Hi I am just about to buy a 1.2 lounge in white with 16" multispoke wheels it was registered in March 2010 has start stop and is an ex Fiat UK car, sounds lovely.

The trouble is I haven't seen the car yet, my local dealer has sourced it for me, and it is arriving in about 10 days. I am keen it has the revised rear suspension, but for some strange reason the dealer, actually all the dealers I have spoken to know nothing about the suspension improvements.

Honest John says that you need a car with 9 or 10 etched on the windows, I don't know what this particular car has, did the revised suspension come about at the same time as standard stop start on the lounge model.

Also I like the sound of 16" but will they effect the ride in a bad way.

Thanks for your help.

Simon

simonprice24 said:

Hi I am just about to buy a 1.2 lounge in white with 16" multispoke wheels it was registered in March 2010 has start stop and is an ex Fiat UK car, sounds lovely.

The trouble is I haven't seen the car yet, my local dealer has sourced it for me, and it is arriving in about 10 days. I am keen it has the revised rear suspension, but for some strange reason the dealer, actually all the dealers I have spoken to know nothing about the suspension improvements.

Honest John says that you need a car with 9 or 10 etched on the windows, I don't know what this particular car has, did the revised suspension come about at the same time as standard stop start on the lounge model.

Also I like the sound of 16" but will they effect the ride in a bad way.

Thanks for your help.

Simon

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I'd be fairly sure that it would have the revised suspension

The 16" wheels should be fine with this suspension, I have the old suspension and whilst it's not ideal, it's certainly not unbearable unless the roads you're driving on are very poor

That's what I was hoping. Thanks.

Yep, agree as well that it should indeed have the revised suspension.

As a general rule of thumb, you only need to dig a bit deeper if the car was built in December 2009 (when we picked ours up). Provided it was actually built in 2010 then all is well. Our car was probably one of the last to be built with the old suspension and no Stop/Start as standard.

On the basis that it was registered in March 2010, I'd be surprised if it was built in '09, but I guess you can find out.

Can't comment on the alloys as I don't have any, but if Maxi says they are fine on a 500 with "old" suspension then I guess you should be fine with "new" suspension!

Super Uwe said:

Can't comment on the alloys as I don't have any, but if Maxi says they are fine on a 500 with "old" suspension then I guess you should be fine with "new" suspension!

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Well it's my opinion and I may be more tolerant than the OP so they should definitely try before they buy

simonprice24 said:

Hi I am just about to buy a 1.2 lounge in white with 16" multispoke wheels it was registered in March 2010 has start stop and is an ex Fiat UK car, sounds lovely.

The trouble is I haven't seen the car yet, my local dealer has sourced it for me, and it is arriving in about 10 days. I am keen it has the revised rear suspension, but for some strange reason the dealer, actually all the dealers I have spoken to know nothing about the suspension improvements.

Honest John says that you need a car with 9 or 10 etched on the windows, I don't know what this particular car has, did the revised suspension come about at the same time as standard stop start on the lounge model.

Also I like the sound of 16" but will they effect the ride in a bad way.

Thanks for your help.

Simon

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Hi Simon. I am a newbie on the forum but have been looking on and off over the last year or so.
Looking at a few early 2010 models lately, you can look under the car at the back for the anti-roll bar. If it's there you have the new suspension and if it isn't you have the old suspension. There's a significant difference in the new setup particularily with the big wheels.
Hopefully someone will post a picture of the newer suspension that you need to look for.

loveshandbags said:

Hi Simon. I am a newbie on the forum but have been looking on and off over the last year or so.
Looking at a few early 2010 models lately and you can look under the car at the back for the anti-roll bar. If it's there you have the new suspension and if it isn't you have the old suspension. There's a significant difference in the new setup particularily with the big wheels.
Hopefully someone will post a picture of the newer suspension that you need to look for.

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Bah, anyone can look under the back of the car and see The skill is knowing when the cutoff dates were I reckon this one is comfortably within the cutoff period though. I'll try and track down a picture of the revised suspenion when I get home tonight though

I am not so sure now, I saw a 10 plate pop today with what looked like a stop start button on the dash, kind of a circlular arrow, and 09 etched on the window, which according to Honest John is the old suspension. Guess I am going to have to wait and see, or find a 60 plate to be sure.

