By Frank S. Washington
BALTIMORE, MD — Fiat was losing customers because the Fiat 500 micro car was too small. It has a backseat but not one that is comfortable for adults. And the company’s 205 dealers griped about their loss of potential buyers.
That is was one reason, more sales, why Fiat came up with a larger 500. Another reason is that if Fiat wants to take on the Mini it has to match up better. Perhaps not product for product, but the Fiat 500’s product offerings must be expanded from two cars; a hardtop and a convertible.
There is the Fiat 500 Abarth performance model but the sheet metal is unchanged.
This summer consumers will see the 2014 Fiat 500L. It looked just like the normal Fiat 500 from the front, in terms of the grille and headlights. That’s where the similarity ended. The 500L is a much bigger car.
According to Fiat, the 500L has 42 percent more interior volume and it is 20 percent longer, 9 percent wider, 11 percent taller, and it had 124 percent more cargo volume than the smaller Fiat 500.
Taking a cue from Chrysler’s past, the new Fiat had what it called “segment-exclusive glass from A- to D pillars and an available dual-pane panel sunroof to provide nearly 360-degree panoramic views.” The car really did have great sight lines all round.
It had a 160 horsepower turbocharged four cylinder engine that made 184 pound-feet of torque. The engine can be mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed dual clutch gear box.The car had an EPA rating of 25 mpg in the city and, 33 mpg on the highway for the manual and 24 mpg in the city and 33 mpg for what Fiat called the Euro Twin Clutch.
The timing of the dual clutch was way too slow and that transmission often hunted for gears. Fiat said a normal six-speed automatic will be available soon. A lot of drivers expect dual clutch gear boxes to shift at lightning speed, and they do in performance cars. But when they don’t criticism mounts.
Fiat would do well to speed the normal six-speed automatic to market. That was the only real flaw that showed up during a short test drive. The engine was a little loud accelerating from low speeds but on the expressways it was very quiet as was the car.
The Fiat 500L had a firm ride without being bouncy. Even though it is much bigger than the Fiat 500, the 500L is still a very small car and harsh bounces were expected. But the 500L had what Fiat called a selective dampening suspension. It sensed road input and softened or firmed up the suspension tuning as needed. It made the car ride like midsize sedan.
Electric power steering was tuned for easy steering but there was a smidgen of road connectivity. Acoustic glass made the car relatively quiet though there was a bit of wind noise overhead at expressway speeds. We did have the panoramic roof and that probably contributed.
Fiat said the 500L was a five-passenger car, well, maybe. But it can handle four people without a lot of fuss. There was plenty of headroom in the back seat and legroom was surprisingly plentiful.
What’s more, the second row seats reclined, they were comfortable and spacious and truly opera seats. In other words, you could see over the head of a front seat passenger. Second row seats also articulated forward and backwards.
The car has a choice of two UConnect systems. The 5.0 system features a 5-inch touchscreen interface, hands free calling and Bluetooth-streaming audio, as well as voice control of the radio and a media hub for seamless integration of portable devices. Amongst the other options was a rear parking sensor.
The 6.5 system has a 6.5-inch touchscreen radio, dealer activated navigation with intuitive map graphics and a premium media hub with SD card reader. The audio system was from Beats. The car had a double glove box. It also featured the instrument panel (IP) matching the exterior color of the car. The IP could also be covered with a black material.
Either or the interior didn’t appear cheap nor did it appear flimsy. The 2014 Fiat 500L comes in four trim lines: Pop, Easy, Trekking and Lounge with starting prices of $19,900, $20,995, $22,995 and $24,995 respectively.
Frank S. Washington is the editor of AboutThatCar.com.
This was printed in the August 25, 2013 – September 7, 2013 Edition
