General 6'3" too tall for the Fiat 500 ?

Currently reading:
General 6'3" too tall for the Fiat 500 ?

Pras83

New member
Joined
Dec 12, 2005
Messages
132
Points
33
Location
Essex
Wanted to buy the 500 for my wife, she's 6'3" and we went to the dealers to sit in the cars. She tried the POP & Lounge and reckons she is too tall for them. She has about less than an inch room left from the roof when the seat is fully pumped down.

Are there any options to lower the seat even further ?
 
I am 6'4" and have clearance above my head, even with an opening sunroof, which in hindsight was probably a mistake to go for as it steals at least a couple of inches in head room.

You need a combination low seat cushion and 'relaxed' seat back position. When I collected car I thought I had truelly messed up (I had not sat in car with opening sunroof prior to ordering), but a couple of hours later (and a haircut) I had found the ideal driving position.

If you are not going for opening sunroof I would have thought no problem.
 
My fella is 6ft 2 and although he won't be driving the car he did on the test drive (we've had at least 4!) and he didn't find it a problem, although as everyone says the pop/sport is more roomy because of the lack of sunroof (although it seems odd to me that a hole actually gives less room! lol) :)
 
Wanted to buy the 500 for my wife, she's 6'3" and we went to the dealers to sit in the cars. She tried the POP & Lounge and reckons she is too tall for them. She has about less than an inch room left from the roof when the seat is fully pumped down.

Are there any options to lower the seat even further ?

The 500 seems to have a high seating position that is noticable no matter what height you are. I am 5ft 7 and I felt like I was positioned too high up in the car when I first sat in it. So I think it does take some getting used to and I imagine if you're tall that feeling of being close to the roof is even more exaggerated. My husband is 6ft 2 and was okay in the passenger seat of all the 500s except for ones with a sunroof.

The solid roof gives the most head room. The fixed glass roof of the Lounge model robs headroom and the opening sunroof even more so. Someone 6ft 3 tall might have problems in the passenger seat but should be able to lower the driver's seat enough to be okay. As people have pointed out it does depend whether you are longer in the body or the legs, and for someone with big hair it might make matters worse!

I did wonder whether the seats might get 'squashed down' a bit over time and this would give a bit more head-room.

I think its up to your wife – if she feels like there's not enough head room she might get used to it or might not. She should try and sit in a few different ones and see what she thinks. Weirdly I sat in a few and in one particular Lounge model (glass roof) I pumped the seat down as low as it could go and I still felt too high up! That was after sitting in a Pop with a solid roof for half an hour.
 
Last edited:
I'm 6'2.75" and we have a Lounge with leather seats. The seats don't go down in a comfortable manner, it just drops the back section, with the front staying up. It fits fine for me in the driver position, in the passenger seat, which I mostly occupy :), I put the seat inclination back a bit and then I'm very comfortable.
 
Thanks for the replies. She feels like she is in the wrong seating position when driving.
Too high up when looking out of the windscreen....:bang:

We will go for another test drive.
 
Thanks for the replies. She feels like she is in the wrong seating position when driving.
Too high up when looking out of the windscreen....:bang:

We will go for another test drive.
That's what the 500 is like. At first it feels really strange but you get used to it after a day or so. Weirdest bit is when you approach a bend you've done a thousand times in a shorter car with a different view and suddenly you feel like you're a metre or so higher up.......
 
Thanks for the replies. She feels like she is in the wrong seating position when driving.
Too high up when looking out of the windscreen....:bang:

We will go for another test drive.

Yes, the seating position is set very high anyway, my boyfriend is 6'1 and there is still lots of head room - it is very odd when you are driving in traffic though - it seems you are at the same height as some of the oft-roaders and look down on everyone else, or is that just me taking the 500 love a bit too far....?:D

You get used to it and although it's not the most comfortable car to drive (well, the abarth isn't anyway!) you've just got to love the cheeky little chappy as a great piece of automotice design!
 
My son is 6'8" and seems to drive it OK. When they first came out he tried one and found his big feet had trouble - particularly resting beside the clutch, there wasn't much room. But maybe they changed it, because there seems to be room now.

The rear view mirror is no use as his eye line is high up and all he can see is the ground - but the door mirrors are fine.

There's only one comfortable seat position - we had a Ford Galaxy before, and that could be driven in a variety of positions - perhaps not surprising.
 
Back
Top