General 500 1.2 Cruise Control

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General 500 1.2 Cruise Control

Redrum500

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Just to let you know that I just had a Cruise Control system fitted on my 500C 1.2 lounge. Wow, what a difference, I only wish I had found a company to retrofit cruise fitted when I bought the car two years ago. I had Gold Cruise system fitted by David Hill at Tapematic near Colchester (01787 220266). He advertises on eBay and I have seen other posts on FF recomending him. All I can say is, if you want cruise control (i think it is fantastic) then you will get a very professional job from David, he has true expertise and is a genuine enthusiast for our cars, he has a very nice Abarth Essesse. Job took just over an hour and cost me £450 and worth every penny.

Mark
 
Just to let you know that I just had a Cruise Control system fitted on my 500C 1.2 lounge. Wow, what a difference, I only wish I had found a company to retrofit cruise fitted when I bought the car two years ago. I had Gold Cruise system fitted by David Hill at Tapematic near Colchester (01787 220266). He advertises on eBay and I have seen other posts on FF recomending him. All I can say is, if you want cruise control (i think it is fantastic) then you will get a very professional job from David, he has true expertise and is a genuine enthusiast for our cars, he has a very nice Abarth Essesse. Job took just over an hour and cost me £450 and worth every penny.

Mark

Someone on the Abarth section (Click here) got one fitted and seemed quite chuffed with it. North American (NA) 500s have the option of Cruise control. Expect that it will become an option here whenever the new 500 models are released.
 
have to admit that cruise is one option i would have ticked and only option from the other two cars i really miss
 
I wondered if you have any Pictures of this fitted?

Might be an idea to show some people as it seems to be gaining a HUGE amount of interest!!!!!
 
I wondered if you have any Pictures of this fitted?

Might be an idea to show some people as it seems to be gaining a HUGE amount of interest!!!!!

If you nip onto the famous auction site and type in cruise control, Fiat 500, the place that does this for the Fiat advertises on there. You can see a couple of pictures on there.
 
I love having cruise in my daily driver but retrofitting for £450...?
smiley-shocked016.gif
 
I love having cruise in my daily driver but retrofitting for £450...?
smiley-shocked016.gif

I was discussing this with the wife the other night. She is of the same opinion as me, it's fantastic on our Cadillac, cruise control gets used on that all the time, but by her own admission, and the 500 is her car, she said she couldn't really see the point of having it on her own car as she rarely racks the little motor above 65mph any way! Don't get me wrong, for those people who are happy to spend that sort of money retrospectively and feel they will get huge benefit out of it, then I say go for it. It's also good to see that there is someone out there who has taken the initiative and discovered a market for the product in a car such as the 500 and I wish them every success. Just not for us though in such a tiny car. ;)
 
I love having cruise in my daily driver but retrofitting for £450...?
smiley-shocked016.gif

Honestly I thinks thats quite a resonable price for something that is not even an option on a Fiat 500 or Abarth plus waiting and then paying for it IF they ever put it on from factory which I doubt would surely be more expensive?

:eek:
 
My only problem with this is the 1.2 has to go into 4th on inclines to save labouring the engine. I can see this would eat away at mpg if left to its own devices!
 
I was discussing this with the wife the other night. She is of the same opinion as me, it's fantastic on our Cadillac, cruise control gets used on that all the time, but by her own admission, and the 500 is her car, she said she couldn't really see the point of having it on her own car as she rarely racks the little motor above 65mph any way! Don't get me wrong, for those people who are happy to spend that sort of money retrospectively and feel they will get huge benefit out of it, then I say go for it. It's also good to see that there is someone out there who has taken the initiative and discovered a market for the product in a car such as the 500 and I wish them every success. Just not for us though in such a tiny car. ;)

100% agree not for everyone as a good majority of people using these super little minis however i can believe alot of people due to cost of fuel nowadays are coming down from there big cars and buying the Fiat & Abarth 500 to drive about its just that angle of the throttle for these people doing the longer drives!!:D
 
My only problem with this is the 1.2 has to go into 4th on inclines to save labouring the engine. I can see this would eat away at mpg if left to its own devices!

Oooh, I don't know about that - me and the wife have a combined weight of almost 30 stone (much of that belonging to the wife) and we mangage to make it up a couple of fairly long inclines on the M1 without having to drop it into fourth and that's with a full size spare wheel sat in the wheel tray too!! :D
 
100% agree not for everyone as a good majority of people using these super little minis however i can believe alot of people due to cost of fuel nowadays are coming down from there big cars and buying the Fiat & Abarth 500 to drive about its just that angle of the throttle for these people doing the longer drives!!:D

A review on the North American 500…

http://www.edmunds.com/fiat/500/2012/#fullreview
Standard equipment on the 500 Pop includes 15-inch steel wheels and chrome-trimmed wheel covers, keyless entry, full power accessories, heated mirrors, air-conditioning, cruise control, a tilt-only steering wheel, a height-adjustable driver seat, a trip computer and a six-speaker sound system with a CD player and auxiliary audio jack.

