What is it?
Italy swarmed with twin-cylinder Fiats back in the 1960s, but such engines have never been as popular here in the UK due to their meagre power outputs.
The new Fiat 500 TwinAir has no such shortcomings, though, with its all-new, vertical-turbo twin pushing out a strong 84bhp and 107lb ft of torque from as little as 1900rpm.
What's it like?
Run at 30mph in fourth gear aboard the Fiat and you hear a low, pulsing grumble; its gearing is seemingly a little too tall for the twin to haul uncomplainingly. But this is a rare fault; the TwinAir motor is otherwise a pleasure to use. Its free-revving nature and friendly burble (modelled on that of the ’57 Cinquecento) make each journey a drive of characterful difference. Those uninterested in engines and how they work may find its warbling rather odd, but in our book Fiat’s romantic ear-cocking to the past earns top marks.
Wide-throttle, uphill lugging provokes the same faint grumble and you do have to use the five-speed manual gearbox if you’re baulked on the motorway, but the TwinAir is an easy cruiser at 85mph, and quicker to get there than you’d expect.
Its tidy if unexceptional handling is little changed from that of the 1.2-litre petrol 500, although ride quality has markedly improved following the arrival of the soft-top 500C and some welcome across-the-range chassis tweaks.
Should I buy one?
Our only other concern is real-world fuel consumption. Almost 70mpg may be the official combined figure, but a trip computer reading of an unimpressive 37mpg does not sound so promising.
Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
Price: £12,065; Top speed: 108mph; 0-62mph: 11.0sec; Economy: 68.9mpg (combined); CO2: 95g/km; Kerb weight: 900kg; Engine: 2 cyls, 875cc, turbo, petrol; Power: 84bhp at 5500rpm; Torque: 106lb ft at 1900rpm: Gearbox: 5-spd manual
Join the debate
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
Disagree anyway - seriously thinking about buying one, but everything I read agrees with Autocar's founding - good car with very dubious fuel consumption. AutoExpress, France's leading publication, pretty much mirrored everything Autocar says, think they had it at 6 point something l/100km, works out around 40mpg. They advised to wait and see if the engine calmed down when run-in
I see on the BBC news website that on the recent economy car run from Brighton to London that the BMW 3 series 2.0d ED used 3 litres of diesel. It had four people on board during the run and as it must be 50 to 55 miles to central London that comes out at about 80 mpg. It will be interesting how the other cars figures compare when they release them later and what the exact figures are.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
Let's have a proper brim to brim measurement.
On its first full tank (brim-to-brim), my Polo 1.2TSI recorded 46mpg with the MFA indicating 47mpg. This is for a mix of town and open-road motoring. On the rural drive to my g/f's house, I have seen 57mpg indicated.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
37 MPG? Huh?
My car has an engine more than 3 times as big and weighs more than double, and I still get 30 MPG. So its much smaller, much slower and gets only 7MPG more? No thanks. I don't think I would even consider one if it got 100MPG becaue I still wouldnt think it worth it, but 7MPG is poor.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
aboard the Fiat and you hear a low, pulsing grumble
You're not kidding. I've driven little three cylinder cars and quite liked the offbeat thrum. They almost sound like baby V6s. To me this Twin just sounds rough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4CRhGVYhdk&feature=related
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
I tried out this car a week or so ago and thought it was great, the engine sounded brilliant and was pretty responsive. Coupled with the changes to the suspension, I thought it was a pretty good buy, so in fact I did just that, and ordered one. BTW, I see one of the press cars is quoted as returning 48 mpg fully loaded and 60 mpg one up on another rivals web site.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
so in fact I did just that, and ordered one
Pleased to hear it. Quite like them myself but would go the 1.4, 4 cylinder route in Sport trim if I was going for one. There isn't even much of a price premium. Those little twins aren't cheap.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
so in fact I did just that, and ordered one
Pleased to hear it. Quite like them myself but would go the 1.4, 4 cylinder route in Sport trim if I was going for one. There isn't even much of a price premium. Those little twins aren't cheap.
Yep, I did try and 1.4 some time ago, but have to say the twin had a shed load of character, and I was intrigued by the technology... and I loved that sound it made.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
Wide-throttle, uphill lugging
TwinAir is an easy cruiser at 85mph, and quicker to get there than you’d expect.
Not surprised 70mpg wasn't obtained! clearly driving it on boost too much of the time which would ruin economy.
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
It's very well to criticise the 37 MPG economy, but really... you must have been absolutely hammering to achieve such an appalling result. My Aygo (on paper less economical than this 500) averages 58 mpg with little effort. Logically, also, such a small engine should really be as economical as the paper figures suggest!
"The creative adult is the child who survived."
Re: Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge
On a run in car I get within a couple of percent of stated figures and often exceed (I only go off the "combined" figure). I'd like them to give me one of these for a few thousand miles and I'll give them some real world figures and show autocar how to drive a car reasonably economically. I get 34mpg out of my Mazda 5 with a 2.3 petrol and an automatic transmission - I reckon 60mpg out of this Fiat would be a cinch (though a 6 speed manual box would be nice).
