Knowing Fiat they will put in a bigger engine, in about two years time.

Fiat always introduces new models with small engines, and when they don't sell too well and are pilloried by the press for their lack of power, they then put a more powerful engine in. By which time of course the press has stopped reviewing them and the low powered image has stuck. They did this with the original Doblo and then with the Qubo, and the petrol engine in the current Doblo is a weak 1.4 that is just totally inadequate.

Is the 500L a full sized car though, it doesn't have a much larger footprint than the Punto? Anyway, it might just be as somebody here said, that Fiat wants to hang onto its green credentials as the lowest polluting maker in Europe.

No point having lots of engine choice if no one buys the car with the bigger engine? A few caravan owners are not going to make it worth doing? Bravo had loads of engines to choose from, didn't make it a very good seller? 105 HP is more than enough for everyday driving in the UK? The press aren't criticising the engine choice.

I agree with that. The new engines are plenty nippy enough for their purpose.

The old 1.9 non-turbo and the 1.2 petrols in the original Doblo were something else though. That car only took off when the 1.9 JTD was fitted.

I wonder if the engine bay is tight for bigger engines? The 1.6 looks snug? To get the interior space of at least one segment above there must be some tricks somewhere. IIRC it's shorter than the Bravo, this leads me to believe the engine bay is smaller. As Ulpian said, it's not really a "full size" car as it has similar dimensions to the Bravo (same width, not as long, taller) but it's much bigger / more practical inside.

The rags are amazingly positive, I wonder if FIAT took out some advertising space for once!

Auto Express:
"
The surprise is that the TwinAir is a great match for the 500L. It has an extra 20bhp over the same engine in the standard 500, so matches the 104bhp 1.6-litre MultiJet diesel’s output. And while it has less than half of that car’s 320Nm torque , the TwinAir provides plenty of low-down grunt.
An impressive 80 per cent of the full 145Nm is available from just 1,700rpm, endowing it with all the pull you’ll ever need, particularly around town.
It’s quiet and refined, too, and below 2,500rpm you’d be hard-pressed to notice it wasn’t a conventional four-cylinder. Above 2,500rpm it makes a nice muted yap, but it seems a little more grown-up and less characterful than in the standard 500, which is a slight disappointment.
But the engine delivers what it’s designed to do: diesel-like economy and emissions for those with an eye on running costs but who don’t do the mileage to justify a diesel. In the 500L, it returns 58.8mpg and emits just 112g/km."

I wouldn't expect more than about 40-45 mpg in the real world though.

Also, the smaller engines are lighter and that helps handling and responsiveness a lot.

It will be fascinating to see how they develop/refine this car, because I like it a lot and it ticks my boxes too. Maybe in a few years? In the meantime the Doblo is actually a lot of fun, and really rather refined.

I have tended to achieve more than what the manufacturers state or achieving it for mpg. Hopeful. if not I'm probably not going to do the miles for it to matter much else I'd have gone for the diesel again. I am still anxious at times that I should have ordered the diesel. £1000 certainly gets you a few journeys under the belt.

As you say 100kg lighter too may be nice, also better on the front tyres.

I note the fuel tank is a bit small at 50 litres. Another way to get the interior space up slightly?

Its a supermini based b segment people mover. It will never get the 2.0mj. Maybe the xl will get the 120bhp 1.6multijet with the vgt turbo but it will bump up the cost.
Consider the new mondeo will offer the 1.0 turbo ecoboost engine.

US ones will get the 140bhp 1.4 multiair turbo.

buster said:

If it wasnt for the 500 fiat would be dead.

Click to expand...

They are certainly in a stronger position than they would of been if it wasn't for the 500 but the Grande Punto saved Fiat and turned it around in the light vehicle market. Fiat messed it up with the facelift models...which they quickly changed again!

I strongly agree with that.But in my position what am i supposed to do.Ive got a young family with our needs.I really like fiats they suit me,i can honestly say ive had nothing but very good service from everyone of them ive had.My business vehicles are also Fiats,-Doblos and Dailys.Again bomb proof.I hear the horror storys of other makes and i want to stay with Fiat but the Croma wont carry on forever.Im gonig to need something to replace this old girl at some point.They need to pull something out the bag and do some serious advitising.One thing for sure though,people are starting to realise just how good Fiat are due to the amount of 500 sales.

Their advertising, whilst still a bit patchy, is better than it was only a few years ago. 500 gets loads of advertising on TV, in papers/magazines, on billboards around Cities. Panda didn't get enough TV coverage at launch but there have been adverts for the 4x4 version in several papers and magazines that I've seen & they have tried to capitalise on the Top Gear SUV award they got for it. Punto also seems to get paper/magazine adverts and small poster ads round city centres. Pleasingly I've passed a couple of big billboard ads for the 500L and the advert is appearing on TV in between quite a range of programs, which is good.

The only cars that don't get advertised at all anymore is the Bravo, Qubo and Doblo but i'd imagine the Bravo & Qubo are in the later stages of the product cycle so they're less concerned about them, whilst the Doblo has a relatively small potential customer base that would make mass advertising uneconomical. I do think a full range advert, possibly combined with a new beefed-up warranty would increase awareness of the overall brand. Though I dare say many people buying 500s have never gone anywhere near a Fiat dealership before so just by having a good 500 range, Fiat should increase there sales in other models as people will see them whilst in the showroom for the 500.

With regard to a replacement for your Croma, I think the only hope is the 500XL or 500X. Fiat had dismal luck (partly their fault in the UK for not advertising) with the Croma, and the Stilo & Bravo haven't set the sales charts alight either so I can't see them offering direct replacements for either. I think they'll cover niches with the expanded 500 range, which whilst not necessarily good for you, will bring in more sales overall, which they need in order to survive. I think for the type of car you're looking for, and for anyone else with requirements outside of the Fiat range, Fiat will try and attract people to their other brands. In your case I think the forthcoming Alfa saloon, estate or SUV or one of the Jeep models would be what they'd 'hope' you consider. Not Fiat, but at least they're part of the same group as the manufacturer you have a lot of faith in.

Fiats were always good, but once upon a time the Russian steel they used caused even worse rusting than was normal for the epoch, and the electrics weren't robust either.

The engineering always produced clever cars that were fun to drive though.

I'd expect the 500L to get the 1.6 120hp one day, but obviously not yet. It was ever thus unfortunatley. But the cars are different, clever, and good to drive, otherwise why do we all try to find something different, get bored, and keep coming back

But it looks like you need the Freemont. Well, it's gone on sale in Australia, or is it S Africa? So it's been converted. Maybe we'll get it too before long?

Brilliant value car. Not tried one in Italy yet as only the dirigente are allowed them as company cars within fiat, but I did hire a facelift dodge journey in the usa a few weeks ago.
Same car but with a 285bhp v6 petrol. Only complaint was very light steering.

Yeah i think that sums it up really.The freemont would be spot on for us.fingures crossed.