My other half is looking to change her 59 reg 1.2 Lounge for a nearly new twin air.

We test drove an 85bhp & 105bhp back to back and was impressed with the 105bhp.
The 85Bhp was slower than her 1.2 which I was surprised at, as it was totally gutless.
I asked the dealer if it was in limp home mode as the CEL was on as well as the stop/start light.

He said the car hadn't been driven much and the battery had gone flat, triggering the warning lights when it was recharged?

It's put us off the 85bhp car now but struggling to find a 105bhp.

Anyone else driven both or comments on the CEL?

Rooflessdriver said:

My other half is looking to change her 59 reg 1.2 Lounge for a nearly new twin air.



We test drove an 85bhp & 105bhp back to back and was impressed with the 105bhp.

The 85Bhp was slower than her 1.2 which I was surprised at, as it was totally gutless.

I asked the dealer if it was in limp home mode as the CEL was on as well as the stop/start light.



He said the car hadn't been driven much and the battery had gone flat, triggering the warning lights when it was recharged?



It's put us off the 85bhp car now but struggling to find a 105bhp.



Anyone else driven both or comments on the CEL?

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Why not find an 85 that's running properly before making up your mind?

Mercky said:

Why not find an 85 that's running properly before making up your mind?

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Been on the phone and hopefully getting exactly that organised!

Not impressed with the original dealer so going elsewhere.

We have a 85TA and it goes like a rocket! What the 105 must be like, I don't know, but I don't think the extra umph would be worth the searching for unless you had your heart set on it.

Our's has tons of torque, flies off the line and could wheelspin if I wanted it to. It eats the steep hills round here for dinner.

Good luck,
Mick.

I've got a TA 85, but drove a 1.2 for a day as a courtesy car. I'd say that the TA has slightly more performance than the 1.2 with ECO engaged, and much more with it switched off. Make sure the one you drive hasn't got ECO displayed in the speedo cluster if you are making a performance comparison. Also, try pootling at 30mph and check you can live with some low-end roughness in a high gear - the 1.2 is much smoother (although selecting ECO in the TA smooths it out somewhat). Neither my wife nor I find this a problem, with a small adjustment to driving style, but some don't like it.

The TwinAir 85 HP Lounge has more go than a 1.2 Lounge, but only on the non-Eco mode.

If you are used to a car with a lot of torque at slow speeds, then it takes some getting used to use first gear always when moving off from either stationary (or under 5 mph on any road that goes a little uphill... my other car just goes in any gear up to third from rest without stalling because it's got a big engine, but the Fiat 500 will stall or seriously splutter trying to move off in second). Using the gears and revving up to get a quick getaway is part of the fun, and 85 HP on the TwinAir is plenty zippy enough for most situations. With 69 HP in Eco mode, it still gets around OK as there are plenty of other low powered cars around these days and fewer boy racers (insurance has priced most of them off the roads), so you don't get left behind or have people on your back bumper impatient with a slow getaway.

On the motorway the TwinAir keeps up easily and isn't sluggish if you need to accelerate and overtake.

I chose the TwinAir as it seemed to have more go than the 1.2, sounds better - but then I haven't tried the Abarth or new 105HP TwinAir.

Make sure if you buy a second hand car that is just a year old, that it has been serviced as the interval is 18000 miles or 2 years is far to long for a new car without an oil change. You wouldn't want a car that has never even been looked at properly or had anything done to it since new.

Thanks guys for all the useful info on the 85bhp TA.
I'm convinced now the one we tried wasn't running right.

Got a test drive booked in another 85bhp in a couple of days and friend who is selling it through his dealership says it goes like a rocket!

Mickf I know exactly what you mean I have a TA 85 dualogic and that has had wheel spin on a dry road. She is a rocket ship and I got an indicated 115mph on a flat track so who needs a 105 lol

Ex Volvo Victim said:

Mickf I know exactly what you mean I have a TA 85 dualogic and that has had wheel spin on a dry road. She is a rocket ship and I got an indicated 115mph on a flat track so who needs a 105 lol

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rocket ship? you must be joking = ) I must say the 1.4 is more than fast enough in the town but on the motorway she really struggles to cruise comfortably and efficiently over 100 mph, which is the usual continental cruising speed = )

Well Rooflessdriver.
I tested both 85 and 105 both great engines so you won`t be disappointed,
both Jekyll and Hyde cars press that sport button and you will see what we mean
They remind me of my old Fiat Uno turbo ie 1.3 from years ago 100hp back then, lots of smile factors ,So try both i did ,yes i went with the 105 but that was my choice

I drove Minis for years and latterly was modifying the engines.

