A few days ago, Fiat announced the first new update to a non-battery-electric Fiat 500 in, let’s see…the last refresh to a gasoline-powered Fiat 500 was in 2016 (that was just a facelift), so it’s been nine years if I’m being generous. This new updated version of the fun little city car is actually based on the 500e battery-electric car from 2020, making it one of the very few combustion-engined cars ever to have started out as a battery-EV platform, which is interesting (this was a result of a decrease in EV demand). But what everyone seems to be fixated on is the new Fiat’s speed, or lack of it. Just so you know, everyone is wrong.
Before I get into that, let’s dig into what this new 500 is: it’s a hybrid, with a 12-volt lithium-ion battery and a one-liter three-cylinder engine, which together make a modest but respectable – to me, at least – 65 horsepower (and 68 pound-feet of torque). It also has a six-speed manual transmission that sends that trim congregation of horses to the front wheels.
The electric motor is pretty modest here — a starter-motor making about 4.8 hp — but it does have regen capability. The car is expected to sell for € 19,400 to start, which is about $22,300 in American freedombucks, making this car pretty dirt cheap.
More importantly, it’s a manual hybrid car! How many of those are still around? I love it! Fiat was also nice enough to give some specs in their press release, covering some basic performance and fuel economy:
A top speed of 96 mph, 0-62 mph acceleration of 16.2 secs (17.3 secs for Convertible) and combined WLTP fuel consumption of 53 mpg (52 mpg for Convertible) make Fiat 500 Hybrid the perfect choice for efficient, urban motoring.
53 mpg seems pretty good, but what everyone seems to be fixated on are 0-100 kph (o-62 mph) times: 16.2 seconds and 17.3 for the convertible. Here in the Land of Free Refills, we generally use 0-60 times, so I’m gonna roughly guess this new hybrid 500 will be able to get to 60 in 16 seconds flat.
Most of the reporting about the new car seems to reference these acceleration numbers which are, by modern standards, perhaps a little, um, relaxed. Motor1 says the “The New Fiat 500 With a Gas Engine Is Never In a Hurry” and AutoEvolution calls it “painfully slow” and CarExpert is a little more reserved, saying “performance traded for affordability” while AutoBlog is unashamedly snarky, saying it “makes the Nissan Kicks look like a rocket.”
You know what? All of these chumps need to grow up. Going from 0 to 60 in 16 seconds is fine. Look at these babies:
Yeah this is kinda my point about the manual 500. 17.3 seconds might be fine in a small Italian town, but it’s almost dangerous in a situation where the speed limit is above 35. https://t.co/TbY01KqLiB
— Motor1 (@Motor1com) November 23, 2025
Ugh, I’m so sick of this narrative. “Almost dangerous?” Really? You know what “almost dangerous is?” Not dangerous. Sure, the new 500 isn’t fast – but it is nearly two seconds or so faster than a ’74 AMC Gremlin (17.7 seconds) and faster than a ’62 Triumph Vitesse 1600, and that name means “speed!” More importantly, just fine.
I say this as someone who has been driving cars with about 50 hp for decades and so far has never ended up dead as a result. I’ve been in more than my share of wrecks, but none have been because any of my slow cars were too slow. Sure, a car that goes to 60 in 5 seconds or so is fun, but that’s just not how people drive! Most people are not burying the pedal into the carpet every time they go on an on-ramp. They just aren’t.
Getting to 60 in 16 seconds is plenty for, like, 98% of the traffic situations you’ll encounter. I’m not saying there aren’t exceptions where more speed is genuinely helpful, but you know what? You’d be fine with a 16-second-to-60 car. Again, I say this as someone who has done it. Over and over again. I daily-drove an old Beetle in LA, and it was fine, and now I daily-drive a Nissan Pao, which does 0-60 in the same 16-ish seconds as the new Fiat 500. It’s not a big deal.
Seroiusly, how quickly do you think the tens of thousands of semi trucks get to 60 mph? It’s nowhere near as quick as 16 seconds.
Besides, all the people whining about the new 500 being too slow, where the hell do you need to get to in such a rush? The Candyass Convention? Are you the Keynote Crier? Is that why you need to rush? You don’t want to be late to whine like a little baby in front of the adoring crowd? You better hurry! I hope you can get to a full mwile-a-mwinute in 5 seconds, little fellas!
