2016 Fiat 500X Review

Or five times, in the 500X. I've always thought three times wasn't enough, but it turns out five is too much as a lane change became a right turn for a guy coming out of a side-street who jumped in front of me. I couldn't even say anything about it, as I was indeed signaling right. So if five is too much and three is too little, maybe somebody will nail it with four blinks?

Used to cars that release the brake automatically once you press the accelerator in Drive or Reverse, I was left on several occasions revving the engine like crazy without the car moving one inch.

You need to pay extra for a rearview camera, but it's not necessary thanks to the large side mirrors and the rear parking sensors. The 500X is nimble enough in traffic having roughly the same footprint as a C-segment hatchback. Steering isn't what you would call light and while some - myself included - might like it that way, I bet there will be those wishing for more assistance during some close quarters maneuvers.

Get the Fiat 500X out of the city, and we can start talking about some other features of the powertrain like the "Mood Selector".

Have you ever been in the mood for Sport? Well, yes, maybe. But how about in the mood for Auto? Not so much, huh? Maybe Traction, then? What, never, you say? Yeah, I thought so. All Weather? Not this one either? My God, you're so moody.

The "Mood Selector" is an ill-named drive selection system that lets you choose between the three aforementioned 'moods' (Sport, Auto and, depending on whether it's a 4WD or 2WD car, Traction or All Weather). It influences engine and gearbox response (for automatic transmissions), brakes and steering, with Auto being the default setting. This one is optimized for maximum comfort and fuel economy, so it makes sense to use it when you're not particularly out to have fun.

However, put it into Sport by turning the central column mounted dial towards you and the Fiat 500X changes dramatically. You now feel how choked the engine was before and how glad it is to clear its throat. You, on the other hand, might not share the excitement, as Sport will allow the engine to rev a lot higher thus taking the level of sound aggression to new heights.

But you WILL like the Sport setting. It unleashes the full potential of the engine and, to put it bluntly, makes the car go faster. Everything feels like it emptied three cans of Red Bull down the throat and is now in hyperactive mode.

Which is good news, as the Fiat 500X can handle its fair share of winding roads. The steering is a lot more direct and the engine pulls with intent, giving you the courage to charge bends faster than you would have before. The Fiat 500X only weighs 1,570 kilograms (3,461 pounds) in its heaviest configuration (2.0 MultiJet 4WD with 9-speed auto) which is absolutely decent. It will understeer when pushed too hard, but the tires screeching will inform you well before that happens. There's not that much roll either considering the high seating position and the increased ground clearance.



At 90 km/h (56 mph), there's a large amount of outside noise coming into the cabin, but it stays the same all the way up to 140 km/h (87 mph), speed for which the noise level becomes perfectly acceptable.

Since this a 4WD car, some mild off-road talk is in order. The Traction mode on the 'Mood Selector' is the only one where the all-wheel drive system is permanently active. The gearbox is also automatically switched to manual mode for better control over engine revs and torque distribution. Just like Renegade, the 500X can handle moderate rough ground, but care should be taken with surfaces where appropriate tires become more important than a potent four-wheel drive system.

The important thing to remember is the 500X is capable enough to imbue its driver with the kind of confidence that could get him in trouble if he loses his cool. So don't lose your cool.

Both on the road and off it, the suspension system is a very pleasant surprise offering a high level of comfort no matter the situation. In fact, the only thing capable of upsetting the 500X's dampers are very sharp creases and large and abrupt potholes. The set-up can come off as a bit stiff, but the right word for it is 'firm'. And it needed to be in order to keep the car as balanced as it is in corners, but it's also a very good compromise that handles surprisingly well on a dusty unpaved road. All 500X versions have MacPherson suspension systems for the rear axle.

Engine-wise, available at launch were the 140 hp 1.4 Turbo MultiAir2 (front-wheel drive and 6-speed manual gearbox), the 110 hp 1.6 “E-torQ” (5-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive), the 120 hp 1.6 MultiJet II (front-wheel drive and 6-speed manual gearbox) and the 140 hp 2.0 MultiJet II (9-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive).

The range is topped off with the 170 hp 1.4 Turbo MultiAir2 (9-speed automatic gearbox and four-wheel drive), and the powerful 187 hp 2.4 litre Tigershark MultiAir2 (9-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel drive) petrol engines. Two more diesels - the 95 hp 1.3 MultiJet II (5-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive), and the 140 hp 2.0 MultiJet II (6-speed manual gearbox and four-wheel drive) - will also become available shortly.

