I have only had my fiat, named Little Bug, for a day or so, thus my problem may resolve itself in due course. But if anyone else out there is short with little legs and had trouble getting comfortable with reaching the pedals comfortably and solved it, please advise! I find it really hard to rest my foot on the floor when engaging clutch and end up having to hold my foot off the floor quite a bit to be able to engage properly.....and it makes my muscles ache! Thank you

Cars are unfortunately engineered for 95 percentile people. This means that if you fall outside the size range of most people you are in trouble.

It might be possible to get blocks fixed to the pedals, but I'd first try sitting closer to the wheel in the typical sit-up-and-beg seating position favoured by Italians.

I am 6'00" with relatively long legs and can only get comfortable in Fiats by sitting with my seat at maximum height and with the backrest fairly upright. But that's how I prefer to sit anyway, as lying low and reclined in a car with the wheel at arms length is an impossibility for me.

In the 500L you are meant to sit upright. Just try all the seat/wheel adjustment configurations. How tall are you though?

PS. Do you really have a 500L, or do you have a 500. They are totally different cars you know ?

Thank you for replying....I know it was a bit of a girlie question! I am just under five feet and prefer to sit on top of the wheel, so to speak, with the seat very upright. But the dealer, and my husband also, have warned me of the dangers of being so close to the wheel in case of an accident....ie the air bags go off in your face.

Today I raised the seat a little and was driving round local back streets with the seat one back from the closest setting, but I was definitely happier with it closer to the wheel. I will keep playing around each day until I get it right! My old focus was always set to up front...and I always found it needed playing with if my daughter or husband had used it!

Sorry....I do have a 500L

Good luck.

You are quite short. I have a colleague who is about 5'5" and she sits on the edge of her seat with no back support at all, but she won't take advice A Corsa in this case.

Yes, it is unsafe to be hard up against the wheel, but if you aren't tall there is little alternative. Better to be comfortable and in control I'd say, than uncomfortable and out of reach of the controls...

How's the car then?

Mockingbird said:

Thank you for replying....I know it was a bit of a girlie question! I am just under five feet and prefer to sit on top of the wheel, so to speak, with the seat very upright. But the dealer, and my husband also, have warned me of the dangers of being so close to the wheel in case of an accident....ie the air bags go off in your face.

Today I raised the seat a little and was driving round local back streets with the seat one back from the closest setting, but I was definitely happier with it closer to the wheel. I will keep playing around each day until I get it right! My old focus was always set to up front...and I always found it needed playing with if my daughter or husband had used it!

Click to expand...

sounds very familiar to me..,
my wife's 4'10" , I'm @ 12" taller but still with short'ish legs, that's why we've had nothing BUT FIATS for 25 years, the "straight arms - bent legs" adage of Italian car design works well for us,

YES - I KNOW you're not supposed to seat near an air-bag,
but driving by tip-toes and fingertips isn't good either,

try LOWERING the seat a little - that may make your feet nearer the pedals without dragging your torso along with them,


Charlie

Thank you Ulpian and Charlie. I have been up front, and a little lower today and more comfortable! Decided that moving one notch back can wait until I am more confident in the car. Taking it out for an hour a day and even put petrol in it today, though I did have to chat up a knight in shining armour at the petrol station as I couldn't get the cap back in properly!

Love the car Ulpian, its very comfy and much more me than my focus ever was! I had to have a bigger car when my family was younger, but now they are all grown up I only need room for two dogs. Haven't taken them out in it yet...but my spaniel has already decided the front passenger seat has her name on it!

HI Mockingbird, just to ask again if you overlook. Did you try wheel adjustment to be "
deepest" down?

A new idea....mmmm no I haven't. What do I do please.

sorry was out of net.
on the side of wheel there is a lever which you low down and then can adjust wheel up-down and out-in (deep-high). do not forget to put lever up again before start engine.

Glad you love the car Mockingbird.

Getting truly comfortable in a car isn't easy. Fiat makes it more difficult than most by perpetually failing to get the basics right, but still they usually feel like better places to be in than the opposition.

I recently saw the interior designer of the 500L interviewed by an American journalist (the 500L is important to Fiat in the US and is being sold there with proper engines). He interviewed the inevitably short (Fiat designers all seem to be short) stylish young bloke responsible for the interior and they waxed lyrical abut the colour and texture choices, and how the 500L isn't intended to be aggressive, but rather Italianly chic - fair enough. But the tester later noted that there was no storage in the carefully thought out interior for the universally essential mobile phone. This is a typical Fiat oversight, and why didn't the young beardie notice it when he was responsible, and why did he permit 'storage' holes with no possible utility I find myself asking?

In fact it was just like my Doblo having a lot of interior space, but no storage for a large bottle of water or a bottle of wine, but a place for a mobile :bang: And interior lights that are dim and switch off too soon. The complete opposite of the old Doblo in other words, which actually had more day-to-day utility.

The 500L has an imperfect relationship between the gear stick and the seat/wheel/pedals, and the moonroof makes the rear seats unsuitable for full sized adults in the back - big fail Fiat - but hey-ho, we still love the cars. I say 'we', but are new punters so enthralled I wonder?

But I'd love them a great deal more if the designers were more thorough and the prices were more sensible, and the engines had more grunt and were more economical... :devil:

Thanks Zhorz I will give it a try.

And Ulpian your replies always are interesting!

For me the 500L is cute, stylish small and definitely me! For the last 13 years I had a focus because of needing a family car for me, hubby, three teenagers and three dogs. My husband had a Tvr! Which I hated and refused to drive. Sorry to be sexist but it was a boys toy if you know what I mean!

Back to the focus/ 500 comparison.
Its easy to manoeuvre the fiat, great to park.
My kids are all grown up so I don't need space in the back! Well there is plenty of room for one dog anyway and the other prefers the front!
And if we go en famille we can use my husbands new car, a second hand Mercedes.......

But I do miss the power the focus had. Joining a dual carriageway is not so easy, quick getaways are not the same. And I am only first off at traffic lights if I am the only one there.

I haven't had much of an issue over storage yet, but a better drinks holder would have suited me better but to be honest I didnt think about that area when I was looking for a new car.

I love the sun roof. Especially with the shade. It makes it light and yet cozy. And now I have got the seat right up front but at a slight angle back. I can reach the pedals yet don't feel squashed.

I have only had her two weeks but very happy so far!

Wonderful!

I am critical I know, but only to be honest, in the hope that Fiat might one day notice all the comments they get for free on forums like these, and maybe take notice. Futile expectation perhaps.

Which engine do you have by the way, because the 500L is on my list should I replace my Doblo? I like to have my next car in my head, even if it takes years to get there. I've said many times that Fiat tends to under-engine its cars and nothing much seems to change, unfortunately.

And I'm glad you are sitting comfortably now too

I've just been to look at a fantastic yellow Trekking. It looks wonderful, with a beautiful terracotta part leather interior and very smart seats. And the hole in the dash next to the USB ports now has a rubber lining, so a mobile might just stay put

I'd certainly have one if I could afford it.

The 500L is a very fine car, as long as you do without the glass roof

Ah yellow....I loved the colour of my old focus, special one for the millennium. And bright yellow was rare then. Enjoy the hunting.

My engine is 1.2 ish, and the focus was 1.8 so I seem to need higher gears more often now. But to be honest I don't drive over fast....I leave that to the other half!