I’m sorry. That’s not fair. I’m being mean. I think I’m just sick of this whole narrative that somehow you need a car that goes to 60 in former-no-joke-sportscar times just to be “safe.” It’s silly. 16 seconds to 60 will work; nobody is going to pool-cue you into orbit as you merge onto the highway if you have even a modicum of sense about how you drive.
I mean, maybe someone will, but that can happen no matter what you drive.
Point is, everyone complaining about how slow this is just needs to calm down. It’s fine. It’s a little hybrid manual city car that sells for $22 grand. The hell do you expect?
In my weekly jaunts up and down I-75 there are very few drivers that get anywhere near the speed limit by the end of the ramp. Many take several miles to even get around to matching the traffic, and many of those then run speeds greater than traffic. It makes zero sense, much like the carping about “slow” cars being available while you are not ever going to own one due to what you think it indicates about you.
You know what isn’t fine?
The electric door handles…
I’ll agree on this one
Although I think everyone and their mother having a 0-60 in the 3-5 second range is a bit excessive, 16 seems fine for off cities and rural roads but doesn’t inspire confidence on highways outside of onramps resembling airport runways imo. But more manual hybrids are always welcome, even though appreciation may arrive in 3-5 business days 🙂
For me, this car would be fine 80% of the time. Trundling around the city and parking in tight spaces are where cars like this excel. However, having spent my early days in a Geo Metro with 55hp, that other 20% of my time makes this car unacceptable. It’s not just getting to 60 that matters, it’s climbing hills and maintaining highway speeds in excess of 75 mph. Yeah, they say the top speed is around 90, but my guess is that takes a tailwind and going downhill.
They hybrid bit means it will have decent torque. Much like how a low-hp turbo diesel is just fine in the real world, even if the acceleration is nothing to get excited about.
The way I see it, having the ability to accelerate quickly (or at least 0-60 under 8 or 9 seconds) makes you less reliant on the drivers around you since you don’t have to rely on their brakes (or awareness) for your safety.
The left turn from my neighborhood goes on to a 35 mph road, but the issue is most people are going 45 or more. The main road also has a slight curve, so when I look to the right for cars approaching it’s possible for me to not even see a car that will immediately be on my bumper when pulling out. I regularly have to launch the hell out of my Mazda 3 just to make sure those people aren’t slamming on their brakes.
I would be much less comfortable taking that turn in a much slower car, to the point I would likely just find a different route. Granted, this is 100% a poor infrastructure and poor drivers issue, but it’s the world I’m driving in.
It’s possible to safely (or at least legally) drive a slow car, but it’s definitely more stressful.
Not driving in a way that aligns with other people’s expectations can be dangerous, regardless of whether those expectations are “proper” or not.
I had to limp a car with a cracked sidewall in the front passenger tire for about 20 miles yesterday, 10 of those going 50 mph when nearly everyone around me was doing 65+. It was quite scary.
Where I am there’s a “state highway” that is at 45 mph for almost 6 miles. Most tend to do 50-55 mph though.
The left turn kamikazes love to enter the road, and do about 35-40 mph without any concern for their own, (or other’s) safety whatsoever. The majority of the wrecks are caused by such idiocy.
They also “earn” bonus points for creating a 20 car line of pissed off drivers who are stuck behind them.
You don’t need 0-60 for that. You need a brisk 0-30, then things can tail off quite a bit. If someone has to brake who is going too fast to start with, that is their problem.
Some possible marketing sound bites . . .
Zero to Sixty? DEFINITELY!
Zero to Sixty Time? Define TIME.
Zero to Sixty? Faster than you can fall in love.
No, it isn’t fine.
16 seconds 0 to 60 is a serious danger to any fragile ego.
I mean, what if you get into some trafic aggression and you want to show your emotions by doing a smokey little burout? Not going to happen.
Get the cheapest, hardest tires you can find and it should still give you at least a nice chirp if you rev it up before releasing the clutch.
.
I’m sorry, I generally love and support small/slow cars, but this is approaching dangerously slow. And that’s fine if you’re driving a 2CV or whatever, but this is a modern car that costs modern money. I agree that there’s nothing wrong with not getting anywhere in a hurry, but it’s an entirely different story when you’re out on actual 45mph+ roads with insane people in SUVs who are 25 minutes late to Kinsleeigh’s dance practice and simply have to get to the red light as fast as humanly possible or else they’ll explode.
