Fiat 500 Twinair fuel economy

Fiat 500 Twinair fuel economy

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Discussion

JakeR

3,925 posts

268 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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Ours is a twinair plus on gangsta spec 16 inch black wheels. It's my wife's mainly, but I'm trying to borrow it as often as poss. It's got the dualogic box which is actually quite pleasant to use. The little thing is so damn chuckable. It's like an excited puppy.

jacklewisno1

376 posts

143 months

Tuesday 3rd April 2012
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I have a 1.2 pop, the official figures are 55mpg comb' and i get 50mpg - but i do drive carefully! If i put my foot down ill only get 30 or so mpg so im not surprised your real world mpg is so low, these cars only go economically if you drive them eco friendly otherwise you may as well get a bigger engine.

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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JakeR said:
Ours is a twinair plus on gangsta spec 16 inch black wheels. It's my wife's mainly, but I'm trying to borrow it as often as poss. It's got the dualogic box which is actually quite pleasant to use. The little thing is so damn chuckable. It's like an excited puppy.
Sounds like I've got the same wheels :-)

I know what you mean by chuckable - my route into works takes in some nice country lanes with some tight twists - when you throw the car into these tight bends it's got just about enough grip and feels like its turning on its centre. Great fun. It's funny because I remember reading lukewarm reviews on the Fiat 500's handling which I just don't agree with. Maybe because the TwinAir has such a light engine is why it handles better....?

How do you find the dual logic? Is it slow or does it shift quickly enough when you want it to? I'd love to test one out, might do if I decide to go for another new TwinAir next year which is the current plan!

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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jacklewisno1 said:
I have a 1.2 pop, the official figures are 55mpg comb' and i get 50mpg - but i do drive carefully! If i put my foot down ill only get 30 or so mpg so im not surprised your real world mpg is so low, these cars only go economically if you drive them eco friendly otherwise you may as well get a bigger engine.
Funny, after more than 4000 miles I'm still only getting about 46ish with gentle driving, and around 40 when driven enthusiastically. I'm glad the fuel economy wasn't a driving factor behind buying this car otherwise I would be royally pissed off :-)

JakeR

3,925 posts

268 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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Rrroro said:
How do you find the dual logic? Is it slow or does it shift quickly enough when you want it to? I'd love to test one out, might do if I decide to go for another new TwinAir next year which is the current plan!
Gearbox is ok. Not that quick shifting, but ok. It was a must for my mrs. Quite useful in town and doesn't impinge on the fun too much when thraping it!

jacklewisno1

376 posts

143 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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Rrroro said:
Funny, after more than 4000 miles I'm still only getting about 46ish with gentle driving, and around 40 when driven enthusiastically. I'm glad the fuel economy wasn't a driving factor behind buying this car otherwise I would be royally pissed off :-)
yeh well mines done 54k so its a bit more worn in! when i say drive carefully i mean changing gear at 2000rpm and doing 60mph on motorways (yeh i know thats ridiculously slow). I only put my foot down on twisty roads where you actually notice any sort of speed, plus i dont know about yours but if i go above 80 on the motorway mine starts to vibrate and sound a bit fragile. I bought mine partly because of mpg among other things and was a bit disappointed, but this is my first car so i believed the official fuel figures!

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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jacklewisno1 said:
Rrroro said:
Funny, after more than 4000 miles I'm still only getting about 46ish with gentle driving, and around 40 when driven enthusiastically. I'm glad the fuel economy wasn't a driving factor behind buying this car otherwise I would be royally pissed off :-)
yeh well mines done 54k so its a bit more worn in! when i say drive carefully i mean changing gear at 2000rpm and doing 60mph on motorways (yeh i know thats ridiculously slow). I only put my foot down on twisty roads where you actually notice any sort of speed, plus i dont know about yours but if i go above 80 on the motorway mine starts to vibrate and sound a bit fragile. I bought mine partly because of mpg among other things and was a bit disappointed, but this is my first car so i believed the official fuel figures!
Vibrations above 80mph? That sounds unusual. I think you need to check your tyre pressures and more importantly have your wheel alignment checked - mine is rock solid and fine over 80mph. KwikFit or anywhere like that will do, I'm yet to need my alignment checked but when I do I'll probably use Blackboots in Chesham.

jacklewisno1

376 posts

143 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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Rrroro said:
Vibrations above 80mph? That sounds unusual. I think you need to check your tyre pressures and more importantly have your wheel alignment checked - mine is rock solid and fine over 80mph. KwikFit or anywhere like that will do, I'm yet to need my alignment checked but when I do I'll probably use Blackboots in Chesham.
My car has 17' alloys on and so ive always put the extra noise and vibrations down to the fact its on low profile tyres which presumable give a harder ride, is that an accurate assumption?

p.s the car was serviced in november so presumable that would show up such issues?

