a new drive south of $ 30,000. Not only luxury air (my crappy iPhone photos notwithstanding), it feels as luxurious. The seats are comfortable and supportive. The dashboard retains Fiat her little brother design language, the 500, with a metal surface run its entire width. The steering wheel feels like pure silver, soft leather and various management modes that allow me to spend as much or as little effort in dancing with the Italian as I want.
FCA central ubiquitous Uconnect screen dashboard is. Oh, Uconnect, how I love you. Your intuitive nature, your bright, your menus ... you are just the bees knees. Uconnect only reason to choose the 500X over other competitors in the segment. All this just makes sense in the Fiat, and the user interface has just the right balance of features of the touch screen and buttons. Sync my iPhone 6S + Bluetooth is quick and painless, and the phone call a udio quality is acceptable.
However, the Uconnect stereo system that works is pure garbage, almost to the point of embarrassment. Any attempt to play music that is low and heavy battery (think Calvin Harris, etc.) comes through the speakers sound like a drunk Cookie Monster. Classical music comes across as tinny and depth missing. No menu setting may determine.
For a car this small, the rear seat is wide. When I jumped in the back seat, I felt that I could easily stay there for a trip of any length without complaint. In fact, two full-size adults can fit comfortably in the rear seats for long periods without discomfort. Baby and child seats are also no problem for the 500X. Unfortunately, a compromise is made for this space many passengers.
You guessed it. The cargo area is smaller than my Fiesta. I could not hold a 27-inch suitcase in it vertically or horizontally. Even smaller Rollaboard bag my colleague gave the 500X should - I had to do some repositioning my bag and laptop case small enough to make it fit. It is probably fine for most of the grocery shopping, but you have to take a UberXL at the airport if you take the family to Disney World because the 500X will not do.
But what about the actual driving experience? Here is the real shock: the 500X is really noisy
No, its not particularly fast in a straight line .. Fiat claims a time of just under 8 seconds 0-60, and feels about right for me. The 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder engine, which draws quite in most other applications, is more than enough in the 500X. Fiat offers three different modes of driving (Sport, Auto and Traction +) on the 500X, selected with the turn of a dial on next to the gear selector. When placed in Sport mode, the 500X downshifts immediately about three speeds and becomes annoying harsh for everyday driving. The auto mode is fine for 95 percent of the time. However, the Sport mode is great fun when youre pretending Francesco Bernoulli on routes between Detroit and Grand Rapids. Demotions are fast (if not smooth) and passing maneuvers are easily executed
The transmission has never wanted to make his way in 9 gear -. In fact, I was not even quite sure that he had a new speeds until I double checked against the Fiat site. Even the cruise equilibrium to 70 mph in automatic mode was usually done in eighth. Even so, highway driving is much more stable than similarly sized cars.
The suspension is given to feel and to lead a good sport to many other micro-utes. It is more fun to drive than the Buick Encore, Chevrolet Trax or Nissan Juke and is comparable to the Mazda CX-3. It manages to feel as strong as its stablemate, the Jeep Renegade, too, not only in the geometry of the suspension, but also in its general construction. the Panel gaps are consistent, materials feel soft, and everything works exactly as you want to.
Well, except one thing.
Yeah, its ridiculous. But even the clumsy horn of his part of the overall charm of 500X. It is one of the few car rental I was sad to return. Its strange, hes cute, and its not the manliest cars to drive (cue the chorus B & I Do not Care what others think of me), but Ill be damned if it is not part the most fun small cars Ive ever driven. If I were in the market for a CUV subcompact, it would be at the top of the list.
But its a big "if", is it not?
The problem with the 500X is that it is hard to imagine someone actually in the market for it. The small Fiat could clashes with some of the heaviest hitters in the industry. Almost all the major manufacturers have a very good entry in this category, and 500X are not necessarily anything that much better than the HR-V, Trax, Encore, Juke, or - the favorite all autowriter - CX-3. Once you realize that these tiny sales figures I referenced earlier include fleet sales, the 500X is almost invisible in the US market. I doubt that most Americans even know that Fiat offers a kind of crossroads, and those who find little reason to stop by the store Fiat -. Assuming they can find a
So what does it cost? This is where it gets a little tricky. The base model Fiat Pop FWD, with its 1.4-liter turbo four that eventually you will find under the hood of the Fiat 124 Spyder, is a little over $ 20,000. Unfortunately, so many things I loved about my rental - leather-wrapped wheel, the more rigid tire-sides, inside chocolate brown - induce a price premium. Fiat 500X Lounge optioned AWD as my rent? It is a little mind boggling $ 30,055. I wish I had the chance to drive the base model Pop to see if I like it so much. If any of the fun of the Lounge model has found its place in the Pop, it is logical to consider it as a Kia Soul competitor. But thirty great! Not However, with all the struggles that Fiat is to have metal movement lately, the actual tra nsaction price may be around $ 00 under the sticker.
Ill miss you, 500X. Your smile, your drive modes, the little touches that make you unique. I do not know if Ill ever be lucky enough to find yourself on the new car rental lot
But we will always have Detroit
