500X Brings "Big" to Fiat - Ventura County Star
Although it’s nearly two feet longer than a regular 500, it remains less than 13 feet long overall and it holds real adults in the back seat. It is offered in five trim specs and front or all-wheel drive. Only the base, front-wheel drive Pop model, offers choices. The standard turbocharged 1. 4-liter gives 160 hp and 184 lb-ft of torque (more than the big engine), and paired to a six-speed manual delivers good power without beating the snot out of it and decent fuel economy (EPA 25/34). The 2. 4-liter used... The nine-speed automatic allows very lively response from a stop and low-rpm highway cruising, maybe 1500 rpm at 65 mph on level ground. This combo was very well behaved in the winding bits and downshifts into second firmly enough to chirp the tires, even with the dynamic selector set to the default automatic, but it was little indecisive around town occasionally. It’s firmly sprung and equipped with a torsion-beam rear axle and stiff V-speed rated tires. Steering effort ramps up as soon as you turn the wheel and brakes have good feel and little free travel, not a bad thing when it takes a bit to manually jog the shifter six times down through all those gears. Source: www.vcstar.com
