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General Early Build 500 v's Recent Build 500

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General Early Build 500 v's Recent Build 500

Mark Elvin

Mark Elvin

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OK, having dropped off my 10 month 500 & now the prond owner of a brand new 500 I thought it may be a good comparison, so here are my thoughts.

Engine.
I could not belive how tight the new engine feels & it has a totally different sound, those who have a fairly new 500 & a concerned about the performance fear not, after a few thousand miles it's a different engine, roll on a few thousand miles.

Build Quality
No noticable difference in build quality.

Road Noise - 15"s v 16"s
The old car had 15" wheels, the new one has 16" wheels. Boy what a difference, there is MUCH more road noise and the ride is noticably harsher, not something that bothers me, but if your prority is a quite, smooth ride I'd advise against the 16" wheels.

The drivers seat height adjsutment lever is much more substantial in the new car too, feels more chunky & is stiffer.

That's about it, apart from everything feeling MUCH tighter & the brakes are more urgent there's not that much difference.
 
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Re: Early Build 500 v's Recent Bulid 500

haven't yet worked out the height adjustment, it just bugs me as I keep going for it when I want the handbrake! I am slowly learning :p

Interesting re wheels - I am not keen on the bigger wheels, like the retro look of the smaller ones. Hubbie really wanted 14" steel wheels (like on the pop) as they look most like the original wheels - i wasn't convinced :D
 
Re: Early Build 500 v's Recent Bulid 500

Ive got the 15" two tones, and now ive actually seen them in the flesh they look bigger than I expected... Ive had the configurator pic as my wallpaper since I ordered the car and the wheels look really dinky on that, so thats prob why they seem bigger in reality! I liked the 16 multis originally but glad I went for the 15s now. And the ride seems a lot better than the 4x4 panda Ive just said goodbye to!

Booklady, are you talking about the seat height adjustment? coz the other guys meant having the whole car lowered via new springs etc! Or have you had manual height adjustment fitted like an audi allroad or summat? :ROFLMAO:
 
Re: Early Build 500 v's Recent Bulid 500

Mark Elvin said:
Much more road noise & ride noticably harsher.
Click to expand...

Mark, regarding the above I originally tried the demo diesel on 15" wheels and I found the road noise to be louder than on the 16" I have on my car. This makes me think that the tyre choice could be partly responsible for the difference.

I totally agree on the slightly harsher ride with the 16" wheels, the lower profile tyre doesn't have the sidewall depth to cushion the bumps as well as the 15" tyre but it is not that much firmer on mine and I find that there is a slight benefit in the turning in on the steering, it does feel a little more precise.

Sounds like we're not going to run out of things to talk about on Sunday.
 
Re: Early Build 500 v's Recent Bulid 500

grimwau said:
Mark, regarding the above I originally tried the demo diesel on 15" wheels and I found the road noise to be louder than on the 16" I have on my car. This makes me think that the tyre choice could be partly responsible for the difference.

I totally agree on the slightly harsher ride with the 16" wheels, the lower profile tyre doesn't have the sidewall depth to cushion the bumps as well as the 15" tyre but it is not that much firmer on mine and I find that there is a slight benefit in the turning in on the steering, it does feel a little more precise.

Sounds like we're not going to run out of things to talk about on Sunday.
Click to expand...

The apparent sharper turn in will be due to the extra weight of the engine in the deisel, makes it a little lazy on turn in, all down to the polar moment of interia.
 
nottsfiat07 said:
Ah! I must have misread! When I put my hand down there, all I grab is the handbrake!:D
Click to expand...


for the last nearly 9 years I have driven a multipla which has the handbrake on the other side!! when I drove it yesterday, I kept going for the passenger seat :D I think the reason I keep grabbing the wrong handle is that the multi handbrake is quite close to the side of the seat :)
 
yeah course the multipla has 3 seats in the front hasnt it? I always loved the look of the multi (before they lost condifence and tried to make the nose less scary!) but never had a real reason to buy one! I love a bit of fiat left field design!
 
booklady said:
Multi fans call the new, tame version the 'Nose Job'!!!

It's a great car, we've had it from new and the 500 makes the perfect partner to it!
Click to expand...

I LOVE the Old nose job, but my hubby says its horrendously ugly and won't swap his Subaru Legacy for one! And it doesn't come with automatic and he is quite forgetfull in changing gears :eek:

Slightly off topic, a Multipla and my little 500 swapped lanes on M4 yesterday at least half a dozen times before it really started to rain and I left it behind...
 
Mark Elvin said:
OK, having dropped off my 10 month 500 & now the prond owner of a brand new 500 I thought it may be a good comparison, so here are my thoughts.

Engine.
I could not belive how tight the new engine feels & it has a totally different sound, those who have a fairly new 500 & a concerned about the performance fear not, after a few thousand miles it's a different engine, roll on a few thousand miles.

Build Quality
No noticable difference in build quality.

Road Noise - 15"s v 16"s
The old car had 15" wheels, the new one has 16" wheels. Boy what a difference, there is MUCH more road noise and the ride is noticably harsher, not something that bothers me, but if your prority is a quite, smooth ride I'd advise against the 16" wheels.

The drivers seat height adjsutment lever is much more substantial in the new car too, feels more chunky & is stiffer.

That's about it, apart from everything feeling MUCH tighter & the brakes are more urgent there's not that much difference.
Click to expand...

Intersting unbiased assessment.
 
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