Had a 500 1.2 pop as a courtesy car from my dealer for 2 days whilst my 100hp was in having a rattly dash issue sorted out.
It would seem that the 500 I was given was a poverty spec model. No aircon, dark grey trim with plastic headrests and no steering wheel controls for the radio.
I found that it felt quite long in the gearing and that the flywheel must have been some kind of fred flintstone affair. I noticed this due to the lack of engine braking on decelaration.
Also it felt slow to rev. Obviously this engine has been set up to provide low down torque at the expense of having anything at the top end of the rev range. This helps it move along, but as some have suggested that the 1.2 feels more torquey than the 1.4 at lower revs are sorely mistaken I think.
Don't get me wrong as a town car it's fine and can keep up with traffic okay, but you'll get nowhere fast. I think the heavy flywheel type feel to it is indicative of a car that's been made very easy to drive smoothly and it does work in this respect.
I did though once I got my 100hp back realise just how slow the 1.2 is, I just feel that it is too underpowered for me. I gu3ss only driving my 100hp in sport mode made the 500 feel not particularly responsive.
I did have it up to 70mph at one point and the long gearing keeps the revs fairly low but this of course at the expense of acceleration.
Handling wise, well just like the panda it tends to understeer. It felt a bit loose on the suspension (this is all relative as the 100hp is rock hard) so tended to roll around a fair bit, reminding me somewhat of my old MJ.
Overall then, if you aren't a keen driver and want a city car to run around in and aren't interested in performance it's fine really, but it's not going to set your hair on fire. Averaged 45.4mpg as well which is impressive even with my driving.
It would seem that the 500 I was given was a poverty spec model. No aircon, dark grey trim with plastic headrests and no steering wheel controls for the radio.
I found that it felt quite long in the gearing and that the flywheel must have been some kind of fred flintstone affair. I noticed this due to the lack of engine braking on decelaration.
Also it felt slow to rev. Obviously this engine has been set up to provide low down torque at the expense of having anything at the top end of the rev range. This helps it move along, but as some have suggested that the 1.2 feels more torquey than the 1.4 at lower revs are sorely mistaken I think.
Don't get me wrong as a town car it's fine and can keep up with traffic okay, but you'll get nowhere fast. I think the heavy flywheel type feel to it is indicative of a car that's been made very easy to drive smoothly and it does work in this respect.
I did though once I got my 100hp back realise just how slow the 1.2 is, I just feel that it is too underpowered for me. I gu3ss only driving my 100hp in sport mode made the 500 feel not particularly responsive.
I did have it up to 70mph at one point and the long gearing keeps the revs fairly low but this of course at the expense of acceleration.
Handling wise, well just like the panda it tends to understeer. It felt a bit loose on the suspension (this is all relative as the 100hp is rock hard) so tended to roll around a fair bit, reminding me somewhat of my old MJ.
Overall then, if you aren't a keen driver and want a city car to run around in and aren't interested in performance it's fine really, but it's not going to set your hair on fire. Averaged 45.4mpg as well which is impressive even with my driving.