Well I got a drive in one, and to put it mildly I wasn't exactly blown away by it 
The engine is the same SPi unit you get in mk1 60S's, and yet in this car it doesn't even feel willing, you really have to work it to get upto speed and under 2000rpm it won't pull 5th (my mk1 will pull 5th from 1200rpm).
First time I had a look at it, I though it was very nice, but after playing around with it and having a damn good rummage in the boot and under carpets etc I have found that fiat have cheapened their cheap car even more than I had anticipated, build quality is OK, but some of their 'engineering solutions' are poor if not bizarre.
Anyway on the drive I only took it for 5minutes (couldn't wait to get away from the spot) basically because I wanted to have a look at a 1.9JTD, but they aren't getting one and I wasn't really impressed by it, the clutch is so light you can't tell whether you are meshing with the g'box or thin air (OK for ladies with short weak feeble legs, but I can't drive it!). g'box felt nicer though a bit more precise than previous attempts, and steering was good, PAS was light as anything at parking speeds, but above 15mph it had a nice weight to it and had no slack, but then it also had no feedback , I mean I could be driving over grannnies and all sorts and never know any better for it!
Overall I would give it (out of 10)
Build - 6
Engine - 1 (I really don't believe anyone will buy the base 65 as it doesn't go anywhere!!)
G'box-8
Interior space - 7 (better than clio and such, but hasn't really improved despote the car being now mk1 ford focus sized!!)
Interior Niceness - 8 (would give it 10, but cig lighter catchs my fingers when I reach for handbrake and cig ashtray is like a £1 shop thing, oh and the colour coded panel around dash looks like the kind of plastic you make supermarket carparking bollards out of:yuck: )
Exterior - 10 Really nice looking car, although the sporting style skirts weren't fitted right on the car that was in show room and weren't quite the same colour
Boot space - 8, not bad space, muchas grandes than a yaris :yuck: or clio
Drivability - 7, well I can't drive it, after about 15min's in one of the cars inside the showroom I still couldn't find a postiion where I could 1) sit comfortably for more than a few mins, and 2) see where I was going!), although steering isn't bad. and I love the shape and feel of the wheel, best bit of the whole car (wheras mk1's and mk2's the wheel on base models is usually the eyesore of the whole car!).
Handling, can't really test what sort of grip I'm gonna get out of it on roundabouts etc, but I'd say it was fair, but nothing startling.
Performance, in the 1.2 8v 65, DIERE, absolulty diabolickly slow, makes my cog'd up mk1 feel like a rocket ship, 2/10 for the 65, hopefully 10/10 for the 1.9MJTD
Brakes! - pretty damn good, very positive and firm, but then the car had 30miles on it, I would hopethey were firm!!!
My overall opinion, I wouldn't buy one, I would rather a panda sporting as the new panda is basically mk1 punto sized, and if I get a 4x4 one with all the trimming's, very practical too, and cheaper!
Although I also had a quick looksy and the new alfa 159 in the other showroom, and yes, that is gorgous, and I want one of them, I love the Alfa SZ/RZ style independant head lamps, and the interior is lush (if cramped).
The engine is the same SPi unit you get in mk1 60S's, and yet in this car it doesn't even feel willing, you really have to work it to get upto speed and under 2000rpm it won't pull 5th
(my mk1 will pull 5th from 1200rpm).First time I had a look at it, I though it was very nice, but after playing around with it and having a damn good rummage in the boot and under carpets etc I have found that fiat have cheapened their cheap car even more than I had anticipated, build quality is OK, but some of their 'engineering solutions' are poor if not bizarre.
Anyway on the drive I only took it for 5minutes (couldn't wait to get away from the spot) basically because I wanted to have a look at a 1.9JTD, but they aren't getting one
and I wasn't really impressed by it, the clutch is so light you can't tell whether you are meshing with the g'box or thin air (OK for ladies with short weak feeble legs, but I can't drive it!). g'box felt nicer though a bit more precise than previous attempts, and steering was good, PAS was light as anything at parking speeds, but above 15mph it had a nice weight to it and had no slack, but then it also had no feedback , I mean I could be driving over grannnies and all sorts and never know any better for it!Overall I would give it (out of 10)
Build - 6
Engine - 1 (I really don't believe anyone will buy the base 65 as it doesn't go anywhere!!)
G'box-8
Interior space - 7 (better than clio and such, but hasn't really improved despote the car being now mk1 ford focus sized!!)
Interior Niceness - 8 (would give it 10, but cig lighter catchs my fingers when I reach for handbrake and cig ashtray is like a £1 shop thing, oh and the colour coded panel around dash looks like the kind of plastic you make supermarket carparking bollards out of:yuck: )
Exterior - 10
Really nice looking car, although the sporting style skirts weren't fitted right on the car that was in show room and weren't quite the same colour Boot space - 8, not bad space, muchas grandes than a yaris :yuck: or clio
Drivability - 7, well I can't drive it, after about 15min's in one of the cars inside the showroom I still couldn't find a postiion where I could 1) sit comfortably for more than a few mins, and 2) see where I was going!), although steering isn't bad. and I love the shape and feel of the wheel, best bit of the whole car (wheras mk1's and mk2's the wheel on base models is usually the eyesore of the whole car!).
Handling, can't really test what sort of grip I'm gonna get out of it on roundabouts etc, but I'd say it was fair, but nothing startling.
Performance, in the 1.2 8v 65, DIERE, absolulty diabolickly slow, makes my cog'd up mk1 feel like a rocket ship, 2/10 for the 65, hopefully 10/10 for the 1.9MJTD
Brakes! - pretty damn good, very positive and firm, but then the car had 30miles on it, I would hopethey were firm!!!
My overall opinion, I wouldn't buy one, I would rather a panda sporting
as the new panda is basically mk1 punto sized, and if I get a 4x4 one with all the trimming's, very practical too, and cheaper!Although I also had a quick looksy and the new alfa 159 in the other showroom, and yes, that is gorgous, and I want one of them, I love the Alfa SZ/RZ style independant head lamps, and the interior is lush (if cramped).
