SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Most, but not all, the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

My most recent drive is on the home page. Archived reviews and opinion pieces are in the active menu down the left side. Hover your cursor over a heading or manufacturer's name and follow the drop-down.


All roads cross here: We drive the 2015 Fiat 500X Cross DDCT

Bit of an enigma

Posted: 14 November 2015

Rearview pic borrowed off the Internet

The numbers
Price: R359 900
Engine: 1368 cc, 16-valve, SOHC MultiAir2, turbocharged four-cylinder
Power: 103 kW at 5000 rpm
Torque: 230 Nm at 1750 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9.8 seconds
Maximum speed: 190 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7.8 l/100 km
Tank: 48 litres
Luggage: 245 – 910 litres
Warranty and maintenance: 3 years / 100 000 km

It’s amazing what a few changes can achieve. Fiat’s 500L, cashing in on the “real” 500’s retro-cute persona, had been selling steadily but without major fireworks. Stretching the body and adding two doors hadn’t really drawn crowds. Buyers seemed to agree that small, cute ‘n cuddly is fine, but a mid-size hatchback trying to cash in on the original car’s image isn’t very sporting.

Then came July 2015, 500X and the “little blue pill” ad. In it, the baby 500 accidentally ingested Viagra to become bigger, bulkier and sexier – a 500X, to be precise. That seems to have done the trick because the new car is presently outselling its 500L sibling by a factor of 3.5:1.

The 500X is not simply a dickied-up 500L, however. There are some important differences. X is built on a slightly shorter version of the Fiat-GM small car platform. Despite that, its body is 130 mm longer and 16 mm wider but it stands 52 mm lower on a wheelbase that’s 42 mm shorter. It boasts superior ground clearance; plus 42 mm for the 4x2s we get here and about 70 mm more on awd versions available overseas. The X-car’s boot is also smaller by almost 100 litres. Part of the explanation would be that 500L uses a spacesaver spare whereas 500X has a fully sized alloy wheel.

Body-wise, X gains reshaped head- and parking lamps, a deeper lower air intake, cladding on rocker panels and around wheel arches, roof rails, a completely new rear panel and tail lamps, and new bumpers at each end.

A neat touch is the “mood selector,” a variation on Alfa’s DNA switch. Depending on the model chosen, base Pop Star or upper level Cross and Cross Plus, users are offered three of four selections; Auto, Sport, All Weather or Traction. Pop Star gets the all-weather option plus Auto and Sport. Cross and Cross Plus get the Auto, Sport and Traction choices.

Then there are the steroids: Engine choices are a 1600 cc naturally aspirated petrol unit giving 81 kilowatts and the mid-range version of the 1400 cc, MultiAir turbo developing 103 kW. This represents an almost 50 percent power increase over the L car’s unblown, 70 kW FIRE motor. Thank heavens for that, because in the 500L we tested earlier it was painfully sluggish. No diesel options are available here at present.

Our test car was the mid-range 500X Cross with the twin-clutch version of Fiat’s six-speed C635 gearbox. The only differences between Cross and Cross Plus versions have to do with equipment levels. Cross Plus does not actually do awd – sorry. And both get the mood selector with Traction mode.
 
This is a bit of an enigma. It’s rather like half an awd. There’s a torque sensing differential in front that distributes power as needed for best traction, but it’s still only front-wheel drive. As you switch it on, you feel the steering gaining weight and a graphic chart lights up to show you what percentage of power is going to each wheel. That would be 50:50 in normal circumstances and complementary numbers between zero and 100, each side, in more testing conditions.

As expected, Auto provides the best blend of comfort, consumption and CO2 emissions, while Sport favours performance. Again, you feel the steering becoming weightier and quicker, while throttle response sharpens noticeably.

We found the automatic gearbox a little unsettling at times. It felt slightly hesitant, in city traffic, with mood selector on auto. In Sport mode with its quicker throttle response, however, it behaved the way twin-clutch boxes are expected to do. Manual selection is in the usual “Tiptronic” style - off to one side and with fore and aft movements.

The hatch lid opens down to 73 centimetres, just short of dining table height, to reveal an almost-lipless cavity. It boasts a light and four lashing rings while the jack and tools, in a neat zip-up bag, share space under the board with a fully sized alloy spare. Seatbacks fold 60:40 to lie about three-quarters flat.

Our six-foot passenger found just enough head space but knee- and foot room was somewhat tight. Small door bins and two seatback pockets look after storage. Three belts and head restraints mind passive safety, but there is no fold-down armrest.

There is ample storage space up front with a deep CD box, two cup holders, a selection of open trays and a pair of glove boxes. The upper one is chilled by the aircon.

The parking brake features the now-common electrically operated tab, but it was quite an adventure to find the pushbutton that starts the engine. We eventually found it hidden behind the rim of the steering wheel – down where the key would usually go - makes sense when you finally get it.

Standard kit includes six airbags; cruise control with limiter; the usual braking aids; stability- and skid control; rollover mitigation and hill holder; tyre pressure monitoring; fog lights with cornering function; a six-speaker Uconnect music centre with 5” touch screen, Bluetooth and plugs; powered windows and mirrors and a single channel, filtered air conditioner. The driver’s chair features electrical adjusters, including lumbar support.

We found the car respectably peppy and the gearbox, once we became used to it, quite pleasant. The view outward, through big side windows, was reassuringly broad. We aren’t quite sure where one would call on semi all-wheel drive for assistance and the 162 mm ground clearance, while better than on most city cars, did not tempt us into the boonies to find out. We’ll try it another time, perhaps.

Test car from FCASA press fleet



Cross Plus model, with different wheels, shown

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.

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