Hi all

We recently bought a new Fiat Tipo sw (1.4 petrol) . I can't help but notice the enormous gap between the first and the second gear. When you shift like one normally would, it seems like the engine can't pull the car. The same happens in other cars when you shift the gear too high.

When accelerating in first gear with the Tipo, you have to rev until the car reaches 3000 - 4000 rpm and then you can shift to second gear with a lesser gap. Otherwise, the second gear has very little power. The higher gears don't have this gap.

My mechanic told me this is absolutely normal. He even said that Fiat designed the engine to rev it up like that.

Why would Fiat design the car like that? I never noticed this in other cars. What is special about the fiat engine?

I have the 1.4 Turbo and don’t notice any gap at all. Have you the less powerful engine?

What speed are you changing into second that the car feels like it doesn't have any power?
My basic 1.4 has no issues

chris3234 said:

What speed are you changing into second that the car feels like it doesn't have any power?
My basic 1.4 has no issues

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About 20 - 25 km/h the gap is smaller. It's at this point that the car indicates that you should shift from 1 to 2. You reach 3500 rpm at this moment. In all other gears, the car indicates to shift very early.

It's a 1. 4 turbo jet. I thought it has 120 hp.

That doesn’t sound right to me. I change from 1st to second as soon as I’ve pulled away....no gap completely smooth and I take no notice of change indicator

My wife has a 95hp hatch (66 plate) and I have never liked the way first and second gear felt, can't say it has the same problem as you but it definitely isn't right.

To me it feels like first has been mapped too short, as soon as it bites in first it seems to want to change to second effectively making first a redundant gear.

The 120HP T-jet doesn't have the same issue, which is why for my car, my forced "family car" I just upgraded to this.