Looking at recent article in Autoexpress (can’t really rely on these articles)…
http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/251071/fiat_group_maps_out_its_future.html
Focusing exclusively on the Fiat brand, the highly successful 500 and 500C will both receive a major overhaul in 2012, while an all-new city car, possibly an all-new Uno, will appear in 2013. A new Panda is scheduled for 2011, while the Punto EVO will be replaced in 2013.

Initially I thought it was an option on the US 500 and was surprised to see that it was a ‘standard’ option even on the Pop. Expect that it will be an option late 2012 / early 2013 on the ‘new’ models in Europe.

Still if you want it now IMHO that price is OK.
When I have the 500 1.4 I used the Sport button to save leg work on the right foot on the motorway and it ‘saved’ on leg cramp. On the F500 this Sport button has no effect on the 'mapping' unlike the A500.
 
My only problem with this is the 1.2 has to go into 4th on inclines to save labouring the engine. I can see this would eat away at mpg if left to its own devices!

Pick up speed coming up to the hill and the extra speed will get you up. We did a 2000 mile trip through Europe and other than when there were really bad gradients it just stayed in 5th.
 
No point on a small car with a small engine tbh.

I don't see why the size of the car or the engine affects the appropriateness of cruise control.

Surely it is about the convenience of not having to keep your foot moderated on the accelerator? Why does size affect that?
 
I don't see why the size of the car or the engine affects the appropriateness of cruise control.

Surely it is about the convenience of not having to keep your foot moderated on the accelerator? Why does size affect that?

On a small car like the 500, especially with the 1.2 if you're about to go up a hill (the CC doesn't know when a hill is coming up) then you really want to carry as much speed as possibly coming up to the hill and keep it in 5th going up the hill as this will be best for fuel economy and in terms of speed also. On something with a bit of power it's not so much of a problem.
 
On a small car like the 500, especially with the 1.2 if you're about to go up a hill (the CC doesn't know when a hill is coming up) then you really want to carry as much speed as possibly coming up to the hill and keep it in 5th going up the hill as this will be best for fuel economy and in terms of speed also. On something with a bit of power it's not so much of a problem.

Mmm, I know what you mean. I drove back from Ashford last weekend and I noticed (I could feel it working through the car), the cruise control on my Cadillac as I travelled up a fairly steep incline on the M20. With your example above, I too wonder whether a 1.2 POP fitted with CC would be able to cope with something like that. My guess is, it probably wouldn't. But, still, if people want it on their 500, then good luck to 'em.
 
Mmm, I know what you mean. I drove back from Ashford last weekend and I noticed (I could feel it working through the car), the cruise control on my Cadillac as I travelled up a fairly steep incline on the M20. With your example above, I too wonder whether a 1.2 POP fitted with CC would be able to cope with something like that. My guess is, it probably wouldn't. But, still, if people want it on their 500, then good luck to 'em.

I think it could "cope" but it would probably just floor it in 5th and waste loads of fuel when an intelligen driver would carry a bit more speed coming up to the hill.
 
No point on a small car with a small engine tbh.

I think the merits of cruise control are more to do with the type of journey you make than the size of car you drive. On the odd occasions when I've borrowed a car with CC, I've found it very useful on flat motorways and absolutely irrelevant on twisty mountain roads.

As the 500 might not be a first choice car for a motorway cruiser (it's perfectly capable, but if someone else is paying the fuel bill I'd prefer something quieter with better seats), CC isn't going to be worth having for everyone. But there will be some folks out there who could make good use of it - which is why it should be an optional extra, rather than a standard fitment which bumps up the price of the base car. That way, those who want it can have it, and those who don't, need not pay for it - which ought to keep everyone happy :):):).
 
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The reason the Cruise Control is standard on the US500 & they have the 'bigger' engine with 105bhp. Most of the roads in the US that I travelled are relatively straight roads with strict speed limits.

IMHO if you are limited on power the best way to travel on 'up and down' motorways is to work the engine gathering a bit of speed going down to carry you up the next 'section'. I reckon that it would prove more economical than travelling at a steady speed with Cruise Control (I'm going to avoid any debate on this :devil:).
 
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