Took me a month or two to figure this out, so thought I'd pass it on here...

When I get into my car I write into a logbook the date and kms, so I switch the key on to see what the date is...

...sometimes I was greeted with a 'blank' window (green border) on the multifunction display. This is after turning the Connect Nav+ off (otherwise you see the radio frequency if set to do so)... Normally the MF display shows the date.

A related 'problem' was that after turning on the 'Engine Information' (oil pressure and temperature) they did not appear. I was sure they had previously, so wondered what on earth I was doing wrong. This was for the first start after changing the oil (wanted to see the pressure go up).

Well - the culprit is the Cruise Control! If you leave the stalk switch ring turned 'on', the MF display is affected as above even when the cruise control is not actually being used. Switch it off, and normal displays return.

On the subject of cruise control, it's not actually quite as economical as driving manually (for me). I managed one less litre/100km on average, mainly because I accelerate more gently without chopping into 4th gear and maintain 5th gear down to 50km/h or so. 'Auto' will not allow this. Also when going up hills, the economical approach is to allow the speed to tail off and then pick up speed naturally downhill - cruise control of course cannot do this.

So for 'economy' - a relative term, ~9L/100km on average - stick to manual.

-Alex

yeah but the economy comes from sitting there doing a solid 70 mph, driving normally you end up doing 80-90 in the middle/outside lane fighting with all the beemers.

sitting at 70-80 is bad enough for mpg but accelerating ... sheesh, thats a guzzler.

if ya at all worried about mpg, you got the wrong car tbh. i get 15-17 average. 20-21 if i drive like a granny urban that is. on motorway i get about 35 mpg. also speaking of oil pressure , when i brake hard i get a beep beep beep warning sound which for ages i cud not figure out as the reading on the display goes of so quickly. but after a few hard brakin manouvers in a car park this week a friend saw it say low oil pressure. this happens most times i brake even fairly hard now. any1 else get this?

If you want high mpg get on the 1.2 gravy train- got 50mpg going to brum and back the other week and over 500 miles off one tank.

Downside- not as quick as hot snot

pacman32 said:

if ya at all worried about mpg, you got the wrong car tbh. i get 15-17 average. 20-21 if i drive like a granny urban that is. on motorway i get about 35 mpg. also speaking of oil pressure , when i brake hard i get a beep beep beep warning sound which for ages i cud not figure out as the reading on the display goes of so quickly. but after a few hard brakin manouvers in a car park this week a friend saw it say low oil pressure. this happens most times i brake even fairly hard now. any1 else get this?

Click to expand...

stick another litre of oil in it.

Hi, Yeh i got low oil pressure warning upon starting the abarth stilo yesterday, although it disappeared again a moment later. I had only just topped it up with oil as well. I think I must have added some oil that's too thin (mobil one 10/40). What oil are you using? My car has only 21k on it (although it will soon be 4 yrs old) so shocked to see oil warning. I had Selenia put in it on previous services. As others have mentioned I also am very surprised on the amount of oil the abarth consumes. Anyway think an oil change is imminent and some Selenia is needed. I think checking the plugs for signs of oil residue is useful as well.

Interesting how this thread has turned into yet another oil-consumption thread!

Another useful Abarth hint - after opening your garage door, when getting back in the car, close the driver's door fully. Otherwise you'll be able to move off, but halfway into the garage the Selespeed will slip into neutral and not be able to re-engage 1st.

I also discovered the wonder of the centre console trim on a long-ish trip recently. The curvature and surface texture of this piece (to the left of the pedals) is so effective, I thought it was padded! Considering the materials used, the Stilo is suprisingly comfortable for long trips.

-Alex

Hi Alex,

As you seem to be pretty up to speed with these dash displays, any idea if you can override the radio station display in the dash and get the oil pressure/temp display to stay on? On long hot trips the oil temp is the final arbiter on engine life and something I've always relied on in Fiats - up to now. With the Stilo, the only way I can see the oil temp is to turn everything else off ( But then I never was the sharpest tool in the box).
BTW spotted the half closed door thing a while back, another Gotcher!

