2014 Fiat 500L First Drive

Edmunds.com

2014 Fiat 500L First Drive

Anxious to expand beyond the 500 hatchback, Fiat brings on the inevitable roomier, American-sized follow-up, the 2014 Fiat 500L wagon.

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throwback

The proportions of this car look odd to me. If I had to choose I would go with the Countryman, another oddly proportioned car. I still prefer the Clubman, and used Clubman S prices have been looking very appealing lately.

wackford

Can't Edmunds provide some pictures they took themselves, if they did get to try this vehicle, rather than only the manufacturer-provided sales-pitch versions?

eriches

@wackford: We always take original photos when we get a vehicle in for testing. In this case, our author, Bill Visnic, drove the 500L at a short, one-day event in Maryland, so it wasn't feasible to organize a full photo shoot. Thanks for reading. -- Erin

agentorange

All I can think of looking at that lead picture is a guy standing on a beach saying, "Err, like, Dude!"

pngrant54

The Countryman is a very different car than a Clubman. It is quite a bit larger on a different platform. The Clubman, I believe is a stretched wheelbase version of the 3dr Hatch. Saying that I have issues with the Countryman. I had a 2006 Cooper S. It was a nice car with nice quality plastics inside. However the ride was brittle with the runflats. When I switched them out the ride improved from brittle to just very uncomfortable. Being built by BMW it is surprising that the Mini had such a firm ride for handling prowess. Other BMW's have been known for a great ride/handling balance. I also drove a 2007 3dr hatch. It rode a smidgen better but not a big change in the ride. What I noticed was that unless you ordered the chrome package the interior look bland and cheaper(dashboard) then my 2006 Cooper S. The last 3 months I had noticed some really increased rattling in the interior. The roads in Santa Fe where I live are not very good. I guess 7 yrs. of ownership and a very firm ride had taken their tole. I had been curious about the Fiat 500. Last month I traded in my Cooper S for a 500 Abarth. The ride is much better out of the box than the Mini. It does not handle quite as well so I put a performance rear sway bar from Road Race Motorsports in it. That tightened up the handling and offered less body roll. The ride did not really change.The interior plastics are not quite as good(top of dash and door panels) but it has a nice leather steering wheels, comfortable leather seats,and an engine note to die for. Also straigtline performance is very similar to the Mini Cooper S. The Countryman has poor rear visablility, again a very hard ride for offering better handling, and less passenger room and cargo area room than the Fiat 500 L. Also you can see well out of the 500L. I will gladly sacrifice the sharper handling for improved ride and livability. Also it might have less rattles down the road.

engineermd

Does the Trekking actually have extra ground clearnace? if so what is it?

tim_boo

The design is growing on me some, although I may never consider it great looking some may find it interesting or cute. The biggest issue I see is it needs more juice. I'd say Fiat has a 200 hp+ mill they will put in this thing at some point.

pngrant54

Looks to be a decent car.Lots of room,adequate performance, decent enough handling. No it wont corner as well as a Mini Countryman but will offer a superior ride, superior room, superior all around vissbility, and a superior lower price. It should sell like hotcakes.

vwgolf420_

If I were in the market, I'd definitely look at one. IT doesn't look quite so gimmicky as the standard 500.


Fun little fact here... this vehicle for all markets--including North America--is built at the old Yugo plant in Serbia.

rafaelsfo

I own this car, and have to say , it has a very good performance, as for the size, i can say is easy to find parking , and interior has a good space to acomodate 5 people, dont know the countymini but the mini people is cramp, and for the price comparison, go for the fiat.