Can it do it with ability? Short answer is an emphatic YES!
To bound/qualify what follows the unit being towed is a 1000kg caravan. Measured by 500X vehicle weight (1430kg) and maximum braked towing capacity of 1200kg, the 1000kg caravan is comfortably within any recommended 85% rating factor.
Another point/factor I would add is that the car was only 12 days old with only 327 miles on the clock so there was plenty of gentle take your time, don't load/strain the engine etc. going on. I generally stick to 3000rpm.
At the end of this post you will find performance figures for all the Fiat cars I have towed with and if you are technically orientated then they all make very interesting comparisons as to how engine BHP and torque are given RPMs have changed over the years.
Last preliminary point is that the 500X is taking over from my Croma 150 1.9 Multijet Diesel car so with the 500X being 400cc down on capacity and not being a diesel it is already potentially in the "hard act to follow" category.
So I said I emphatic Yes.
The 500X 1.4 not being a diesel engine (diesel engines being renown for pulling grunt), I've waited a long time for Fiat to release a car that would be a suitable successor to my Croma 2005. I'm certainly not disappointed. I also have to say that whilst the 500X UK range has diesel options I specifically/deliberately decided that I wanted to be a petrol head again and return to the petrol engine. My Croma was my 1st ever diesel engine, but after 42+ years of owning and working on mostly Fiat petrol engine cars, and with two other petrol head cars in the family (Barchetta, Strada Abarth) I was a little outside of my comfort zone for maintaining a going on 10 year old diesel car.
So new car, running in and not asking too much of the engine (yes I do run my cars in) what happened?
I need to now split this into the 500X's two modes.
1) Auto Mode. If you have a 500X the you will know that in Auto Mode it drives fine, won't bite but can feel a little lethargic at times. In this mode on the level the car would quite happily without pressing the throttle take the strain a pull away. Unlike previous Fiats I have driven the 500X will automatically lift the engine RPM to just above 1000 rpm when you lift the clutch. This is cool and also confusing when your drive other cars. On the flat an level pulling the caravan was fine with little throttle pedal action required. When inclines occurred then not wanting (due to running in) to press harder on the accelerator then one needs to change down earlier than later otherwise momentum/drive is too quickly lost. Once down a gear then all is fine. Cock the judgement up then you could have to drop another gear. Sounds odd? Not really. The 500X has the loved/hated gear shift indicator and it wants to go right to 6th gear ASAP. The 500X is really surprisingly good in 6th gear but put 1000kg on the back and things do change. Overall a pretty good towing performance despite the lethargy.
2) Sports Mode. Big wakeup call for two completely different reasons. (A)In sports mode *any* throttle pressure wants the engine to take off. With a 1000kg load in tow then when taking off before you know it you can have higher revs and clutch slip that you would normally allow. (B) When up and running then in Sports Mode those inclines/hills do not have the same effect on the car as was experienced in Auto Mode. The engine/gear selection is far more tolerant and you don't so easily get caught out and forced to downshift too late.
How to compromise the Auto/Sports mode towing differences. This has to be a drivers choice but as mode switching is so easy then it is note really a big issue. When chuntering around in traffic cues, towns, start stop conditions then I found Auto mode to be more than adequate. Even on long flat roads. However when up and running in "dynamic" terrain the Sports mode is the best option.
What is really interesting about the 500X 1.4 MultiAir II is it's low down torque profile. 140BHP @ 5K and 230Nm (170 ft lb) at only 1750rpm.
My Croma 1.9 Multijet diesel has 150BHP @ 4K rpm and 320Nm at 2000 rpm.
This means the 500X 1.4 MultiAir is producing 72% of the torque on the 1.9 Multijet at LESS rpm.
To be accurate/fair for the 500X family we find
500X 1.4 Petrol : 140BHP@5000rpm : 230Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.6 Diesel : 120BHP@3750rpm : 320Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.9 Diesel : 140BHP@4000rpm : 350Nm @ 1750rpm
Croma 1.9 Dielse: 150BHP@4000rpm : 320Nm @ 2000rpm
Stilo Abarth 2.4 Petrol: 170BHP:6000rpm : 221Nm @3500rpm
Tipo 1.6ie Petrol: 75BHP@6000rpm : 125Nm @ 3000rpm
Punto HGT 1.8 Petrol: 130BHP@6300rpm : 164Nm @ 4300rpm
Regata 1.8ie Petrol: 110BHP@6000rpm : 142Nm @2500rpm
When you scan these figures with a little bit of objectivity you will find:
1) Later engines produce more BHP @ lower RPM
2) Later engines produce more torque @ lower RPM
I've towed with all the above vehicles and none disappointed if you match your expectations accordingly.
As for the 500X 1.4 MultiAr II. Initial towing performance summary is A.OK. and no issues at all but would add that the Auto Mode/Sport Mode setting should not be ignored.
Come June/July 2016 we will have hopefully done our annual trip to Italy and up into the mountains. This 3000 mile trek over all terrains (which we know well and have much towing experience over) will be real test and assessment towing trip. But based on performance so far I have no hesitations, and indeed just want to go NOW, about towing these sorts of distances in foreign lands
To bound/qualify what follows the unit being towed is a 1000kg caravan. Measured by 500X vehicle weight (1430kg) and maximum braked towing capacity of 1200kg, the 1000kg caravan is comfortably within any recommended 85% rating factor.
