New Fiat 500 1.2 - Slow to pick up and difficult to move off
Discussion
I've got a 2014 Punto with this engine and despite being a heavier car it's fine. It's not a ball of fire but it pulls away fine with minimal fuss from 1000 rpm. Ok if you take the piss and run it down to idle speed in third gear you get a bit of shunting through the transmission but you'd expect that.
I think the problem was down to Fiat remapping the 500 and maybe the Panda to EC6, something they don't seem to have done with the Punto. The difference seems to be that the "trouble" cars have Stop/Start fitted (although this isn't the cause) where cars like mine don't.
Fiat probably didn't remap the Punto because they'll have killed it by the time EC6 is mandatory.
I think the problem was down to Fiat remapping the 500 and maybe the Panda to EC6, something they don't seem to have done with the Punto. The difference seems to be that the "trouble" cars have Stop/Start fitted (although this isn't the cause) where cars like mine don't.
Fiat probably didn't remap the Punto because they'll have killed it by the time EC6 is mandatory.
Have you got any further with the 500 and its low down rpm issues?
The wife bought one last month, and it is exactly the same. She hates it!
The car is very "flat" when setting off. If you set off slowly your fine, if you want to slip the clutch and tear away its not so bad either, but if you want to set off at what i can only describe as normal its a nightmare. I have to turn the stereo off so i can hear exactly what the engines doing so i can match the clutch and throttle exactly. And even then you either over rev it or it dies on you. I kid you not, my banger 1999 1.2 Clio is 500 times better on the throttle.
The car also feels to hesitate whilst driving along at 30mph.
Seems to need a remap to get rid of the silly euro6 engine mapping, but i cannot find anyone who has written about having it done and dont fancy being the guinea pig
The wife bought one last month, and it is exactly the same. She hates it!
The car is very "flat" when setting off. If you set off slowly your fine, if you want to slip the clutch and tear away its not so bad either, but if you want to set off at what i can only describe as normal its a nightmare. I have to turn the stereo off so i can hear exactly what the engines doing so i can match the clutch and throttle exactly. And even then you either over rev it or it dies on you. I kid you not, my banger 1999 1.2 Clio is 500 times better on the throttle.
The car also feels to hesitate whilst driving along at 30mph.
Seems to need a remap to get rid of the silly euro6 engine mapping, but i cannot find anyone who has written about having it done and dont fancy being the guinea pig
RichW said:
Have you got any further with the 500 and its low down rpm issues?
The wife bought one last month, and it is exactly the same. She hates it!
The car is very "flat" when setting off. If you set off slowly your fine, if you want to slip the clutch and tear away its not so bad either, but if you want to set off at what i can only describe as normal its a nightmare. I have to turn the stereo off so i can hear exactly what the engines doing so i can match the clutch and throttle exactly. And even then you either over rev it or it dies on you. I kid you not, my banger 1999 1.2 Clio is 500 times better on the throttle.
The car also feels to hesitate whilst driving along at 30mph.
Seems to need a remap to get rid of the silly euro6 engine mapping, but i cannot find anyone who has written about having it done and dont fancy being the guinea pig
Hi Rich,The wife bought one last month, and it is exactly the same. She hates it!
The car is very "flat" when setting off. If you set off slowly your fine, if you want to slip the clutch and tear away its not so bad either, but if you want to set off at what i can only describe as normal its a nightmare. I have to turn the stereo off so i can hear exactly what the engines doing so i can match the clutch and throttle exactly. And even then you either over rev it or it dies on you. I kid you not, my banger 1999 1.2 Clio is 500 times better on the throttle.
The car also feels to hesitate whilst driving along at 30mph.
Seems to need a remap to get rid of the silly euro6 engine mapping, but i cannot find anyone who has written about having it done and dont fancy being the guinea pig
We've been moving house and Mrs9 was in Costa Rica for a bit as well, so we haven't done much, car-wise.
She is still happy with it and I found using it hilarious while she was away and I used it for work. 90% of her drive is up the A3 at 60mph though.
However, those problems are still there and there is a junction at the top of a hill where we moved to and that is a nightmare - have to slip the clutch and use some revs! Can see Fiat doing a good trade in clutches after a couple of years.
Really need to get a letter written and see what they say!
Cheers 
I've got an appointment with the dealer on Thursday, a technician is going to take a look and drive it, but the lass on reception who booked it in said the tech. thinks it'll simply be because its a euro6 car and they are all like that. I'll update you after that, but i think i know now what i'll be typing already.
