http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=333239&f=23&h=0 here's a link to the Dino they made out of a Cayman. AE are bs purveyors of the highest order....
General New 500 pic?
- Thread starter rkt2003
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General New 500 pic?
Well, an all new car is indeed a rare thing. I meant heavily modified. To a degree that, whilst maintaining the look, the car would essentially be new. A bit like this year's new Mini, which I see as a new car.
If Fiat do anything with the 500 it will probably be a mild reworking of the suspension, perhaps putting some soft touch plastics in the interior and giving it a nicer feeling inside like they did when they facelifted the Panda. It will get a Grande Punto/Punto Evo/Punto facelift where they change the front bumper and perhaps the front light clusters, but that's about it.
Why do Fiat need to launch an all new car? The costs involved in pressing new panels or welding
Auto Express somehow seem to have an air of credibility and for what?
http://static.autoexpress.co.uk/sit...ge/public/fiat_500_interior.jpg?itok=QX-c0de4
It's laughable that they get page views purely buy getting a 500Lardy interior and grafting the gear change bit from an MTA Abarth, sticking the instrument cluster from a 500 with some ******** lights in them on at a jaunty angle (seriously! Look at it!!!!!) and left the rest of the interior more or less the same as the Lardy one.....
I mean come on! Did anyone see the 500 Convertible they revealed a few years ago?
New Fiat 500 due in 2016: exclusive images. 
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/fiat/500/85748/new-fiat-500-due-2016-exclusive-images
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/fiat/500/85748/new-fiat-500-due-2016-exclusive-images
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The whole point of the 500 is its retro appeal and its hark back to the original, remove that and you've lost the magic ingredient that resulted in well over a million sales to date. I know they're Italian but i dont think Fiat are daft enough to screw up what has been a very successful formula. As Maxi sais, it will get some cosmetic changes, hopefully a suspension upgrade and maybe if we're lucky, a glove box!! I guess the body could be reworked though, keeping the essential recognisable shape but smoothing it out slightly, probably just a matter of time.
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It's just a mess of bits. 500L headlamps & bonnet. US bumper reflectors. If there is any truth in it, it looks ****e.
Difficult car to facelift successfully. Kind of looks like what VW attempted with their latest horrible Beetle creation.
Difficult car to facelift successfully. Kind of looks like what VW attempted with their latest horrible Beetle creation.
Changing the basic shape of the 500 would be a high risk strategy for FIAT.
The success of the car is largely down to a certain hard-to-define cuteness in its form; it would be all too easy to lose that in any reworking & then what they'd be left with would basically be an overpriced Panda.
I'll bet at least 80% of sales are made to folks who just saw it & like the way it looks.
And why not - most would agree that it's a very pretty car indeed.
The success of the car is largely down to a certain hard-to-define cuteness in its form; it would be all too easy to lose that in any reworking & then what they'd be left with would basically be an overpriced Panda.
I'll bet at least 80% of sales are made to folks who just saw it & like the way it looks.
And why not - most would agree that it's a very pretty car indeed.
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I suspect that the new car promised for 2015 will be a reworking of the existing car with the new Panda floorpan underneath for commonality of parts. I really don't expect any major cosmetic alterations. Better seats might be in order though and deleting the pogo stick effect from the suspension on rough roads (as we have in Wales) would be fine.
The big question will be: what floorplan will Fiat use for the next generation 500.
Would it be something new or something that is already available.
I reckon the next gen will grow in size.
Would it be something new or something that is already available.
I reckon the next gen will grow in size.
You just know the DRLs are gonna be bling bling.
It won't be new. Fiat have already played around with the platform to make the new Panda and the Ypsilon
[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Mini_platform[/ame]
As people have said, there's a reason the 500 sells and that's because of the looks. They may make some subtle changes to bumpers and light clusters, but they're not going to do anything that would risk their cash cow. If we're lucky we'll get some indicators on the mirrors!
They made the mistake with the Grande Punto, the car looked great at launch and was screwed by the Punto Evo facelift. Fiat lost a buttload of sales.
If there is a facelift it will be different enough so that it's immediately obvious that it's different to the launch model, but not so different so as to destroy the looks.
IMHO the facelift that the Panda got midlife in about 2009 or so is an indication of what is going to happen to the 500.
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Well 24 hours on and no reply from A E ,but i knew i would not get one ,as for a new 500 lets just hope its just small things they change like fitting a glove box and as others have said re worked suspension,better breather pipes and handles ,etc,
,as for a new 500 lets just hope its just small things they change like fitting a glove box and as others have said re worked suspension,better breather pipes and handles ,etc,
If Fiat change the next 500 to much they better call it 600.
Rear end looks like it was designed by the same person who designed the rear end of the current new shape VW Beetle :yuck:
Well 24 hours on and no reply from A E ,but i knew i would not get one
At the risk of opening up a different thread, or even a can of worms, what are the issues with the current 500 suspension? It's getting a lot of mentions in this discussion! My early 2008 500 was a helluva bouncy car, but I just thought it added to the fun. A lot of people didn't agree apparently, so I understand it was tightened up six months after release.
I was just wondering what difference to expect from the new one on order and what the apparent shortcomings are.
The new one is better. The suspension changed when they added a stiffer rear beam axle in 2010 onwards cars, all Abarth's and c's came with the stiffer rear beam from launch.
It's still not great though, the suspension is still underdamped so big hits will cause the springs to oscillate and the dampers don't do enough to control it all......
An anti roll bar was added to the rear from 2010 onwards, made the car a fair bit less severe in the backend from memory - it's been a while since I drove a pre arb car
That's just Fiat's marketing stupidity, the 500 has always had a rear arb, the beam axle is an ARB, they just stiffened up the beam.
Fair enough, that makes sense. Although still not great it is a marked improvement though particularly if your sitting in the back!
