General Dualogic reviews?

[LeanneM]

Thanks for all the comments and replies everyone!

I realise that my current car being 11 sounds like it's had a good run but actually it only has 23,000 miles on it! It was a gift from my grandfather who was no longer able to drive for medical reasons and was actually off the road for about 5 years before I started to drive it. It only had 7500 miles on it when I got it, so I figure it's really only really had about 4 years worth of driving! Hence why I'm worried.
I do wonder having read some of these comments if my driving style might not have helped matters, I can be quite hard on the accelerator and break at times :/

Also I saw a mint green 500 out on the road outside the dealers in bright daylight and although I was in love with the colour inside the shade of the dealers showroom, I felt it looked a bit wishy washy out in the sunlight! Decisions decisions.

Anyone know anything about the Adam or have any comments on that one? I'm still really unsure which to go for!

Thanks
Leanne

 

[ahmett]

Thanks for all the comments and replies everyone!

I realise that my current car being 11 sounds like it's had a good run but actually it only has 23,000 miles on it! It was a gift from my grandfather who was no longer able to drive for medical reasons and was actually off the road for about 5 years before I started to drive it. It only had 7500 miles on it when I got it, so I figure it's really only really had about 4 years worth of driving! Hence why I'm worried.
I do wonder having read some of these comments if my driving style might not have helped matters, I can be quite hard on the accelerator and break at times :/

Also I saw a mint green 500 out on the road outside the dealers in bright daylight and although I was in love with the colour inside the shade of the dealers showroom, I felt it looked a bit wishy washy out in the sunlight! Decisions decisions.

Anyone know anything about the Adam or have any comments on that one? I'm still really unsure which to go for!

Thanks
Leanne

parts degrade over time at least as much as mileage does. That's why I would rather get a newer car with higher mileage than an older car with less mileage.

 

[arorat]

Also I saw a mint green 500 out on the road outside the dealers in bright daylight and although I was in love with the colour inside the shade of the dealers showroom, I felt it looked a bit wishy washy out in the sunlight! Decisions decisions.

Anyone know anything about the Adam or have any comments on that one? I'm still really unsure which to go for!

Thanks
Leanne

Go with the mint or better still timeless white, you will have a lot of fun with the 500 even when its a few years old. Not sure about Adam, but if you like the shape, price, etc then weigh it up.

If you want a used manual, I am selling one, its advertised on FF under classifieds and will accept £6950 for it, bargain at that price.

 

[Parascience]

I have a 1.2 Dualogic from new. I didn't opt for hill hold and just use the handbrake (as in a manual) - doesn't cause me any issues or roll back.
Otherwise the Dualogic is pretty good & off course I can manually override it or just use it as a manual - tip: when changing manually it helps to lift throttle as you would with normal manual. In auto just let the car's computer do it

 

[DavyP]

Hi, I've got two DL equipped Fiats, one Panda and one Grande Punto, used to have a standard Punto. The Grande's g/box is absolutely perfect, almost reads my mind when to change up or down, but the panda's clutch is either on or off, and no-one can say why ,or how it could be fixed, The changes on the Panda are a bit 'clunky' but the Grande changes almost silently, sometimes the only way I know it's changed is by looking at the gear indicator. So I guess it's a matter of luck whether you get a good box or not. The old Punto had a new gearbox, and ECUand electro hydraulic changer fitted and the fault ( slow changes until box warmed up) fitted under warranty all to no avail. I'm sure they took the old box out, went for a cup of tea ,and then put the old one back in! Fiat themselves said ihe fault was a 'characteristic' and they washed their hands of it. When I got the Grande I complained that contrary to normal practice there was nothing wrong with it, and what were they going to do about that.
Really, I suppose you pay your money and make your choice. If you are lucky you get an almost perfect gearbox, and if you are not you will only be too happy to sell it

 

[ahmett]

Hi, I've got two DL equipped Fiats, one Panda and one Grande Punto, used to have a standard Punto. The Grande's g/box is absolutely perfect, almost reads my mind when to change up or down, but the panda's clutch is either on or off, and no-one can say why ,or how it could be fixed, The changes on the Panda are a bit 'clunky' but the Grande changes almost silently, sometimes the only way I know it's changed is by looking at the gear indicator. So I guess it's a matter of luck whether you get a good box or not. The old Punto had a new gearbox, and ECUand electro hydraulic changer fitted and the fault ( slow changes until box warmed up) fitted under warranty all to no avail. I'm sure they took the old box out, went for a cup of tea ,and then put the old one back in! Fiat themselves said ihe fault was a 'characteristic' and they washed their hands of it. When I got the Grande I complained that contrary to normal practice there was nothing wrong with it, and what were they going to do about that.
Really, I suppose you pay your money and make your choice. If you are lucky you get an almost perfect gearbox, and if you are not you will only be too happy to sell it

After Bosch fixed my box it works fine now. I just got used to the quirks . I have a 2 year warranty now for the box so that's 2 more years of racing to go

 

[UFI]

parts degrade over time at least as much as mileage does. That's why I would rather get a newer car with higher mileage than an older car with less mileage.