At one time, I bought a low mileage Allegro 1275cc engine and had it bored out to 1400cc plus Powermax pistons, nitrided and balanced bottom end, competition clutch and uprated brakes and suspension, straight through exhaust and long centre-branch exhaust manifold. I had a huge SU carb and KN filter, road/rally camshaft, double valve springs, oil cooler, electronic ignition, super-cool radiator and electric fan. Also upgraded the drop gears and the diff plus rebuilt the whole gearbox.

Spent a fortune, but it was fun fun FUN.

WOW did it shift! 100bhp is not to be sniffed at in a car that was first built in 1959.

Our 500/85TA is very very reminiscent of that Mini. Less power maybe, but the gearbox and running gear is far more efficient, plus the aerodynamics of a Mini is more like a house brick compared to the flowing lines of a 500.

So basically, the performance is very very reminiscent, and if I could turn back the clock and get my souped up Mini back, it would be a good race to see which was quickest - 500/85TA or a 1400cc Mini

Happy days,
Mick.

Not the engine itself might be decisive when choosing, but the gearbox might. The TwinAir 105 is combined with a 6 speed gearbox, but the TwinAir 85 isn't. Don't expect the 6th gear to be a long overdrive that improves fuel economy. It's even shorter than the 5th gear of the TwinAir 85. This means that all 6 gears of the TwinAir 105 are really short and you have to shift a lot when accelerating. If shifting gears is not your hobby, then buy a TwinAir 85! (Or even a TwinAir 85 with Dualogic.)

Thanks for more replies.
I was constantly switching the ECO button (sport is on my 100HP), on and off in the 85TA and it made no difference which again suggest the CEL was something more serious than flat battery triggered.

Good info on the 5speed & 6speed gear boxes.
I enjoy shuffling gears but not sure the other half is.

For a little car the 105TA certainly shifts.
My partner said it felt quicker than my 100HP and up there with my MX5!

I'd agree with the 100HP but as the MX5 is supercharged to 242Bhp(dyno'ed) not likely! Lol!

I, personally, would say Pre Reg is the way forward.

Picked mine up Saturday. Year old, 10 miles and almost £4k off the new price. All above board as it was through the Fiat site of authorised dealers.

Would definitely buy this way again, didn't need a test drive etc as my previous car was a 500 twin air.

Really pleased with it, spent months looking and couldn't believe it was still available.

So the other half is a happy bunny.
After test driving another 85TA, she has just part ex'ed her 1.2 lounge.
We were suppose to swap her 15" wheels over as the 16" ones have been badly scuffed,
But the monkeys at Kwikfit did her 1.2 wheels up with Torque gun and we didn't want to risk damaging the locking nuts with the standard wrench in the boot tool kit.

So going to go back next weekend by which time my mate will have got them sorted.
Be interesting to drive for a week on 16"s then see what it's like on the 15"s later.

Thanks all for useful comments.

Well the 105 is out of budget and higher insurance costs. My other half has no ncb as she’s not driven for quite a few years and was never a named driver on my cars as she was always too frightened to drive them (size, power etc)

Further digging on the local 85TA has ruled it out, it had a minor front end insurance claim a few years ago, which repaired well but there were other cosmetic bits around the car that I’d want sorted by chips away etc etc, so it was becoming costly.

Making enquiries on a 1.2s currently, low miles but the most recent service history is diy and no evidence of the cambelt change which would have been due 18 months ago, plus only one key (why are soooo many 500s sold with only one key??)

ahmett said:

rocket ship? you must be joking = ) I must say the 1.4 is more than fast enough in the town but on the motorway she really struggles to cruise comfortably and efficiently over 100 mph, which is the usual continental cruising speed = )

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What? Only Germany has speed of 100mph and that's only on certain parts of the autobahn

In FR, GR and Italy its normal to go above 100 MPH on the motorways, there speeding is not as strictly looked at as the UK is. Don't try it in Switzerland though, there it is not nicely looked upon.

The Fiat 1.4 struggles to get much above 110 MPH, I would say max reasonable cruising speed is 170 km/h. (Tops out at 190 km/h)

ahmett said:

In FR, GR and Italy its normal to go above 100 MPH on the motorways

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Welcome back..

Its not been 6 years since you left the UK ?

I am still around! My Fiat 500 has about 160,000 kms in GR and is currently in drydock with another Auto Gearbox failure so is not being used right now, but I am in the UK now and have a Mini Cooper D (great car, have 130,000 kms with it and have not broken down once! after my experience with the Fiat I got a manual). I'll probably get round to fixing the Fiat when I go back.