ahmett
Prominent member
Hi guys, I must say that 'on the limit', even with Bilstein B14's, the Fiat 500 has some funny handling, which I mainly attribute to the very short wheelbase. I took a corner much faster than I normally would have as I could see there was no traffic anywhere near me and there was plenty of space to spin off = ). It was a left hand 90 degree bend with about 4-5 lanes of space. Well I took the corner at about 60-80 km and yes, the Fiat 500 completely went sideways with some serious lift off oversteer! The ASR was all over the case so i stopped in a somewhat 'half spin'.
Now, this gets me to my point, that at the limit of its handling, the Fiat 500 always seems to have lift off oversteer and the rear always seems very loose, which can be scary in low grip conditions if you do not expect it. If its mid corner and you expect it, its actually quite fun and with a bit of correcting, sorts itself out without the ASR ever coming on. So i have been scared 2 times with excessive rear sliding and a few more times with 'fun rear breakage' that was easily sortable.
I must say though, I have never managed to understeer the car unless on max power in a bend, so I feel it really does well in this regard.
So as a city car, the Fiat 500 does the job really well, but I get a bit nervous driving it long distance in mountain roads in low grip conditions, the rear is simply not planted enough for me = )
Also, the 195 tires have more grip, so if you want the rear to be less nervous, get 195 high performance tires.
Now, this gets me to my point, that at the limit of its handling, the Fiat 500 always seems to have lift off oversteer and the rear always seems very loose, which can be scary in low grip conditions if you do not expect it. If its mid corner and you expect it, its actually quite fun and with a bit of correcting, sorts itself out without the ASR ever coming on. So i have been scared 2 times with excessive rear sliding and a few more times with 'fun rear breakage' that was easily sortable.
I must say though, I have never managed to understeer the car unless on max power in a bend, so I feel it really does well in this regard.
So as a city car, the Fiat 500 does the job really well, but I get a bit nervous driving it long distance in mountain roads in low grip conditions, the rear is simply not planted enough for me = )
Also, the 195 tires have more grip, so if you want the rear to be less nervous, get 195 high performance tires.
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