Fiat's 500 Is Not Just a Pretty Face

When the Fiat 500 won the European Car of the Year award several years ago we had to wonder whether this was a nod to minimal consumption or a response to the car's puppy dog cuteness. Turns out it was a little bit of both and then some.

While the cinquecento that just arrived on our shores is certainly a stylish homage to the tiny car of the same name, it also works in ways that are meaningful on today's roads. It's not fast, but it's not agonizingly slow either. It's fuel-efficient, easy to toss around and can be parked without aid of cameras or warnings. In other words, it's a stylish car that won't grow tiresome once the novelty has worn off. At least that's how it feels so far.

It's Big Enough

First of all, the 2012 Fiat 500 accommodates two big Americans comfortably. We won't pretend there's a ton of room in the back seat (which was designed for 70th-percentile humans), but up front it's just fine, even if you're 6 feet 5 inches tall. The seats don't feel undersized, and there's room in the footbox for size 12s to practice double-clutch downshifting.

All the controls line up right and the wheel even has tilt adjustment. The seats are firm and supportive, though they would need more bolstering in a higher performance model. Our "Sport" model was powered by the 1.4-liter MultiAir engine, which has its intake valve operation driven entirely by oil pressure actuators triggered by electronic control. When they say continuously variable valve timing, they're not lying.

All that complexity produces 101 horsepower at 6,500 rpm along with 98 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 rpm. It isn't much but the 1.4 manages to push the relatively light, 2,400-pound Fiat around in a way that almost never feels sluggish. Available in Pop, Sport and Lounge models, the 500 has a five-speed manual as standard equipment on all but the Lounge model, which benefits from an Aisin six-speed automatic in the U.S. market.

It's Strong Enough

While the Pop and Sport also offer the auto trans as an option, the Lounge, as befits its name, stays with the autobox. We drove both transmissions and they both work just fine. The manual five-speed has some big ratio gaps (notably the one between second and third) when you're attacking a canyon road, but if you don't mind buzzing the little four near its 6,900-rpm redline it's no problem.

That redline lives on a strange coaxial instrument gauge, which features a tachometer, speedometer and the trip computer display. Thanks to high-contrast needles, it's less confusing than we expected.

The Aisin six-speed offers AutoStick for manual override and was responsive enough to quell any concerns we may have had about it numbing or damping the little car's verve. Actually, with closer ratio gaps the Aisin might just be better suited to all forms of driving. Still, the light clutch and positive shifter action in the manual-equipped 500 is a pleasure to use, and it isn't too onerous even in heavy traffic.