This exact range of engines available to certain countries will most likely be a selection of the powertrains listed above and you should ask your local dealer for more details.

The 2.0 MultiJet 140 hp with four-wheel drive and 9-speed automatic transmission we had to 'settle' for is probably the best choice in terms of performances apart from the 187 hp 2.4 MultiAir2 petrol engine, even though it falls short in terms of refinement. The 0-100 km/h (0-92 mph) takes 9.8 seconds and the top speed is rated at 190 km/h (118 mph).

The official fuel figures for this engine are 6.5 l/100 km (36.2 mpg) for the urban cycle, 4.9 l/100 km (48 mpg) for the extra-urban cycle and 5.5 l/100 km (42.7 mpg) for the combined cycle. As you'd expect, those numbers are a bit exaggerated to say the least, as a trip to the mountains and back ended with a 7.4 l/100 km (31.8 mpg) consumption and a 59 km/h (36.7 mph) average speed. That's with almost zero urban traffic, about 100 kilometers of highway (140 km/h on the cruise control - 87 mph) and two very long traffic jams adding up to about one hour.

I mentioned something about a couple of traffic jams during my trip to the mountains. Yeah, that means I had plenty of time to get intimate with the new Uconnect LIVE infotainment system. In all honesty, the pompous name doesn't do it any favors, raising expectations high enough for them to plummet to certain death once you start using it.

We had the UconnectRadioNav LIVE 5’’ navigation system with TomTom 2.5D navigator, voice commands and free TMC traffic alerts installed on our car. The 5'' display is way too small - it's the same size as my smartphone - but certainly has a lower resolution.

The TomTom navigation isn't something you can't live without either, even though it does come with speed camera alerts, which is always useful. Zooming in or out, on the other hand, requires too many touches as the small surface and low resolution of the 5'' display doesn't allow for too many virtual buttons to be displayed at once.



My advice, though, is to go for the exclusive BeatsAudio HI-FI system for improved sound quality (it's needed) and just ignore the rest. Use the conveniently placed USB port to charge your phone, get a car phone holder and enjoy Bluetooth audio streaming (connecting the phone works great) and better sat-nav options like Waze. You'll never look back.

If you choose to ignore my heartfelt advice (do it at your own peril) and decide to use the car's system anyway, you'll notice it's completely parallel to the dashboard line and not facing the driver one bit. It's also pretty remote and hard to reach and read.

Luckily, there's a 3.5'' TFT screen inside the instrument cluster that can display important information like sat-nav instructions or radio stations right under the driver's nose. What it can't do, though, is show the speed you're travelling at, which for some reason really got on my nerves. The analog speedometer is crammed and hard to read with no special marking for the most usual speed limits.

The entire 500X range features as standard six airbags (front, curtain and side), ESC (Electronic Stability Control) and fog lights with "cornering" function. In practice, however, those quotation marks prove they're there for a reason, the cornering lights only being useful for about two to three meters away from the car.

Furthermore, Fiat 500X can be specced with the usual myriad of active safety equipment like Lane Assist, Blind Spot Assistant, Brake Control (front collision warning) or Adaptive Cruise Control as well as a long list of three-letter abbreviations: ASR, MSR, DST, ABS with EBD, ERM and the TPMS four-letter intruder.

It got a good EuroNCAP score for adult passenger protection, despite coming out with only four out of five stars overall in the end.

Safety is important, but it's not why people buy cars. Or at least not cars like the Fiat 500X. First and foremost, this is a fashion statement - one that also happens to be quite a capable car, but that only comes as a bonus. I'm sure very few people will choose a Fiat 500X after reading the tech specs, the EuroNCAP report and the list of standard equipment, and a lot more will buy the car with just the personalization leaflet in hand.

It's one of those rare and fortunate cases when a good looking car is also quite a decent machine and FCA deserves all the credit for this. After driving the Jeep Renegade, we knew a car based on the same platform couldn't be bad, but there was still the case of matching it with Fiat 500's style. It's not a match made in heaven, but it's something we can certainly live with down here on Earth.

We haven't driven one, but a good petrol engine seems much more suited to Fiat 500X's style, and since they're also cheaper, those will probably make up the bulk of 500X sales. Front-wheel drive should also outweigh four-wheel drive models on most markets, as the extra cost and added weight don't justify an option most people never really need.

It all comes down to this: if you like how the Fiat 500X looks, you should go for it as the rest won't disappoint you. If you don't like the design, there's little chance driving the car will be enough to change your mind. But if you do like how the car handles and are in doubt about the exterior, check out the Jeep Renegade, it might suit your taste better.