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| Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge |
In 1957, Fiat introduced the 500. Cute and affordable, it
was an instant hit, shifting nearly four million units and mobilizing a
post-war generation. More than that, it defined a genre of city cars for
decades to come, encapsulating an effortless, Italian chic that no car has
matched since. In 1957, Vauxhall introduced the Victor. Apparently, it was ok,
but everyone was too busy admiring the Fiat 500 to notice. Such is the weight
of history Vauxhall faces with its new Adam. But setting its sights on the all-conquering
500, it is attempting to overhaul not all the metro sexual market leader, but
56 years of history. The new 500 has been such a cash calf for fiat, not simply
because it’s a fine little city car but because it allows feckless urbanites to
buy into that whole LA Dolce Bita, caio bella thing. The Adam has no such recognizable
image on which to trade, so it’s attempting to catch the fiat 500 from a
standing start. Can it? To find out, we're in London's reassuringly expensive
Shad Thames district to conduct the most purple twin test in history. Going
face-to-face are the Adam Glam and Fiat 500 TwinAir, decked out in colours to
resemble, in the worlds of passing Londoners, either "some lovely
aubergines" are, more prosaically, "a pair of plum". Officially,
the Fiat 500 is painted Chillout Purple, while the Adam is wearing Purple
Fiction. The latter should give you some idea how Vauchall is marketing its
latest creatin: a combination of quirky branding and appalling puns. You want
colours? How about The Grey father(gery)? Or sweet Green(yep,green)? And why
not a contrast roof in White My Fire with Red "n" Roll spoke clips on
your alloys? Points is, the Adam is a) very annoyingly branded and b)truly,
extraordinarily customizable, making the lurid paint and decal options available
on the Fait 500 look veritably pallid in comparison. You can have colour-coded
wheel inserts, decals and stripes galore, foil-overlay dashboards, or, most
inadvisably, clouds-and-blue-sky headlining replete with LED 'stars' unless you
are Katie Price, you must under no circumstances spec your Adam with the last
of these options
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| Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge |
But peel back all the branding and punnery, and the Adam
turns out to be-shock horror-a car. A decent one. With a wide footprint, it
hands onto the road nicely-hardly an eye-widdening sports car but a more-than-acceptable
thing to punt down a B-road. We're driving the fist Adam to get Vauxhalls' UK-specific
dynamic tweaks, which have focused on the Adam's steering software to add more
weight and improve the feeling of connection to the front tyres. The Brit boys
have done a good job. The steering on Euro Adams felt over-light, but the new UK
set-up is much heavier and more progressive. So the Adam steers well and doesn’t
ride badly, even on the spots suspension that's standard with 17-or 18-inch
wheels. It’s compliant enough, only turning a little crunchy on truly bad road,
but we suspect the comfort chassis with 16-inch wheels might be the sweeter
set-up. Stepping from the Adam into the Fiat 500 is like unclipping your leash
from an obedient poodle and attaching it to a hyperactive cocker spaniel. It is
decidedly boingy (not a word? Should be), springing and burbling about in a
fashion that immediately turns you into the goodie in a Seventies car chase
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| Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge |
It topples more through the corners, the Fiat 500, feeling
taller than the Adam. That's because it is, at least proportionally: though
15cm shorter and nine centimeters narrower than the Vauxhall, The Fiat is the
same height. It's softer-sprung, too, making it less harsh over potholes but
bouncy over bigger undulations. With road-tester hats on, we'd concede the Adam
handles more tidily than the Fiat 500, but there's an ineffable zing about the
fiat. Yes, you'd be more comfortable going fast down a greasy road in the Adam,
but the 500 puts a bigger smile on your face. The lovely TwinAir engine help.
If you like engineering and you like old motors-and if you don't, may we please
direct you down the WH Smith magazine shelf towards Lincolnshire Caravanning
monthly-you can't help but adore the Fiat 500's bubbly two-cylinder. Even at
idle, it emits a cherry array of splutters and pops, climbing to a chuntering
buzz as you rise through the revs. It sounds wonderful- albeit a mite intrusive
if you don’t appreciate the noise of a small scooter with a hole in the exhaust
and produces a surprising amount of shove. But the win is a long way from
perfect: with no low-end power to speak of you have to work though the gears to
find its sweet spot
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| Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge |
Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge specs
Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge price: 12,760 Euro and price as
tested: 14,110 Euro
0-62MPH: 11.0secs
Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge Top speed: 107mph
Economy: 70.6mpg combined
CO2: 92g/km
KerbWeight: 930kh
Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge engine: 875cc,2cyl in-line,
front-engined, turbo pertol
Power: 85bhp @ 5500rpm
Tourque: 1071b ft @1900rpm with overboost
Fiat 500 TwinAir 0.9 Lounge gearbox: five-speed manual,
front-wheel drive