Another point/factor I would add is that the car was only 12 days old with only 327 miles on the clock so there was plenty of gentle take your time, don't load/strain the engine etc. going on. I generally stick to 3000rpm.
At the end of this post you will find performance figures for all the Fiat cars I have towed with and if you are technically orientated then they all make very interesting comparisons as to how engine BHP and torque are given RPMs have changed over the years.
Last preliminary point is that the 500X is taking over from my Croma 150 1.9 Multijet Diesel car so with the 500X being 400cc down on capacity and not being a diesel it is already potentially in the "hard act to follow" category.
So I said I emphatic Yes.
The 500X 1.4 not being a diesel engine (diesel engines being renown for pulling grunt), I've waited a long time for Fiat to release a car that would be a suitable successor to my Croma 2005. I'm certainly not disappointed. I also have to say that whilst the 500X UK range has diesel options I specifically/deliberately decided that I wanted to be a petrol head again and return to the petrol engine. My Croma was my 1st ever diesel engine, but after 42+ years of owning and working on mostly Fiat petrol engine cars, and with two other petrol head cars in the family (Barchetta, Strada Abarth) I was a little outside of my comfort zone for maintaining a going on 10 year old diesel car.
So new car, running in and not asking too much of the engine (yes I do run my cars in) what happened?
I need to now split this into the 500X's two modes.
1) Auto Mode. If you have a 500X the you will know that in Auto Mode it drives fine, won't bite but can feel a little lethargic at times. In this mode on the level the car would quite happily without pressing the throttle take the strain a pull away. Unlike previous Fiats I have driven the 500X will automatically lift the engine RPM to just above 1000 rpm when you lift the clutch. This is cool and also confusing when your drive other cars. On the flat an level pulling the caravan was fine with little throttle pedal action required. When inclines occurred then not wanting (due to running in) to press harder on the accelerator then one needs to change down earlier than later otherwise momentum/drive is too quickly lost. Once down a gear then all is fine. Cock the judgement up then you could have to drop another gear. Sounds odd? Not really. The 500X has the loved/hated gear shift indicator and it wants to go right to 6th gear ASAP. The 500X is really surprisingly good in 6th gear but put 1000kg on the back and things do change. Overall a pretty good towing performance despite the lethargy.
2) Sports Mode. Big wakeup call for two completely different reasons. (A)In sports mode *any* throttle pressure wants the engine to take off. With a 1000kg load in tow then when taking off before you know it you can have higher revs and clutch slip that you would normally allow. (B) When up and running then in Sports Mode those inclines/hills do not have the same effect on the car as was experienced in Auto Mode. The engine/gear selection is far more tolerant and you don't so easily get caught out and forced to downshift too late.
How to compromise the Auto/Sports mode towing differences. This has to be a drivers choice but as mode switching is so easy then it is note really a big issue. When chuntering around in traffic cues, towns, start stop conditions then I found Auto mode to be more than adequate. Even on long flat roads. However when up and running in "dynamic" terrain the Sports mode is the best option.
What is really interesting about the 500X 1.4 MultiAir II is it's low down torque profile. 140BHP @ 5K and 230Nm (170 ft lb) at only 1750rpm.
My Croma 1.9 Multijet diesel has 150BHP @ 4K rpm and 320Nm at 2000 rpm.
This means the 500X 1.4 MultiAir is producing 72% of the torque on the 1.9 Multijet at LESS rpm.
To be accurate/fair for the 500X family we find
500X 1.4 Petrol : 140BHP@5000rpm : 230Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.6 Diesel : 120BHP@3750rpm : 320Nm @ 1750rpm
500X 1.9 Diesel : 140BHP@4000rpm : 350Nm @ 1750rpm
Croma 1.9 Dielse: 150BHP@4000rpm : 320Nm @ 2000rpm
Stilo Abarth 2.4 Petrol: 170BHP:6000rpm : 221Nm @3500rpm
Tipo 1.6ie Petrol: 75BHP@6000rpm : 125Nm @ 3000rpm
Punto HGT 1.8 Petrol: 130BHP@6300rpm : 164Nm @ 4300rpm
Regata 1.8ie Petrol: 110BHP@6000rpm : 142Nm @2500rpm
When you scan these figures with a little bit of objectivity you will find:
1) Later engines produce more BHP @ lower RPM
2) Later engines produce more torque @ lower RPM
I've towed with all the above vehicles and none disappointed if you match your expectations accordingly.
As for the 500X 1.4 MultiAr II. Initial towing performance summary is A.OK. and no issues at all but would add that the Auto Mode/Sport Mode setting should not be ignored.
Come June/July 2016 we will have hopefully done our annual trip to Italy and up into the mountains. This 3000 mile trek over all terrains (which we know well and have much towing experience over) will be real test and assessment towing trip. But based on performance so far I have no hesitations, and indeed just want to go NOW, about towing these sorts of distances in foreign lands
