Home News Fiat 500X Test Drive and Launch

Fiat 500X Test Drive and Launch

The Italian Job

fiat 500x 1

Flying over the first flecks of snow on the Dolomites en-route to Turin it struck me that it must have really annoyed Fiat that in creating the 500L it has been forced to use the same foot-pump that had inflated the Mini into the shape of the Mini Countryman. You do get the impression that the Italians knew they could make a better job of extending the harmonious body shape of their 500 to suit this tightly fought over mid range utility-capable sector. After all why be forced to wear the Teutonic influences of Gieves and Hawkes or Hugo Boss when you could be dressed in Brioni or Santoni?

If so then they have a point. The reality is that Euro 6 emission directives now proscribe the performance and packaging of vehicle design so much that engines and other aspects of build make differentiation much more problematic these days. Enforced similarities in engine capacities and close competitive performance increasingly dampen the ownership experience and are a headache for any car manufacturer’s marketing department. Style in execution and packaging increasingly counts for a lot. Step forward Roberto Giolito the EMEA Head of Fiat’s design team at this launch at Fiat’s Balocco proving grounds near Turin to reveal a well thought out rational behind the shape and style of the 500x. It is hard to find a line out of place in this new car.

fiat 500x 2

After a rebuilt manufacturing plant, spending $3million on engineering, design and testing and with 500,000 km of road testing Fiat has come up with a vehicle package that not only looks good at the price but also has lane assist, blind spot assist, brake control and adaptive cruise control. So avoiding dings in its door panels from passing trucks taking more than their fair share of the road when driving down the Amalfi coast might now be a welcome possibility.

The 500x is available at launch in 1.3 (95hp) 2WD, 1.6 (120hp) 2WD and 2.0 (140hp) 4WD diesel engines and 1.6 (110hp) 2WD, 1.4 (140hp) 2WD and 1.4 (170hp) 4WD petrol configurations.  The largest engine versions can be bought with a 9-speed automatic.  Giorgio Cornacchia, Fiat’s head of product development indicated that the 500x has been designed for precise handling and to achieve the required torsional material strength they needed the most efficient weight to steel thickness ratio. The result, 21% of this car is made from very advanced high strength steels, which comprise nearly 75% of the total chassis weight and that has Fiat claiming a structural efficiency 10% better than any competitor an industry leading lightweight design and a best in class aerodynamics of 0.340cx.

fiat 500 x 3

The easy three-position driving mode (or Fiat Mood) selector is intuitive and can mostly be left in Auto Mode, which allows four-wheel drive when needed. Sport Mode allows faster throttle and steering response with four wheel and differential lock on, a lower electronic stability control threshold and allows wheel-spin. Finally selecting Traction Mode switches to permanent four wheel-drive with low friction stability control and allows wheel-spin optimized for low friction surfaces.

Sound insulation, the drag coefficient optimized design, dynamic stiffness of the car and resultant road dynamics are purported to have markedly reduced the internal noise inside the cabin. Cornacchia claims the best in class noise suppression even at high speed. A test drive gave some credibility to that claim.

fiat 500x 4

Roberto Giolito                                                                                                        Gianluca Italia

 

Gianluca Italia, Head of Brand Fiat indicates a UK price starting at around £14,595 with the top of the range 500x Plus coming complete with 9-speed auto transmission for £25,845. Opening Edition on sale from the first of December, and with a fun video teaser international campaign already underway, major UK dealer promotional activity is scheduled to reach full pitch during January 2015. Availability is expected from the second quarter. Both the 500 and 500L are claimed by Fiat to be top of their sectors for sales in Europe and expectations of the 500x are accordingly high.

This car comes complete with the potential to remove from consideration any thoughts of a Nissan Juke or similar alternatives. With apologies to the film “The Italian Job” this is indeed a “Preetty Car” and yet one that can handle the slope of a moderately steep cliff if needs be.  With this model Fiat must be in with a chance of owning this segment of the crossover sector and this model must surely be giving BMW pause for thought.

fiat 500x 5

 

Over the years it has not been at all unusual to see a small 4×4 Fiat trundle through snowdrifts and regularly disgorge excited individuals, fur clad, giggling and in snow boots outside the latest après ski venue at any alpine resort you may wish to name. Fiat has always been quite clever at stylishly adapting its model range for utility and in four-wheel drive guise the 500x promises useful performance, though this is not a full off-roader by any means. It looks like Fiat admits to this, the latter in a way reinforced by the off-road test track on offer for the 500x at Balocco. It was not as strenuous as that prepared for the recently launched Panda 4×4. However this car feels like it will easily handle the speed bump ridden school run and it should flatter even the least confident when driving in the winter.

