Written by: Martin Ward
Wednesday, February 03, 2010 

This new start and stop 500 model is a unique version with its own specification and trim, although start and stop is now available on the Sport and Lounge models.

 

The car did look great in ultra-white non metallic paint and red leather interior, and it attracted attention in the supermarket car park.

 

The 500 was fitted with a 1.2 litre petrol engine that produces 69bhp, goes from 0-62mph in 12.9 seconds and is fitted with a five manual speed gearbox. The gear stick is dash-mounted so is in the right place, easy to use and is very smooth to operate.

  

The interior looked great with the red leather and the fit and finish was of a good standard; it seemed like the interior should have been in a much more expensive car. The rear seats will seat two children comfortably but two adults may find it to be cramped if they have to sit in the back for too long. However, the front seats are comfortable and have a good driving position for any driver of any size. The dashboard was the same colour as the exterior paint, a bright white and it made the interior feel very airy. This colour-coded dash does add a bit of nostalgia to the car as it is very retro. The boot is not very big so getting a couple of suitcases in it would be almost impossible, but for everyday shopping it is more than adequate.

  

As the name suggests, the test car was fitted with Fiat’s start stop system, and like all of these systems, it does not work very often in cold weather. If the sensors detect that the lights and heater are on, then the computer will not allow the start stop system to shut the engine down. However, on the few occasions it did work I found it to be very efficient and it worked well. As with all these systems, as soon as you come to a complete halt and take your foot off the clutch, the engine stops. As soon as you want to set off, you press the clutch and the engine almost instantaneously starts and you can set off. It is very effective.

 

The official combined fuel consumption figure is 55.4mpg and it has a CO2 emissions figure of 119g/km. The price of the 500 start and stop is £10,283.

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