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Fiat 500X: A fun-loving Goldilocks who'll get down and dirty

Not too big and not too small but still a bit... twee

It'll go off-road but it's more at home as a family runabout

Fiat 500X going downhill

Driving the 2.0 off-road shows it to be a surprisingly capable car, which you might expect given its Jeep sibling, but it’s clearly not the home territory of the car. The Fiat off-road test track has a number of gruelling obstacles, including a ford and steep inclines that go up, down and around, tipping the car in all directions. The tougher ones of these were, however, off-limits for the 500X.

Don’t get me wrong: the 500X with four wheel drive will more than serve people who live in rural areas where they have to cope with occasional snow or live in places where you wouldn’t dream of driving in a traditional 500, but it’s not a hardcore off-roader.

The 1.4 Turbo, however, is a great family car. Visibility is good; space in the back is decent for kids or smaller adults. Boot space isn’t great but will do. The electric power steering is fine and while light doesn’t feel over-assisted; it’s well away from the artificial force-feedback Playstation controller of some systems.

Out on the open road the car wakes up and seems to enjoy fast bends and the country roads. It doesn’t like poor surfaces, although I was driving on the 18in wheels and it might absorb a few more bumps with smaller wheels.

Fiat 500X interior

Quiet and spacious: The Fiat 500X's cabin has plenty of room for the rugrats

By making a car aimed at the Goldilocks market we have something which is trying to be all things to all mummies and Fiat does a very good job of it. It isn’t as practical as the slidey door B-Max I reviewed last week and if I had kids in baby seat, or was running a small business where I had to carry stock, the doors on the Ford would win me over, but the Fiat is nicer to drive and has a better engine.

The Fiat also looks better – regardless of how 500 or not it is – and has a much better engine. Both are better than the Renault Captur.

Fiat 500X covered in mud

Fun: The 500X is a family car capable of going off-road for laughs

The problem all car manufacturers have is that so many are bought on the basis of image. It’s said that the vast majority of people who buy a BMW never take a test drive. For all the meetings with image consultants and people with big watches there is, however, only one way to build a brand and that’s to make good products. The Fiat 500X is well on the way to doing that. ®

Bootnote

This is the official teaser video for the Fiat 500X.

Fiat 500X official teaser video. An old Continental bloke with an aroused wife and wearing a leopardprint dressing gown tries to take a Viagra pill and misses his mouth. It falls out of his window and bounces around town, improbably landing in the open fuel filler cap of a Fiat 500 and causing it to swell up. Numerous adoring women immediately swarm the car and its happy male owner.

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