It has acceleration that is right in line with other cars in it’s class in Europe. Americans are stupid and spoiled.
If I lived in a densely-populated European city I would be more than satisfied with the power of this thing. I love slow cars. But 95% of the people with driver’s license in the US are insane and easily distracted. I want to be able to get out of their way as soon as humanly possible.
Meh, nowhere in the US is as insane to drive in as Paris, Naples, or Budapest.
Wait, are we actually going to get this? Pretty neat if we do.
Jason is right, this thing is fast enough for what it’s intended to do, which is be a city car. Or be a car for a weirdo not unlike myself.
I get that many of us live in the vast expanse of the US where space is unlimited and everyone drives their house of a vehicle from place to place. But I swear there are places where cars like this, or regular subcompacts, make sense. It’s not just major cities. But also mid-sized cities across the Northeast where “downtown” living has become very popular, and space for cars is increasingly limited. Now that basically every truly small car has been cancelled for this market, this and the ever bloating Mini are all that’s left.
Nobody is expecting this thing to sell like a RAV4. And that’s fine.
This article from May says there are no plans to bring it to the US. That blows. As someone who regularly rides a 125cc motorcycle and was considering a kei car as a 3rd vehicle, this looks like a far more practical small car.
Hopefully they make it fun. The 500e is apparently kind of a bore to drive, even ignoring its low range and lack of power. The joy of small, light vehicles is that they are usually pretty engaging when you start turning the steering wheel.
Yeah unfortunately being in the sort of space limited place where these are appealing, charging at home is rarely an option. A hybrid version of this car would likely sell better than the EV.
There is zero chance this will ever be sold in the US. Sadly. I absolutely loved my 500 Abarth, but I bought it for the silly factor, and that it was the only 500 eligible for SCCA-sanctioned autocross due to some stupid rules. A regular non-turbo 500 would have been just fine otherwise.
As someone who drove mk1 rabbits, ford escort wagon automatics and 3cly Subaru justys in the 1980-90s. as long as you can hit the end of the on ramp at legal speed It is fine.
As one who once drove buses, how fast you are going at the end of the ramp doesn’t actually matter that much.
You know, 5+ years ago I may have agreed with you Jason. I used to drive my 50hp Beetle all around the city, highways during rush hour, everything. 0-60 is ~18 seconds on that car. But after the pandemic it feels like traffic on highways is moving faster than before and people are somehow more impatient. It was really bad till 2022 or so, I was frequently getting tailgated and flipped the bird even on local roads where I was exceeding the speed limit already.
Now, I’ll hit the highway in the Beetle on a weekend when there’s little traffic, if I need to go somewhere farther away. But no more rush hour. Between slow acceleration and drum brakes it isn’t worth it when I’ve got a modern daily driver.
I’m not one of those people who thinks eight or nine seconds to 60 is glacial, like I’ve seen some people express. But 16 seconds really is pushing it, especially if you do a lot of highway driving.
Had a 71 Super Beetle, and yeah at some point it gets tiring being a road hazard. Being the slowest thing on the road and pretty much below the sight line of 60% of things on the road is just high stress driving.
I don’t disagree that driving something slow is a dealbreaker. Most of the time, there are other cars around and my observation is that the vast majority of people drive pretty slowly. You could probably do just fine with something this slow in most cases.
What I will argue against is the value on this. Sure, it gets excellent fuel economy, but when you compare the price of anything used, it seems like a difficult pick.
As I have a problem with old Volvos, that’s my standard unit of currency. So I could get two P3 XC70s for the cost of one of these, Three P2 V70s (with the T5 engine) or probably four 240DLs in various states of disrepair.
If I were being progressive, I could probably get an almost not broken S60 for 22k.
The value is not really there. If I were a normal person, I could get a nice used v6 mustang for this money and it would probably be far more entertaining to drive and at least as reliable.
You are used to North American market and prices. This is not out of line for the markets it will be sold in for a stylish Premium supermini. Absolutely nobody in Rome or London is going to cross-shop this with a V6 Mustang at any price.
