...BUT THE CHARM FACTOR IS STILL HIGH

+ Click to Enlarge CHEEKY AS EVER: The most obvious change on the down-specced Fiat 500 is the steel rims with full plastic covers.

March 18, 2010
By Denis Droppa

Fiat SA has down-specced and down-priced its 500 range in South Africa to make the cars more affordable.

The Cinquecento (500, in Italian) was launched here in 2008, with enough features to make a Bentley blush but it's never set the sales charts alight because people found it difficult to reconcile nearly R200 000 for a tiny 1400cc car.

Price cuts are rare in SA's profit-hungry car market but Fiat's achieved some substantial reductions.

The 1.4-litre Fiat 500 Pop has been reduced from R197 600 to R157 800 - the same price the 1.2-litre sold for - while the 1.2 Fiat 500 itself to R135 500.

The price drop was made possible, Fiat says, by a more favourable exchange rate and shedding some standard equipment (which is not charged as an option) such as alloy rims in favour of steel with full covers.

The retro-styled Italian three-door hatch still has seven crash bags, antilock brakes with electronic pressure distribution, height-adjustable steering wheel, dual-drive power steering with a "city" function that makes it lighter to turn in, say, a car park, power windows, trip data computer, aircon, height-adjustable headlights and a radio/CD/MP3 player.

The 1.4 also comes with remote-controlled central locking (option on 1.2).

The charm factor is still high and the 500 retains its retro instrument cluster and body-coloured bumpers.

The cars are unchanged mechanically, powered by the familiar 1.2 petrol engine with outputs of 51kW/102Nm and 1.4 quad-valve petrol which produces 74kW/131Nm.

The 1.2 retains its five-speed manual transmission and the 1.4 its six-speed.

The base model is good for 160km/h and a sea level 0-100k/h sprint in 12.9sec with the 1.4's figures 182km/h and 10.5. Mixed-cycle fuel consumption is listed as 5.1 litres/100km for the 1.2, and 6.3 for the 1400.

Service intervals are 30 000km on both cars and they're offered with a three-year or 100 000km warranty and year's AA Fleetcare roadside assistance.

The 1.4 comes with a five-year or 90 000km service plan (optional on the 1.2).

Two new higher-specced Fiat 500 models - the cabriolet and the MTA (manual transmission automated) - will follow in less than a month. - INL Motoring