hi all, we are looking at the fiat 500x. the mrs likes them, and we had looked at a 1.6 multijet cross plus diesel, however the car was in limp mode so we walked. as we have always gone for diesels, we are going to look at another Wednesday, but I noticed fiat discontinued the diesel option. I maybe persuaded to go for petrol, but if I did, ive seen a 500x nearly new for a good deal. it has the 1.0 firefly. how do you guys find this engine and is it economical in the real world?

mrickle said:

hi all, we are looking at the fiat 500x. the mrs likes them, and we had looked at a 1.6 multijet cross plus diesel, however the car was in limp mode so we walked. as we have always gone for diesels, we are going to look at another Wednesday, but I noticed fiat discontinued the diesel option. I maybe persuaded to go for petrol, but if I did, ive seen a 500x nearly new for a good deal. it has the 1.0 firefly. how do you guys find this engine and is it economical in the real world?

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I am not sure about the 1.0 engine, i have the 1.4 multiair, a full tank lasts 7 to 10 days. I am doing at least 42 miles per day, at least 5 days a week.

Like i wrote in another post, it depends on the fuel as well. At Shell garages available mileage after fuelling is usually 380 to 400 miles. Last visit at the BP garage...460...i have no clue how this works[emoji849][emoji849][emoji849][emoji849]...and only at one BP garage.

Anyway...don't expect the same mileage that a diesel engine delivers.

mrickle said:

hi all, we are looking at the fiat 500x. the mrs likes them, and we had looked at a 1.6 multijet cross plus diesel, however the car was in limp mode so we walked. as we have always gone for diesels, we are going to look at another Wednesday, but I noticed fiat discontinued the diesel option. I maybe persuaded to go for petrol, but if I did, ive seen a 500x nearly new for a good deal. it has the 1.0 firefly. how do you guys find this engine and is it economical in the real world?

Click to expand...

I have no experience of the 1.6 diesel but I do have the 2.0 diesel 4x4 Auto and get 45-50 mpg easily in mixed motoring with 52mpg being my best on a tankful. Whilst I love my 500X in its current configuration I won't be buying another due solely to reduced engine and trsnsmission choices.

We have a 1.4 multiair 4x4 cross plus auto. Definitely not economical, low 30's in most motoring but it does have 170hp and 4wd. The latter has been great in the recent horrible weather

Our 1.0 has now ticked over 6k and is getting 38.5mpg average, mostly extra urban/rural miles, with a few <100mile motorway runs. A big improvement now that it’s been run in.

Lifetime average of the 1.6 diesel we had before was 38mpg so for the type of miles we do they have been exactly the same.

The diesel did do better on motorway runs though.

Oggles said:

Our 1.0 has now ticked over 6k and is getting 38.5mpg average, mostly extra urban/rural miles, with a few <100mile motorway runs. A big improvement now that it’s been run in.

Lifetime average of the 1.6 diesel we had before was 38mpg so for the type of miles we do they have been exactly the same.

The diesel did do better on motorway runs though.

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Is the 1.0ltr Firefly any good with your missus and a baby in the back (aka "plus a boot load of cots/prams/clothing/toys and a roof box with your shreddies and spare socks")?

I know the beast is a turbo and makes about a ton of brake... but I can't shrug off that it could be puny and underpowered. I haven't had a 1.0ltr for 30 years nearly..


Ralf S.

My wifes 500X is the 1.6 MJ Cross Plus. I have only ever had one other oil-burner so would not have normally gone for purely for the noise however when we bought ours they were a good price given the recent bad press on Diesel's. TBH its unfair on the 500X - the 1.6MJ is an excellent unit - we average high 40's and on a run are well in to the 50's MPG. In SPORT mode the car is surprising in performance and handles well for an SUV. Also its only £20 a year for Road Tax! Just shows you how clean modern Euro 6 cars can be. It does still rattle on idle though however over 30 MPH its quiet enough. You can read on here the facelift 500X cars meant Diesel delete for the UK market but they are still available elsewhere. I still don't like the noise so given the option now we would probably go for Petrol however the earlier cars have taken a price drop now so I would not hesitate to recommend one to anyone else. We got ours from Motorpoint - had it a couple of years now and done about 25k and its been perfect - only issue being a blown headlight bulb - the Cross Plus has Bi-xenon but I bought a second hand unit (as xenon bulbs are expensive) off a scrapped car and its fine.

My view is that if you cover less than 10000 miles/year, forget diesel. Short runs will foul up the emissions equipment and cause expensive problems.

I think its more cars that do not get given a 'blast' for want of a more technical term that just short runs. I borrow the car sometimes for runs down the Motorway as its so comfy....

The car is a 'tall punto'

My 875cc drags the punto around.. but the 1.3 td does it better.

In the 500x you are putting a 1.0 petrol against the 1.6 td..

Same difference..

Its a fair bit of work for a little engine.

So IF you are keeping it the Diesel SHOULD need less serious repair work.. over 100k miles.

But if you only do short runs.. the diesel will COST you money in DPF related servicing.

All down to your circumstances really.

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

The car is a 'tall punto'



My 875cc drags the punto around.. but the 1.3 td does it better.



