Fiat 500 TwinAir

Mr Tidy

Mr Tidy

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 North West Surrey
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So after 6 years with her 06 plate R50 Mini Cooper my sister's one has almost reached the end of the road!

It seems she likes a retro theme because she wants a Fiat 500, and it has to be a TwinAir so it sounds like a Fiat 500 should. The fact that our late Mum's first car was a Fiat 600 may be having an influence here!

So does anyone have any experience of 500s or TwinAirs (I think they were fitted to Pandas and Mitos as well) who could offer any tips on possible issues or things to look for?

Many thanks. :thumbsup:
 
Smartbear said:
As a turbo engine it should have remapping possibilities
Click to expand...

Probably, but that would be completely wasted on her!
 
Might be worth looking up Honest John from the Daily Telegraph as he has raved about Twin Airs on several occasions
 
Had a Fiat 500 Twin Air as a hire car over Christmas a few years ago, lots of fun to drive and feel a lot faster than they are.

With those Twin Air engines you can get great economy if you try really hard, but if you do that you're not experiencing the character that it has and you might as well buy a small diesel.
 
I've driven a 695 Rivale (same power as a 595 Comp). That was great fun, but probably not comparable to what you're looking at. If you're buying one that's a few years old, I'm pretty sure it's a very old design now so it may feel like it's behind some of its competitors that are of a similar age. High Peak Autos did a short video on the 500 during lockdown and he does talk about the engines briefly. It's a while since I watched it, but I think he also talks about common issues.
 
Had a 500 lounge 1.2 as a runabout for 4 years

It wasn’t quick .. but as a small 2+2 town car it was great

Nothing broke .. it was cheap as chips to service

It was quite entertaining to drive it “Italian style”

We bought it over the twin air as the difference in performance wasn’t much .... did I mention it was slow ?

But it was £20 tax and did 50+ mpg however you thrashed it

The twin air by all accounts can get pretty thirsty if you Thrash it
 
Thanks for the tips.

I'd definitely want an Abarth but now she has retired she doesn't often go further than Tescos, and she never thrashes her cars!

She really wants the Twinair because it sounds like the original 50s/60s Nuova 500, and she likes the idea of free Road Tax! She needs a parking permit for street parking where she lives, and their costs is also emissions based, so another small win. :lol:
 
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