The only time low milage cars cause trouble is if services are skipped. I've always prefered a mint low milage 'survivor' to a beat to death 'late model'.

My five car fleet (three of the five purchased new) totals 218,000km (63 years), that's an average of 3,460km/year each. Fairly extreme low milage. None has ever come home on the back of a truck nor had a major failure.

 

[logger]

I see the manual specifically states only use your right foot to operated the Dualogic when in Auto mode. Like any auto it is bad practice to use separate feet for the accelerator and brake pedal.

Unfortunately I had forgotten until my wife did her first lap of the block in her new car that she uses this flawed technique.

I am trying to decide wether to live with the consequences of a) insisting she modify her pedal technique, or b) the car being maltreated. Lesser of two evils

If I read the Dualogic manual correctly, the caveat applies to auto and not manual mode which is little hard to reconcile. In manual it is really only the change points you have hold over.

Has this issue been discussed previously in regard to the Dualogic? BTW I am not endorsing operating pedals with separate feet on any auto, nor am I looking for a lecture. Chances are my other half is not Robinson Crusoe though. As long as she NEVER simultaneously rides the pedals I suppose not much can go wrong. Thoughts?

 

[teebusybee]

I see the manual specifically states only use your right foot to operated the Dualogic when in Auto mode. Like any auto it is bad practice to use separate feet for the accelerator and brake pedal.

Unfortunately I had forgotten until my wife did her first lap of the block in her new car that she uses this flawed technique.

I am trying to decide wether to live with the consequences of a) insisting she modify her pedal technique, or b) the car being maltreated. Lesser of two evils

If I read the Dualogic manual correctly, the caveat applies to auto and not manual mode which is little hard to reconcile. In manual it is really only the change points you have hold over.

Has this issue been discussed previously in regard to the Dualogic? BTW I am not endorsing operating pedals with separate feet on any auto, nor am I looking for a lecture. Chances are my other half is not Robinson Crusoe though. As long as she NEVER simultaneously rides the pedals I suppose not much can go wrong. Thoughts?

My great aunt uses both feet in her automatic, it is uncomfortable

If I have a clutch my left leg comes into play, if I don't it stays out of the equation. I don't really get why it would be different operating the dualogic in either manual or auto, you still only have the brake and accelerator.

I've only driven the dualogic a few times (test drives and a friend has one) as my 500 is manual but my left leg stayed out of it, even when I was in manual mode.

 

[UFI]

My great aunt uses both feet in her automatic,

F1 style

 

[44sunsets]

I see the manual specifically states only use your right foot to operated the Dualogic when in Auto mode.
...
Has this issue been discussed previously in regard to the Dualogic?
...
As long as she NEVER simultaneously rides the pedals I suppose not much can go wrong.

I just checked the 2009 Dualogic supplement and it states the right foot warning for both manual and automatic mode.
"IMPORTANT For the correct use of the system, only use your right foot to operate the pedals."

I don't think it would be a big deal as long as she doesn't press both pedals at the same time, like you say.

A lot of modern cars are now designed to ignore the accelerator pedal when both brake and accelerator pedal are depressed at the same time. I think it's a safety feature or something like that, so to prevent those infamous "unintended acceleration" incidents.

Not sure if the 500 has this safety feature. I've never tried stomping on both pedals myself.

On a different note, I'm not sure if it's possible to buy a 500 in Australia that doesn't have the hill hold feature (whether manual or Dualogic). Anyone know?

 

[logger]

I just checked the 2009 Dualogic supplement and it states the right foot warning for both manual and automatic mode.
"IMPORTANT For the correct use of the system, only use your right foot to operate the pedals."

I don't think it would be a big deal as long as she doesn't press both pedals at the same time, like you say....

So right you are. I stand corrected. The "Ready to Go"/Quckstart section wraps over a page and I missed the earlier warning for manual mode.

In any case I shall see how she gets on, and impress on her the necessity of avoiding dual input.

 

[teebusybee]

On a different note, I'm not sure if it's possible to buy a 500 in Australia that doesn't have the hill hold feature (whether manual or Dualogic). Anyone know?

It's standard on all 500 models in Australia.