This is a car for people in Europe or Japan who live where they’re never hitting 60. They’re driving in the city and want a cheap car to squeeze into tiny parking spaces, or else live up in the hills and their longest drive is 50km to the train station.
It’s a niche but not a crazy niche.
I don’t see how this car can compete for those buyers against all the new similarly priced Chinese electric cars.
That’s almost as slow as browsing this website, sheesh.
shots fired
They needed to be, this site feels like you’re getting to it on dialup.
fine, jeez, I’ll replace the server’s 28.8 mbps modem with a 56K one. Happy now?
tbf this is the slowest loading website i regularly visit lol
I figured you used Citroen DS-L for a server connection.
Don’t tease us like that, we know that the Commodore you’re running this thing from can’t support that sort of speed without self-immolating.
Nice try.
I will say I don’t personally care because I’m a member and will wait to read the articles, but almost all of my reading is done on gigabit+ connections and it often takes 3-4 seconds to load every page. I meant to send Hardigree an email about this but I do wonder if the traffic problems from Google are related to page load times. I know at least in the past anything more than a second or two got you downranked.
You could put a up a throttle for ‘special’ addresses and crank em down to 300 baud.
Dump a bottle of seafoam on that bad boy. Let us know when you’re ready for the Italian Tune Up and we’ll hit the page hard. You just gotta clear those pipes out every once in a while.
53 mpg from a tiny, glacial, 65 hp car makes a lot less sense now that you can get the same economy in a Camry with 3x the space, 3x the power, and 3x the reliability that still starts under $30,000.
You really gotta be space constrained or budget constrained to settle for this.
Not to mention the real-world fuel economy if you’re doing anything other than low speed city driving is probably worse than advertised. At least it’s a manual so you can redline it on highway on-ramps.
This. It’s the Smart Car all over.
Or you like weird cars.
Liking weird cars and buying them new are almost two separate circles of the Venn diagram.
I had this same thought process. I routinely get 53+mpg in my Kia Niro, which is fully useable hatchback with a starting price of $27k. The Camry is an even more compelling option. As always, the 500 is a tough sell outside of dense urban areas, especially in the USA.
You can get a used Niro or Fit for well under 20k that’s not all that much bigger.
Well, vastly bigger inside.
Or really want a Fiat 500 for 90% of your driving with an actual 5 speed manual gearbox. (Which gearbox by the way totally sucks in ‘fast’ highway driving rush hour stop and go). I’ll take mine in yellow, orange or that 69’s Lancia green.
My new-to-me car will leap to 60mph in under six seconds. As a kid growing up in the 80s we considered anything under 8 seconds modestly quick and the “genuinely quick” category started somewhere around 6.5 seconds. Quicker than that and you’re into serious performance.
Back in the day – and I freely confess that the day included the depths of The Malaise Era where I’m concerned – 16 seconds to 60 was slow but not intolerable. The 20-plus seconds required for a cruelly flogged Yugo, that was intolerable. The 20-plus seconds required by a diesel Rabbit, that was intolerable – but you tolerated it anyway because the fuel economy was epic.
So far I have never matted the loud pedal on the car and held it there until the speedo cracked 60. Never. It doesn’t come up. That kind of performance isn’t necessary in day-to-day driving, and everyone telling you that you need that kind of power to keep up with traffic, they’re lying. I can and have gotten through traffic with the performance offered by a 1987 Hyundai Excel – one of the more ironically named cars out there – which slowed noticeably whenever the AC engaged. 0-60 in 16 seconds? Hmm, closer to 13…unless the AC is on. And it handled traffic just fine.
Depends on where you live and drive. I am out in the country, and to get to most anything is freeway or at least 50+ MPH roads. And we don’t have freeway ramps – you stop at a stop sign, then make a right turn and you’re on the freeway. If you car is doing 0-16 in 16 seconds, you are going to be waiting a nightly long time for a gap you can fit into, and piling up cars behind you (I’ve seen faster cars than that pile up the road for nearly a mile waiting to get in during busy times).
And don’t get me started on the traffic light a few miles down the road. Yep, a traffic light (highway drops to 55 from 70 just before the light) and then jumps to 70 again after the light (I mean *right after*). (This is another entrance/exit area.) Please don’t drive a tinker-oy wind-up car like the 500 on roads like this.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t a use case for this (city driving) but saying “it’s fine” for day-to-day driving really depends on where that driving is.