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Friday 6th April 2012
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jacklewisno1 said:
My car has 17' alloys on and so ive always put the extra noise and vibrations down to the fact its on low profile tyres which presumable give a harder ride, is that an accurate assumption?

p.s the car was serviced in november so presumable that would show up such issues?
Hmm, possibly. Servicing won't necessarily show up wheel alignment issues - it depends if they checked the tracking or not - did they bill you for it? Best to check your invoice. If wheel alignment/tracking isn't there then they didn't check it. I think just to be safe you should have the wheel alignment checked. Halfords will do it for £25 I think, Kwikfit roughly the same. Better to be safe than sorry :-)

jacklewisno1

376 posts

143 months

Saturday 7th April 2012
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Rrroro said:
Hmm, possibly. Servicing won't necessarily show up wheel alignment issues - it depends if they checked the tracking or not - did they bill you for it? Best to check your invoice. If wheel alignment/tracking isn't there then they didn't check it. I think just to be safe you should have the wheel alignment checked. Halfords will do it for £25 I think, Kwikfit roughly the same. Better to be safe than sorry :-)
Well the service was done by the dealer before i bought it, although ive got all the service stamps showing its been serviced every 18000mls i only have one invoice which doesnt show anything about tracking. I guess ill have to get it checked sometime then.

Redlake27

2,255 posts

243 months

Monday 7th May 2012
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I've just done 400+ miles in a TwinAir rental car.

It is a charming car, with gutsy torque and a thrum that some would call characterful and some would call rough. It handled better than the standard 500 i drove last year...I don't know if it is because it is lighter or if the latest cars have better tuned dampers.

I liked it, but.....

....on the motorway it struggled to break 40mpg (about 10 percent less than a 1.4 I drove), and on hilly roads where you are really working the turbo it was a 35mpg car. However, in 35-50mph potter mode it was doing 55-58 to the gallon (about 10% better than the 1.4)

My advice is, for around town and for light work, choose a twinair. If you are working the car hard, go for a big engine in a little car....it'll be perkier and less strained.

It isn't a 70mpg car, but I like it though.

Morte

17 posts

142 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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My brother has a Twinair and drives it in eco mode 100% of the time and keeps the revs low. He gets about 48 but has to try so hard that you get no real benefit of the character. He wishes he'd bought a diesel. I think 38-40 is a realistic target if you intend to enjoy it. If you can't live with that, then don't do it, it'll frustrate the hell out of you.

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Friday 25th May 2012
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I've done 5,500 miles now and I'm averaging just under 48. This is from mostly commuting up the A/M40 at around 80/85mph then ragging it through narrow country lanes to work, then same on the way home. I used to use the Eco function just out of curiosity but its a complete waste of time unless you like very light steering and no acceleration. My biggest complaint about the car is the tyres which seem to offer next to no grip in the wet. Sometimes that's fun, but not when you actually want to stop the thing.

Dan Friel

3,605 posts

277 months

Friday 25th May 2012
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What tyres are on it?

CatJ

9,586 posts

242 months

Friday 25th May 2012
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Depends on the model. If you get a Twinair Plus it has Contisports or Pirelli equivalents.

Edited by CatJ on Saturday 16th June 19:34

Rrroro

388 posts

154 months

Saturday 16th June 2012
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Dan Friel said:
What tyres are on it?
Apologies for the delay in responding - I don't seem to get emails telling me about responses to these threads!

I had a look the other day and the tyres are Bridgestones - absolute pants. If I keep the car longer than a year then I'll be ditching them as I don't think they're safe at, um, boisterous speeds!

Squadrone Rosso

2,735 posts

146 months

Sunday 1st July 2012
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About to buy one of these to rest up one of the V6 Alfa's during the week.

Probably a new Street model.

What sort of mpg can i expect over a 26 mile commute on A & B roads with minimal traffic / town driving?

Had numerous small Fiats over the years & love it:-)

Cheers, Simon

Redlake27

2,255 posts

243 months

Sunday 1st July 2012
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Squadrone Rosso said:
About to buy one of these to rest up one of the V6 Alfa's during the week.

Probably a new Street model.

What sort of mpg can i expect over a 26 mile commute on A & B roads with minimal traffic / town driving?

Had numerous small Fiats over the years & love it:-)

Cheers, Simon
If you stick to speed limits and get to them gradually, 55mpg. If you drive it like it encourages you to, then 40mpg.

Alfahorn

7,758 posts

207 months

Sunday 1st July 2012
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Redlake27 said:
Squadrone Rosso said:
About to buy one of these to rest up one of the V6 Alfa's during the week.

Probably a new Street model.

What sort of mpg can i expect over a 26 mile commute on A & B roads with minimal traffic / town driving?

Had numerous small Fiats over the years & love it:-)

Cheers, Simon
If you stick to speed limits and get to them gradually, 55mpg. If you drive it like it encourages you to, then 40mpg.
Knowing SR as I do, it will be the latter. biggrin

CatJ

9,586 posts

242 months

Sunday 1st July 2012
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What's the street model?