And the other day without thinking I started the engine standing outside the car then I thought 'Hang on, I'm supposed to have my foot on the brake, howsat happened?' Dunno

Ralph2 said:

Hi Alex,

As you seem to be pretty up to speed with these dash displays, any idea if you can override the radio station display in the dash and get the oil pressure/temp display to stay on? On long hot trips the oil temp is the final arbiter on engine life and something I've always relied on in Fiats - up to now. With the Stilo, the only way I can see the oil temp is to turn everything else off ( But then I never was the sharpest tool in the box).
BTW spotted the half closed door thing a while back, another Gotcher!

And the other day without thinking I started the engine standing outside the car then I thought 'Hang on, I'm supposed to have my foot on the brake, howsat happened?' Dunno

Click to expand...

The oil temp is the default setting, to display the radio info on the dash you have to set it on the connect +. To turn it on and off:

Click set up
click connect
click instrument panel
you can then choose to have
radio
telephone
NAV info
on the dash
deselect the radio here and the oil temp should appear

if not you may have to press MODE on the control buttons between the steering wheel and the door next to all the controls for the lights. Entering this allows you to copy info to the dash as well including oil temp. This is under MY CAR - Set up Menu if I remember rightly.

The display settings can only be changed with the ignition key at MAR

for more info look at the connect + manual P162 or user manual p72

:yeahthat:
Excellent post Jut!

Ralph2 said:

And the other day without thinking I started the engine standing outside the car then I thought 'Hang on, I'm supposed to have my foot on the brake, howsat happened?' Dunno

Click to expand...

Ah, that's an easy one - you left the gearbox in neutral when you switched the engine off so when you turned the ignition on, the gearbox was still in N and thus the engine started without the foot on the brake. Note that when starting in 1 etc. with the foot on the brake, Selespeed changes to N anyway (so you still have to select 1 to move off).

You would have had a reminder "Deeeeeedledeeedledeeedledeeedledeee" after switching the key off, to remind you that you should have parked in gear, but I'm sure you managed to ignore that, as it all gets a bit much sometimes

Yesterday I was demonstrating the parking sensors to a friend and reversed out of the garage... there was a loud BEEEEEEE BEEP... I believe that was caused by my seatbelt not being fastened! You get the same if you drive off with the handbrake on (happened once or twice to me, quite a good idea really as, in the same situation, the Uno would be cooking its pads...)

-Alex

alexGS said:

:yeahthat:
Excellent post Jut!

Click to expand...

cheers mate 1 useful post out of 70 whooo hoo!

alexGS said:

You would have had a reminder "Deeeeeedledeeedledeeedledeeedledeee" after switching the key off, to remind you that you should have parked in gear, but I'm sure you managed to ignore that, as it all gets a bit much sometimes

Click to expand...

I managed to own the car for a year before realising what that meant and the pottleflump didnt figure it out after three years of car ownership.... Note to Fiat - next time dont use beeps, spell it out loud for the hard of thinking

you should find that the seat belt warning will not sound if you are in reverse. only in forward facing gears does the seat belt warning go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on, anyway you get my drift!

Alex, have you tried trip A and Trip B to work out your cruise control and actual driving averages?

jut1972 said:

The oil temp is the default setting, to display the radio info on the dash you have to set it on the connect +. To turn it on and off:

Click set up
click connect
click instrument panel
you can then choose to have
radio
telephone
NAV info
on the dash
deselect the radio here and the oil temp should appear

if not you may have to press MODE on the control buttons between the steering wheel and the door next to all the controls for the lights. Entering this allows you to copy info to the dash as well including oil temp. This is under MY CAR - Set up Menu if I remember rightly.

The display settings can only be changed with the ignition key at MAR

for more info look at the connect + manual P162 or user manual p72

Click to expand...

That is excellent! All good stuff thanks a lot Jut. I'll delve into the menus and sort that out.

AlexGS said:

Ah, that's an easy one - you left the gearbox in neutral when you switched the engine off so when you turned the ignition on, the gearbox was still in N and thus the engine started without the foot on the brake. Note that when starting in 1 etc. with the foot on the brake, Selespeed changes to N anyway (so you still have to select 1 to move off).

Click to expand...

Ah yes of course. I remember the manual says to leave it in gear so I do, and just automatically hold the brake pedal when starting the engine. Under cross examination the wife confessed she never leaves it in gear, and she drove it last....