im Axle Specialists
01-DSC_0551.jpg
01-DSC_0551.jpg

500 Arrival of newborn twin

Overview Gallery Discussion

Introduction

Had the car a couple of weeks now, so 've had time to take some pics. Hope they are useful for anyone looking for a particular spec.
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Liking it! Really Like the dash and alloys! I know its probably new and covered in the warrenty blanket, but personally 500s have an amazing stance on Sportlines with spacers :)
Good choice on the colour too ;)
 
It's funny that everyone that has seen the car seems to have positive things to say. I think this is just proof of the 500's 'iconic' design.

It's not perfect, but when you consider cost vs style it's pretty good.
Love driving it, but it'll take me a little to live up to my log-on!
Averaging 55mpg on 'normal', and 60+ on 'eco'.

Thanks for the positive comments
 
Is it a 1.2 8v? I do love the design of the 500! Some one was trying to convice me that it looked "Identical to the Nissan Micra" :s Personally, apart from the rounded roof, i see no resemblance! haha
 
My bad!!!!! Just googled "TwinAir engine" and im shocked at the power output from such a small engine!!! 85bhp from 875cc 2 cylinders!!
Thats Italian engineering for you ;)
 
Great Pics...TA is massive fun to drive.

:) yeah they have come a long way re power output.

I believe 1bhp per 1cc was exceeded by motorbike engines, my Honda bike at 1137 cc produces around 140bhp and its a 1998 model !!

Just wanted to confirm what the Honda Fireblade does these days so looked at wiki, their 999cc produces 178bhp almost 2:1 ratio... just amazing
 
durukan said:
does the engine shake the car a bit when it's idling?
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I find the engine is very smooth in almost all situations, so no unusual vibration at idle. The only exception is when you are on the overrun, i.e. in 2nd/3rd going downhill. In this case there is quite a lot of 'excitement' from the engine, although I'd call it more of a throb rather than a nasty vibration.

I believe that they have used a counterbalance shaft to smooth out any unevenness that you might expect of a 2 cylinder engine. Before I took delivery I thought that the car may have some bad habits with such a small engine, but it's pretty good in most aspects. The only bit I like/hate is the turbo; love the rush of energy when you want it, but hate the lag when you need it. In all fairness, this is typical of most turbo engines I have driven previously. Personally, I prefer a supercharger as it produces a much smoother power band, but it's probably not suitable for such a small cc engine.
 
Same here, the only time you get a hint of the fact it's a twin is if you're lugging along in a high gear at very low revs - even then it's OK unless you are in WAY too high a gear and it just stutters (like any engine would) as you can feel it bobble about a bit.

It's a very intelligent engine installation, and is smoother than some 4 cylinder engines I've known in the past! In fact, some particularly lugubrious six cylinder engines can be worse in certain parts of the rev range.
 
Hi EcoStar

Sorry to enquire on an old post but to achieve the mpg what sort of journeys were or are you doing?

Thanks in advance if you are still on this forum that is.....
 
Zante said:
Hi EcoStar

Sorry to enquire on an old post but to achieve the mpg what sort of journeys were or are you doing?

Thanks in advance if you are still on this forum that is.....
Click to expand...

This car isn't easy to drive economically!
My journeys consist of a 25 mile each way commute to work. I live at the top of a hill and work near sea level so I tend to get around 65-75mpg there but it averages around 62-65 by the time I get home. Not bad, but when I then use the car over weekends it's normally in the high 50's. In the other post "TwinAir Thread (including MPG)" I also mention about the cold and wet weather having a major impact on mpg. This has been particularly bad on the last few tanks.

As most of my journeys are a mixture of country roads and 30-40mph limits I don't go over 50 as a rule and I only use Eco mode when I'm in town. You just need to be very careful on the use of the throttle. I also note that on the occasion when I need to reverse up on a single track road, it has a very negative impact on mpg. Any luggage or passengers has an impact, although I haven't noticed anything different with the use of the A/C. Indeed some of my best journeys have been during the summer with the A/C in full use. I try not braking as much as possible, so adjust my speed before corners and junctions, etc. To be honest, I don't think I can drive the car any more economically than I do but when I get stuck behind buses and lorries I often note that the mpg improves on that journey, so I'm obviously driving too fast for ultimate economy.
All in all I drive around 16k per year.
 
eco sTAr said:
...it averages around 62-65 by the time I get home. Not bad, but when I then use the car over weekends it's normally in the high 50's.
Click to expand...
I think you need a prize - there's the best figures I've seen! :worship:
 
eco sTAr said:
This car isn't easy to drive economically!
My journeys consist of a 25 mile each way commute to work. I live at the top of a hill and work near sea level so I tend to get around 65-75mpg there but it averages around 62-65 by the time I get home. Not bad, but when I then use the car over weekends it's normally in the high 50's. In the other post "TwinAir Thread (including MPG)" I also mention about the cold and wet weather having a major impact on mpg. This has been particularly bad on the last few tanks.

As most of my journeys are a mixture of country roads and 30-40mph limits I don't go over 50 as a rule and I only use Eco mode when I'm in town. You just need to be very careful on the use of the throttle. I also note that on the occasion when I need to reverse up on a single track road, it has a very negative impact on mpg. Any luggage or passengers has an impact, although I haven't noticed anything different with the use of the A/C. Indeed some of my best journeys have been during the summer with the A/C in full use. I try not braking as much as possible, so adjust my speed before corners and junctions, etc. To be honest, I don't think I can drive the car any more economically than I do but when I get stuck behind buses and lorries I often note that the mpg improves on that journey, so I'm obviously driving too fast for ultimate economy.
All in all I drive around 16k per year.
Click to expand...


Mph improving when driving behind buses and lorries is likely to be caused by slipstreaming, even whilst maintaining safe stopping distances.
 
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