I’m sticking with “It’s fine.”
Seconded, fine absolutely anywhere and everywhere.
“If you car is doing 0-16 in 16 seconds, you are going to be waiting a nightly long time for a gap you can fit into, and piling up cars behind you (I’ve seen faster cars than that pile up the road for nearly a mile waiting to get in during busy times).”
How does something like a bus or dump truck manage to pull onto those highways?
I have driven coach buses that had a 0-25 time of >16 seconds, with 60 arriving “eventually”. For some, 60 was the top speed, Detroit howling at the governor. This car is perfectly fine anywhere. People are just spoiled. And terrible drivers far too often.
I’ll compare this to my ’86 300SDL. Which is shoving all of 4000lbs with 140hp (I’m sure some has leaked out in 300k miles).
Factory, it did 12.5 0-60, and mine is somewhere in the 13s.
Getting up to highway speed is THE MOST STRESSFUL part of driving this car.
The biggest problem today is that every fucknuckle that tripped over a license on the ground is ahead of you on the on-ramp.
The local pass time in my city is trundling up the on-ramp at 60-80km/h, merging in to traffic, THEN flooring it to highway speed.
Meanwhile, I didn’t get the runway to build momentum and my ass is hanging out in the wind while I try to merge.
Around town is fine, and the car will eat highway at whatever speed you climb it to. But the on ramps have aged me.
“Back in my day…” yeah, the same argument gets made by people on all seasons vs snow tires.
Back in the day, no one had snow tires, so you all slid to a stop relatively evenly. Nowadays, the majority have snow tires and they stop faster. So you’re more likely to rear end them with your hubris on all seasons.
It’s the same with acceleration. I think the 10 second mark is about the plateau of 0-60 if you plan to regularly highway commute in urban areas.
Huh, wonder if something is actually awry with your 300SDL?
I DD a ’83 300TD with some 400k miles on the original engine and the original transmission and I’ve never ever had any problems with merging onto the highway. And since I need to rebuild the turbocharger I’ve been taking it easy until I do so. And until its recent demise at the hands of a red light runner and a total-happy insurance company I used to DD a NA Mk2 Jetta diesel where I also never had any problems with highway merging; likewise with my 1969 VW bus (not diesel but the aerodynamics of a brick aren’t great for its 47 HP, lol) which I also DD’d for years until I sidelined it for some pushrod tube seal leaks which I still have to rectify. Once I do so I’ll happily DD the bus.
I can get up to highway speed to merge, but I need the whole on ramp to do it. Which is difficult when I’m barreling down the on-ramp at 90km/h and Darryl DumbFuck is still doing 60km/h at the merge point.
I also have the taller rear gear from a 560SEL in mine. Which scrubs some acceleration.
Man you’re not wrong about on ramps – it’s the same here in the US. Especially with the proliferation of electric assist people are used to very quick acceleration to 60 even in 3 row SUVs and don’t bother building speed until the very end of the ramp.
Which drives me MENTAL. Driving instruction is part of my job (I have signing authority for C class licenses, for coach/transit buses).
I make it abundantly clear that, barring traffic ahead of them, if they’re not at highway speed BEFORE merging, they’re going to fail.
I refuse to contribute to shitty driving practices.
Good on you! My bus instructor was the same. Foot to the floor as soon as the thing is in a straight line, if not before as possible (with the turbos that helped a lot), and keep it there. Do not hesitate at the merge, they probably won’t hit you. Don’t pick fights with semis though.
Of course this was back when most of the coaches were manuals, if you could get to 40 by the end of the ramp you were doing well. But you were taught to use everything that Detroit had to give. Just like you have to do when driving a “slow” car. And this was in Chicagoland where traffic is as binary as down here in SW FL. Low flying aircraft or stop and go, no in-between.
It totally sucks when some asshat is moseying ahead of you, but a bus coming up on their ass was decent motivation to get the lead out, occasionally with a bit of air horn assistance.
You left out the first class drivers who come to a full stop on the merge ramp. I just love those deranged souls.
I’ve never experienced this in any city I’ve driven except Ottawa.
Which, unfortunately, is where I’m located.
Preston street ramp going East is one of the worst. Used to live near the Hospital and took that ramp daily. Happened at least once a week.