Thanks again everyone.

simonprice24 said:

I am not so sure now, I saw a 10 plate pop today with what looked like a stop start button on the dash, kind of a circlular arrow, and 09 etched on the window, which according to Honest John is the old suspension. Guess I am going to have to wait and see, or find a 60 plate to be sure.

Thanks again everyone.

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Personally I've never heard of this whole number etching thing and suspect that it's a bit of a red herring and doesn't necessarily indicate what Honestmailorderbridemarrying John says it does

Before I bought my new TA I looked at a few used 500s. Dealer didn't know the ins and outs of the newer suspension, so I grovelled under the back of several cars to see if the ARB was there. The Honest John video roadtest of the 500C shows it well. Regarding the 16" alloys, they're the only extra I specified on my TA Lounge, and they give it a much sportier stance. I find the ride to be fine - in fact it's like a limo after my Mini Cooper that the 500 replaced.

TrevC said:

Before I bought my new TA I looked at a few used 500s. Dealer didn't know the ins and outs of the newer suspension, so I grovelled under the back of several cars to see if the ARB was there. The Honest John video roadtest of the 500C shows it well. Regarding the 16" alloys, they're the only extra I specified on my TA Lounge, and they give it a much sportier stance. I find the ride to be fine - in fact it's like a limo after my Mini Cooper that the 500 replaced.

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There's a good technical summary of what changes were made on the thread below...
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/227734-new-suspension-anti-roll-bar-new-500s-3.html?p=2416862
Originally Posted by FGAUK LTD
Starting with the production of the new MultiJet engine, all Fiat 500’s will be fitted with the stabiliser bar which was already introduced with the Fiat 500C. The anti-roll bar is a 21mm diameter solid steel bar, fixed to the crossmember using brackets made from a single piece of steel and part in rubber. It is connected to the dampers using tie-rods with ball joints at each end. This represents a quality intervention designed to improve the comfort and the handling of the car with a far more absorbent ride quality as you’ve experience in the Fiat 500Cs

I have attached a picture of what looks like the new suspension. Maybe someone can 'mark' the areas to look for. The useful part of the honestjohn video lasted one second.

It's also worth noting that on the rollout of the new suspension in December 2009 that the initial cars had no stop start.

The car has arrived and it's fab! New suspension feels great, very go cart like, the handling is better than i expected, and the ride is better over man hole covers etc, only not so great over bad broken tarmac. The only thing i am not sure about is the road noise from the tyres. Its faster than i expected, and the gearbox is better. My wife is loving it she is really fast in it and chucks it about (she normally drives a Porsche Cayman S).

I had a 20v turbo Fiat coupe a few years ago, it was great, very fast. But the 500 is so much better built and solid.

The 16 inch wheels in the standard lounge design look great.

Still trying to figure out if I can connect my iPhone or iPod.

We are going driving again tomorrow. Realising you need to drive more sedately to get good mpg... Maybe when the novelty wears off.

The 500 is a well built car. Only some small components let it down thankfully

Btw the wheels on the lounge are 15" as standard

I know what I meant was the 16s in the same style as the standard lounge wheels. They are lovely wheels!

they are nice. We've got them too.

Regarding the suspension. I drove a 1.2 with 15" wheels with the revised suspension. It was very comfortable. Not at all too bouncy on poor roads. I'd imagine it would still perform well with 16's.

I have 15's on my 1.4 because i prefer the design and ive not seen anyone else with them. Plus the 1.4 has a firmer suspension - didnt want to make it too bumpy with 16's.

mjsmke said:

Regarding the suspension. I drove a 1.2 with 15" wheels with the revised suspension. It was very comfortable. Not at all too bouncy on poor roads. I'd imagine it would still perform well with 16's.

I have 15's on my 1.4 because i prefer the design and ive not seen anyone else with them. Plus the 1.4 has a firmer suspension - didnt want to make it too bumpy with 16's.

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Have you booked a date for your 1.4 Sport with the 'local' photographer ? I found it hard to get some decent pictures of my old sport when I was putting in on the market last November - I couldn't get the 'right' angles the way that RUI seems to get them.

I'm assuming you have the standard Sport wheels or did your car have the '2 tone' ones ?