I've got an appointment with the dealer on Thursday, a technician is going to take a look and drive it, but the lass on reception who booked it in said the tech. thinks it'll simply be because its a euro6 car and they are all like that. I'll update you after that, but i think i know now what i'll be typing already.
RichW said:
Cheers
I've got an appointment with the dealer on Thursday, a technician is going to take a look and drive it, but the lass on reception who booked it in said the tech. thinks it'll simply be because its a euro6 car and they are all like that. I'll update you after that, but i think i know now what i'll be typing already.
Look forward to your update!I've got an appointment with the dealer on Thursday, a technician is going to take a look and drive it, but the lass on reception who booked it in said the tech. thinks it'll simply be because its a euro6 car and they are all like that. I'll update you after that, but i think i know now what i'll be typing already.
Top lurking, by the way!
lol - thanks, i tend not to post too much on here.
Well the cars gone!
The technician took the car out, i was in the passenger seat. Conversation went along the lines of:
Tech: "So you go to set off like this, and the car struggles (he then demonstrates the lack of power very well)
Me: "Yes"
Tech: "They all do that"
Me: "oh"
Tech: "So you go to pull out of a junction like this one, and you dont know if it will bog down or go?" {Again does an admirable job of demonstrating the issue)
Me: "Thats right..."
Tech: "Yep, they all do that".
We went through several stops and starts, the car behaving "like they all do" - i.e. very badly. The tech told me that Fiat had issued a bulletin to the dealerships saying that there was nothing that they could do. They've since had that many complaints that they have issued another bulletin saying that they are looking into a cure for the flat spot. The Tech agreed with me that the only way it can be cured is to add more fuel, which Fiat cant do as it will no longer meet Euro6 emission limits. So wheres this cure coming from? No one knows, and probably Fiat doesn't know either!
So the wife decided that was that, she hated the thing and it was going. I tried to talk her into a remap but she wasn't having any of it. Handed the car back after 7 weeks / 600 miles of ownership. Lost £5k. We'll never be buying a Fiat again.
Well the cars gone!
The technician took the car out, i was in the passenger seat. Conversation went along the lines of:
Tech: "So you go to set off like this, and the car struggles (he then demonstrates the lack of power very well)
Me: "Yes"
Tech: "They all do that"
Me: "oh"
Tech: "So you go to pull out of a junction like this one, and you dont know if it will bog down or go?" {Again does an admirable job of demonstrating the issue)
Me: "Thats right..."
Tech: "Yep, they all do that".
We went through several stops and starts, the car behaving "like they all do" - i.e. very badly. The tech told me that Fiat had issued a bulletin to the dealerships saying that there was nothing that they could do. They've since had that many complaints that they have issued another bulletin saying that they are looking into a cure for the flat spot. The Tech agreed with me that the only way it can be cured is to add more fuel, which Fiat cant do as it will no longer meet Euro6 emission limits. So wheres this cure coming from? No one knows, and probably Fiat doesn't know either!
So the wife decided that was that, she hated the thing and it was going. I tried to talk her into a remap but she wasn't having any of it. Handed the car back after 7 weeks / 600 miles of ownership. Lost £5k. We'll never be buying a Fiat again.
teabelly said:
Has anyone tried Vpower or BP Ultimate in these to see whether they are less awful on higher octane fuel?
No but I wouldn't expect it to make a dramatic difference.Actually, scratch that - I did fill up with V-Power while she was away (for the extra Airmiles).
It made no difference at all that I could tell but maybe would need longer.
The super unleaded would only really increase performance if you adjusted the timing to take advantage of the higher octane.
Its a real shame the way things went, especially the money side of it all, but there's worse things in life and so just time to move on.
The dealership is still sending people out in a 2013 car for test drives from what i can tell, and i wouldn't be surprised if Fiat were fully aware of the fact too.
Its a real shame the way things went, especially the money side of it all, but there's worse things in life and so just time to move on.
The dealership is still sending people out in a 2013 car for test drives from what i can tell, and i wouldn't be surprised if Fiat were fully aware of the fact too.
Hi. I originally took it to my local dealer in July,and they were to talk to fiat about the remap. They didn't call me back, so when it was due the 9k service ,they did it then. It's my daily driver here. The car had the hesitant pick up when moving off. When it was parked on a hill it was really poor to try and reverse up the hill. Don't really know what they did to it.
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