Oh god, those people are scary. I was riding with my MIL one time and she did this. As we cruised down the ramp at a leisurely pace, she seemed oblivious to the need to merge. She got the the bottom of the ramp, screeched to a halt and then looked to see what traffic was doing. I generally insist that I drive when we’re going somewhere together now.
Both my parents were the same. Made me crazier than usual.
Mine does this too. What is it with mothers in law?
“You left out the first class drivers who come to a full stop on the merge ramp. I just love those deranged souls.”
Oh I lay on the horn and high beams for jackasses like that.
Doesn’t seem to deter them. Blissfully clueless and situationally unaware. Whuts that noise, whut are those flashes.
Come on down to God’s Waiting Room, FL. It’s a Cryptkeeper special talent. A lot of ancient Canadians here too – hmmm.
Been there a couple of times. It was interesting to say the least. Ottawa still has it beat for density of terrible drivers.
That’s *impressive* that they have more. But I have never been west of Montreal.
Pittsburgh has some on-ramps with stop signs. It’s a feature!
We used to go to Long Island for vacations every summer. More than a few of the merge ramps provided less than 30 yds of merge to go from 15 to 60 mph. Def a situation that called out for some acceleration. Not fun at all IMO.
I had a 300SD for a while. The only time I was really nervous was merging onto a highway from a stop sign (Meritt parkway for those in the northeast) with 5 people and luggage. Otherwise fine – -I also had a diesel Delica for a few years that was even slower to 60, also mostly fine sicne it was nicely geared for acceleration…alternately was screaming at highway speeds.
At least with turbodiesels you have a lot of torque, which makes them very confident to drive.
BTDT in my very not-turbo Peugeot 504Ds. Not fun, you really just have to commit, go, and use every pony that little diesel can whip up. But reality is people in 300hp cars don’t do it much faster. They just mosey on out and hope they don’t get hit. Most of the time they don’t. The average American can’t find full throttle with a GPS – which is probably good as most of them would just get in trouble anyway.
Though I will say one of the most boneheaded things I ever did behind the wheel was when I picked up my ’83 505S turbodiesel automatic wagon in Philly. Had to get on a very similar onramp literally minutes after getting behind the wheel for the first time. Into traffic. Put my foot down expecting at least what the 504 would give. Nope – 3spd slushbox and turbolag you could measure with a sundial meant basically NO acceleration for a good 3-4 seconds. Which is an eternity. THEN it spooled up and she moved out decently enough. Nobody hit me, but it was closer than it should have been – and like the Merritt, no shoulder to get onto to get out of the way. But I very quickly learned you had to anticipate that thing just like when driving an old Detroit turbo-powered bus. I did eventually figure out that the boost controller on that car was way out of whack, and once to spec it was a LOT better, if not exactly fast.
I think one thing people who haven’t driven them don’t realize is that old diesels aren’t as slow as the 0-60 time makes them sound (that wagon excepted until it was fixed). 0-20 is not much different than much faster cars, 20-45 is still pretty quick, but it take a good while to get that next 15 mph as drag builds, and 60-top speed takes a LONG time. The acceleration is a lot less linear than modern cars. Which is generally fine when merging or turning across traffic.
Oh it’s absolutely doable. I’ve been doing it in my SDL for 4 years. It is, however, a stressful endeavour. Once you get past the 10 second mark on a 0-60, it requires skill and attention that I don’t believe your average driver can (or is willing to) give.
Slow car driving is it’s own skill.
“The local pass time in my city is trundling up the on-ramp at 60-80km/h, merging in to traffic, THEN flooring it to highway speed.”
When I drove my dad’s old Mercury Grand Marquis (133hp shoving 4000lbs… so a similar 0-60 time), my strategy for dealing with idiots who do that is to pull back ahead of time and then gun it using the extra space between me and the idiot in front to build up speed.
The REAL challenge was doing that while towing our 3000lb camping trailer… soo… 133hp for around 7500lbs total… which probably knocked the 0-60 time down to the 30 second range… similar to a early VW type 1 Beetle.
Problem is, doing that I have overly aggressive people behind me.
They’re also driving THAT much slower that I still eat the distance between.
But yeah, that was my passing strategy in my mom’s ’99 Pathfinder. Drop back, build speed, then time my passes.