In the 500x you are putting a 1.0 petrol against the 1.6 td..



Same difference..



Its a fair bit of work for a little engine.



So IF you are keeping it the Diesel SHOULD need less serious repair work.. over 100k miles.



But if you only do short runs.. the diesel will COST you money in DPF related servicing.



All down to your circumstances really.



Charlie

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I would tend to agree, the 2.0 MJ is a very lazy engine, 80mph is only just over 2,000 rpm or so I'm told. I do 12-14,000 miles per year with about 2/3 of that total on Motorways or fast A roads and I have NEVER seen the DPF Regeneration light come on.

Just seen that a total diesel ban in Bristol is being considered, and other cities have, or are considering, restrictions. Something else to bear in mind if you do much city driving.

Aye! The missus spotted that. I'm usually around the outskirts of Bristol so any ULEZ type of fascism would be quite annoying (Gerrard being a relative hooligan Euro-III oil burner and proud of it.. ).

She's nudging me towards petrol for my next car... although she doesn't know that for "my next car" I have ambitions to buy a Bentley Silver Spur or something equally impractical. I only do 20,000 miles a year at the moment but even so, 14mpg would be quite "challenging" if I had to take the 6.0ltr W8 doodah..


Ralf S.

Ralf S. said:

Is the 1.0ltr Firefly any good with your missus and a baby in the back (aka "plus a boot load of cots/prams/clothing/toys and a roof box with your shreddies and spare socks")?
Ralf S.

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I’ve not driven in such a load scenario, but have had four adults in around town. It has plenty of power but you need to knock it down a couple of gears for hills and accelerations when fully loaded - probably normal for a petrol but I was so used to a diesel before. Nowhere near the torque of the multijet.

I’ve not had bikes on the roof yet which can be a good test.

ok folks, big thanks to you all.

went to test drive a 1.6 multijet cross plus. started it up, stunk really strong, grey smoke, engine management light on, and it hardly revved. shame as it had only done 24k on a 15 plate. quickly ran from it. travelled 45 miles to view another at a fiat main dealer. got there, not one alloy unmarked, it was 66 plate went out in it anyway, but eml came on that too. salesman told me it just needs a run.

mrs decided the 500x is the car. so after popping into our local fiat dealer, they took us out in a city cross 1.0. would have bought it if dealer hadn't of tried to bull crap us. so I scoured the autotrader, and we have a new Arnold clark on our doorstep. they were showing a 2.0 diesel and a 1.0 cross plus nearly new. got there diesel reserved, so looked at the 1.0. it had 8 miles on clock. cross plus spec too. needless to say we are now the proud owners of it. i brimmed the tank and its on half after covering 210 miles so we will see. it replaced a citroen c3 Picasso diesel.

one note though, reading the book it has a gpf, so looks like petrol or diesel you cant get away from the particle filter

mrickle said:

ok folks, big thanks to you all.

went to test drive a 1.6 multijet cross plus. started it up, stunk really strong, grey smoke, engine management light on, and it hardly revved. shame as it had only done 24k on a 15 plate. quickly ran from it. travelled 45 miles to view another at a fiat main dealer. got there, not one alloy unmarked, it was 66 plate went out in it anyway, but eml came on that too. salesman told me it just needs a run.

mrs decided the 500x is the car. so after popping into our local fiat dealer, they took us out in a city cross 1.0. would have bought it if dealer hadn't of tried to bull crap us. so I scoured the autotrader, and we have a new Arnold clark on our doorstep. they were showing a 2.0 diesel and a 1.0 cross plus nearly new. got there diesel reserved, so looked at the 1.0. it had 8 miles on clock. cross plus spec too. needless to say we are now the proud owners of it. i brimmed the tank and its on half after covering 210 miles so we will see. it replaced a citroen c3 Picasso diesel.

one note though, reading the book it has a gpf, so looks like petrol or diesel you cant get away from the particle filter

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Enjoy your new 500x. Let us know about the fuel consumption after a month or so, and if you are happy with the performance and the car in general.

Congrats.

Sounds like you found a good deal too!!

Dont be too pessimistic of mpg ..

You are coming from something pretty torquey by comparison.. so driving style will be different.

( I know little about the 'firefly' - it is pretty new to the uk - FF)

BUT the previous 2 cylinder motors were really tight.. taking almost 20k miles to free off fully.

Well done again
I will be the 1st to say it..

We Need Pics

Charlie

Well done - glad you got one sorted. Surprised about the issues with a low-miler and dealer car. From my experience the best ones come from enthusiast forums like this one. Anyway happy motoring!

I find that the fuel gauge goes down quicker on the second half than the first half. Did a 150 mile journey yesterday mix of motorway and urban heavy traffic, car a 1.4 FWD automatic returned 45mpg.
Now done 32000 miles and still on the first set of tyres, Conti's, with plenty of rubber left as well as same brake pads.

so we are on our 2nd week, wife loves the car, but when petrol light came on it had managed 271 miles on its first full tank. working it out its about 31mpg. this consists of running around, and a 25 mile commute, half of which is on a long uninterrupted a road. it was filled at Sainsburys, but have tried shell see if its any better. other than that everything is great.