General Fiat 500 - Fully Automatic?

[ahmett]

Hello - sorry I didn't reply to your earlier question - it got covered off by 44sunsets, I think. Always just leave the lever in the middle when switching off, so that it's parked in whichever gear was being used (1 or R).

Then when starting up with the brake pressed, a quick push of the lever and it's ready to go.

I only ever move the lever to neutral if I get out of the car with the engine running (letterbox, etc.) to save the annoying DING DING DING that you get when it shifts itself into N after opening the driver's door. If the lever is already in N, there's no sound.

Low-speed manoeuvring from 1 to R and back again seems to be much quicker in some particular cars than in others. In my 2010 Dualogic 500, it would frequently refuse to do what I wanted and gave a flurry of dings unless the brake pedal was pressed with time to spare.

In my 2008 model, it seems far more tolerant when the brake pedal is released just before selecting a gear, etc. Some of this may be down to brake switch adjustment, as I have been careful to adjust the brake switch correctly on the 2008 car. Remove the switch, pull out the plunger with pliers, refit, and it self-adjusts. I've put this here for completeness only, in case anyone has problems relating to selecting gears from rest (somewhat related to your question )

It's interesting to hear your report of the kickdown implementation. I suspect it is a lot more eager in the Sport mode which the 1.2 doesn't have. I don't think I have ever relied on the kickdown - I prefer instead to drop it down a gear manually before overtaking or a steep hill. That's probably smoother as well. I think this is another example of when it really deserves to be driven manually.

-Alex

mine does kickdown from 5th to 2nd at 30 MPH in auto mode non sport if the throttle is applied fully.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

It's interesting to hear your report of the kickdown implementation. I suspect it is a lot more eager in the Sport mode which the 1.2 doesn't have. I don't think I have ever relied on the kickdown - I prefer instead to drop it down a gear manually before overtaking or a steep hill. That's probably smoother as well. I think this is another example of when it really deserves to be driven manually.

-Alex

Thanks for the details on shifting Alex.

As for the kick-down, I don't really expect I'll ever use it again - as you suggest it's easier, and certainly less dramatic, to push the lever a notch or two. I'm unlikely to ever go highway driving in the Pop, unlike my Lounge which is of course manual.

 

[John202020]

Have you looked at say Ford, there's plenty of fully loaded ones out there(used Fiesta, Focus) for less than £6000, with "normal" auto boxes.
Don't say oh I can't drive something that "big", you would soon get used to it and top spec cars have almost every electronic help gadget you can get, though not self park that probably would need to be bought new.
Yes some costs will be more like road tax and insurance, but you can check those out before purchase, given your short driving range fuel cost won't be so much of a factor even though a bigger car would be less mpg, and don't buy a diesel car at all.

 

[Melanabb]

Mazda 2?

 

[John202020]

Personally I would steer clear of anything French and any "smart" car .