A had a ’79 300TD wagon (the T is Touring, not turbo). And several non-turbo diesel Peugeots. MUCH slower than your car, never a problem even in the Northeast where ramps are notoriously short as a rule. Put your damned foot in it and go. If someone hits you, their problem. Very, very rarely did I have to proceed down the shoulder for a bit to build more speed.
I very much agree that the average driver in the US (and evidently Canada) is a complete moron however.
Would it be correct to assume this version won’t be sold in the land of the Canyonero?
Slow cars are fun if they have the proper engagment and suspension tune, you will feel you are pushing it hard but the car is moving at legal speeds while getting good MPG, example Honda Insight Gen 1.
Could this be considered one of the slowest passenger cars for sale?
I’ve had a on-going series of under-powered 4 cyl manual transmission daily drivers going back to my 71 Vega. It’s fine. You learn to flog them, as needed. But I believe most accidents are avoided by the brake pedal, not the gas pedal.
That reminds me of that time I used to daily drive a Suzuki Wagon R+ with whopping 60hp coming from 1.0 liter engine.
Also going 0-60 in 16 seconds, which was more than enough for city driving and shorter routes outside town. Granted, you had to be more patient and plan every overtake ahead but it didn’t stop me from going 70-80 mph on some expressways.
My oldest daughters’ ’24 Mirage gets to 60mph in about 11 seconds and keyboard warriors make fu of the Mirage like its the red-headed stepchild that is no longer produced. The problem with American roads is that every damn vehicle now needs 300+ horsepower just to keep up with the “other guy” and their 300+ horsepower.
Vehicles have laughably become too large and unwieldly and most owners can’t even park the damn things.
I rock a Mirage. I do get a bit squirrely on one freeway on-ramp, where I’m entering into the left lane of the freeway where people regularly are going 80. Otherwise, it’s perfectly fine.
I owned a ’24 Mirage (Bluey) as a second car/backup vehicle and then a few months later changed jobs, lost the company ride and the Mirage became my primary and upgraded to a new Outlander matching my wifes’ 22 model.
About a year later daughters’ Fusion craps out-thanks Ecobroken and we got her, you guessed it, again a ’24 Mirage. 12K miles later she still loves it.
Mitsu would be wise to import a replacement soon as they really had a good thing going.
I don’t know, 65hp was probably fun when the old OLD Fiat 500 weighed about a thousand pounds and was like a tin can. Add all of today’s soundproofing, reinforcements, electronics, … I don’t know.
This is from someone that loved his 2013 Fiat 500 Abarth for 7 years.
Where is it now? And why did it leave?
Someone did a fly-n-drive to take it home to MN in 2019. I decided I wasn’t getting any younger & wanted to experience more stuff while I was still healthy enough. My knees have made weird noises since my 30s.
So far I’ve had a bugeye WRX, ’14 BRZ w/ turbo, two NA Miatas, 944 Turbo ($$ pit), Celica GTS race car from the old Pro/ Celebrity series and now a GR Corolla. Still have the Celica and a Miata also. I think I might be “done”.
My 2013 Abarth got traded in for an Alfa Romeo Giulia after 7 years, a slightly more “grown up” car. But like you (only far worse at 75+) the ingress/egress was getting impossible. So, idiot me traded the Giulia in for my “”last car before I die”, an Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio, solving the ancient joints issue. But shit! 505 horsepower for what!? Stupid, stupid, stupid. Sure, it looks great and sounds great, but who needs 0-60 in under 4 goddamned seconds!? I wish I had my Abarth back! The kid who bought it has kept it in mint condition, but I doubt he’d be dumb enough to part with it. There’s really nothing wrong with this proposed new Fiat 500, except for maybe the price, but whoever it was above that suggested a Camry instead, for the same price? Try over twice the price!
It’s stories like this I read all the time that keep me hanging on to the car I love for over 11 years, and hopefully at least another. I’d kick myself if I let it go.
Just means you get to wring it up to redline every time you get to an on ramp and not get into trouble. As someone who dailied an ’88 Nova through college, slow car fast be fun.
Providing you’re not behind all the people I seem to get behind that are doing 30 MPH all the way down the ramp and don’t speed up until they reach the freeway.
Italian tune-ups all day, every day.
Fiat built a changli?