General TwinAir Thread (including MPG)

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General TwinAir Thread (including MPG)

quick question for grimwau-


youve had the diesel- so how does the twin air compare for a commute?

if i had one would it be suitable for mainly fast dual carriageway commute mixed with some heavy stop/start traffic in the morning?

this is my main drive and also had the 1.2 before which did rev a bit too high at 70 to be comfortable.
 
Personally, I prefer the TwinAir for commuting if there are some A Road/Dual Carrigeways included but for city driving with lots of Stop/Start I preferred the diesel.

The irony of that statement is that I sold the diesel because it was subject to clogging up the DPF when used for lots of Stop/Start motoring whereas the TwinAir with Stop N Start is far more suited to that driving style.

At motorway speeds the TwinAir feels fine and is under 3000RPM at 70MPH so is quiet and smooth and I was feeling very confident that it would be fine for my trip down to Venice keeping to the 130KPH limits on French motorways.
 
thanks grimwau!

i test drove one this morning!

6 miles on the clock. really good route. used the eco facility in town. went over some nasty road surfaces. went on a roads with eco off.

first impressions-
500 SO solidly built now.
ride quality much much better than previously.
twin air very quiet unless extended,
eco button noticeably changing feel of throttle. as u would expect
when it was extended didnt feel like it was revving as high as tacho suggested.
great noise when revved. nothing else like it, felt muscular
didnt like being in 4th at 30mph.
steering improved but still not as sharp as KA.
instant readout MPG not scary
500 interior much more enclosed feeling than i remember. (poss due to lounge glass roof)
great to see proper ipod connection.

i want one.
 
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Just back from an afternoon out on a mixture of roads, looks like I did a 'grimwau'. If you are not sure what it means, google it. It means doing 35 mpg. No, really it does. :rolleyes:
 
Hi cjc156, if possible can you measure the actual consumption as the indicated consumption can at sometimes be as much as 10% off.
 
Keen on downsizing from my heavy and thirsty petrol Toyota Avensis 1.8 litre 129 bhp, four gear auto (traditional torque convertor)
winter combined 31mpg, summer 36mpg
long motorway @70-75mph 44mpg

to a TwinAir auto - love the interior styling and build quality compared to other super minis.

slightly less impressed with real world mpg of the 500, but also the Toyota IQ.
However do you know this which points to the fact economy will improve? Heard theRE was a hybrid TwinAir in the pipeline as well!

posted on another forum

Vanquish
Joined Nov 07, 2008
70 Posts

Re: Fiat 500 TwinAir
Nov 24, 2010 9:16 AM
I'm suprised Fiat havent set the record straight on this, as someone who has worked on the Twin Air launch it was made clear to dealer staff and journalists that the car has a very specific running in period. The ECU will not release all the engines power until it has covered 1,000 miles at which point economy improves. It continues to improve until the car has covered 4,000-5,000 miles at which time a significant improvement in consumption will be achieved. Go check this out with Fiat UK......
 
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Hope that is correct. Because if it is when the twinair could be successfull if they put him in Punto Evo and panda. Maybe even Bravo. Because 500 is a great car but for me its cost too much. How is the weather in UK? is it warmer? Effects on mpg?
 
Keen on downsizing from my heavy and thirsty petrol Toyota Avensis 1.8 litre 129 bhp, four gear auto (traditional torque convertor)
winter combined 31mpg, summer 36mpg
long motorway @70-75mph 44mpg

to a TwinAir auto - love the interior styling and build quality compared to other super minis.

slightly less impressed with real world mpg of the 500, but also the Toyota IQ.
However do you know this which points to the fact economy will improve? Heard theRE was a hybrid TwinAir in the pipeline as well!

posted on another forum

Vanquish
Joined Nov 07, 2008
70 Posts
: Fiat 500 TwinAir
Nov 24, 2010 9:16 AM
I'm suprised Fiat havent set the record straight on this, as someone who has worked on the Twin Air launch it was made clear to dealer staff and journalists that the car has a very specific running in period. The ECU will not release all the engines power until it has covered 1,000 miles at which point economy improves. It continues to improve until the car has covered 4,000-5,000 miles at which time a significant improvement in consumption will be achieved. Go check this out with Fiat UK......

when i queried this with the salesman re poor consumption he said this-

'its all down to the driver, and the govt mpg figures are totally unrealistic'

he also said- 'there is no point buying this car for round town use- its only really useful if you commute into london- otherwise stick with the 1.2'

i would have been more impressed with the above response. but the 1000m ECU theory has been both speculated on and dismissed in these very pages.

would be nice to know for sure.
 
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Hope that is correct. Because if it is when the twinair could be successfull if they put him in Punto Evo and panda. Maybe even Bravo. Because 500 is a great car but for me its cost too much. How is the weather in UK? is it warmer? Effects on mpg?

Overall it's still cool at the moment. Not cold by any means but it's still cool :)
 
Re: Fiat 500 TwinAir
Nov 24, 2010 9:16 AM
I'm suprised Fiat havent set the record straight on this, as someone who has worked on the Twin Air launch it was made clear to dealer staff and journalists that the car has a very specific running in period. The ECU will not release all the engines power until it has covered 1,000 miles at which point economy improves. It continues to improve until the car has covered 4,000-5,000 miles at which time a significant improvement in consumption will be achieved. Go check this out with Fiat UK......

Even though I doubt this theory muchly (as atm an improvement of at least 20mpg seems to be needed for the twinair to be on parity with the 1.2 (although, of course, performance wise it's much closer to the 1.4)) I hope for FIATs sake it is true as it looks like they have built a cycle beater.
 
I've said this before somewhere or another... but I had a Fiesta 1.6Tdi Titanium for a year. First few months I could only measure 35 - 40 mpg. By the end of the year it was 50 - 55. So this thread could run and run with speculation, but we will only know for sure once someone has put the miles in across all conditions.
 
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