We were able to drive the 9-speed 140hp four-wheel drive version all the way from Turin’s cobbled streets, through traditional hill towns and villages, swooping curves, steep inclines and eventually the autostrada en route to Balocco. Fault was hard to find, though it felt that this auto box and engine combination was being pushed to its limits occasionally. There was comfort around town with no evidence of excessive yawing from sudden steering angles, especially when faced with avoiding the high-speed antics of others at junctions. The electrically assisted steering works very well, as did the manual gearbox in the diesel 1.6 version tested later.

We independently arranged to drive the Mini Countryman 1.6D two-wheel drive after this launch, chosen as it has a similar performance to the Fiat 118bhp engine offering. Of the two, the 500x two-wheel drive diesel feels the more intuitive; more refined and delivers a better menu of capability.

fiat 500x 6

It is also a much nicer place in which to sit with an interior design more cohesive than the slightly brash and more cluttered of the Mini Countryman. That environment feels designed by committee. The window lip, no matter the height of the seat, truncates the sightline of the door mirrors. It has a multimedia system designed so that you are likely to crash if you try to retune the radio while driving and a far too big hand-break lever that would be easily at home on an aircraft ejector seat. It has neat guarded switches though, reminiscent of the type used in missile launch systems.

The 500x feels like it has a great chassis and the all wheel drive version gets a matched suspension modification to make best use of that option.

fiat 500x 7

Overall it feels like it could handle a much more powerful engine than those on offer at launch but the current line-up should easily be able to deal with the adventure that is an occasional trip up country for the weekend. We would recommend leaving your lamping kit behind and your gun in its locked cabinet as despite good ground clearance at 179mm and generous 21.3 degree approach angle, break-over of 22.3 degrees and 30.1 degree departure this vehicle will not really

fiat 500x 8

allow you to go hunting, rescue sheep from a muddy field or go green-laning. These activities would be best left to a Defender or even the Fiat Panda 4×4.

Wind noise control is as impressive as the cabin insulation. Nothing delivered a squeak or rattle and if cheaper plastics or metals are used then the interior shows no evidence. Even the curiously matt, textured, very tactile and slightly cushioned material above the scuttle reduces windscreen glare very effectively. The seats are very supportive and everything is well screwed together. Activation of the multimedia systems was instinctive and integration has been thorough with everything from mapping to audio working exactly as promised at the launch presentation. The only exception was the auto engine stop. This had to be switched off eventually, as it was just a touch too eager.

We stopped in the small hill town of Castlenuovo Don Bosco. Having effortlessly climbed its very steep and narrow streets to the church square hill-hold responded instantly to a bread van hurtling round a blind corner. Here a friendly and inquisitive local school headmistress, her staff, accompanied by an on-duty and fully armed policeman were all eager to have a look inside.

fiat 500x 9

This was followed by an invite indoors for an excellent and timely espresso. The effusive reaction was just the same outside a restaurant further down below on the town’s high street, the 500x proving instantly attractive to passers-by.

This car is not likely to worry the Porsche Macan but it does look a much better and instead of the German you could probably buy two of these Fiat 500x, with every extra added, and still have enough left to rent a yacht for a few weeks.

Get a top spec 500x in black. Throw trendy cozy clothing in the back, fit winter tyres, a ski-rack, a pair of black Hublot Zai 175cm carvers complete with Salomon Z bindings and head up to the Dolomites. Before long you will be making friends under a chairlift in Cortina d’Ampezzo or, better still, you could be giving the kids a real treat skiing in Scotland’s Aviemore.

Might as well do the job in style.

fiat 500x 10

Previous articleJaguar Heritage Experience Review
Next articleSporting pretensions – The new Renault Twingo
MCIPR, Communications Consultant, Author and Photographer