Happened to have Watchdog on last night and was highly amused by the new-map Fiat 500 1.2 that won't go up hills... thank you Euro5 emissions regulations!

Didn't see watchdog but a few years ago had an Avis 1.2 Fiat 500 around Malaga and had to turn off the aircon to keep up speed on the local hills.

God knows how they could have taken out even more power.

Ditto, Pete. On our honeymoon in Tuscany, we had a 500 1.2 and had to reverse it up the slope to park. Never driven such a gutless car; including my mum's 1990s 1.1 Polo Classic.

Even the last Stig couldn't get it up the hill - nothing below 3,000 rpm apparently.

A simple re map would solve it - but as stated, Euro 5 is going to kill the old fire once an for all.

Meh. My mums 1.2 500 was a godsend a couple of years ago when it chucked it down with snow. No power so no chance of wheel spins. Managed to drive it 200 miles to Yorkshire without getting stuck, then couldn't make it up the driveway

You can now see why Eve felt 4th gear was appropriate in traffic in a 60mph limit!!! Fortunately the DSA agreed.

I actually love driving our one. The fun is in keeping it on the boil especially through the corners on the Michelin Energy tyres - they're very wobbly - it's great.

As with any low powered car, it's an exercise in maintaining momentum once attained. I'm actually thinking of getting a twin-air 0.9 or a lowly 1.2 for thd every day commute, but the contrast with the Coupe may be too great...

Reminds me of my first car. An Austin metro 1.0L. That required first gear to get up some hills. Was a great little car to chuck about though.

She met her end burned out on top of a Welsh mountain. Some thieves used it as a get away car would you believe !!!!

I can just imagine their faces going up the A465 towards Brynmawr at 45mph flat out.

I drove a twinair recently - the lumpy running at low revs takes a bit of getting used to bit it went quite well. I'm not sure that the economy is up to much. The funning thing is how similar the 1.2 500 is on paper to the Alfa Giulia GT Junior 1300 my race car started life as - the world hasn't progressed much!

I know this is a bit off topic, but we've got a 1.0L - 3 cylinder turbo engine in our Ford C-Max, it's a great little unit, it's footprint is the same size as a sheet of A4 (without ancillaries) and it puts out 125 BHP more than enough to satisfy most drivers. Apparently Ford have managed to 180 BHP out of it and plan to use it in warmer Fiestas. If you get a chance to drive a car with it in, you'll be surprised how well it goes once rolling. I always enjoy keeping up the momentum and regularly give other larger engined cars a run for their money round the twisty stuff

I've driven loads of fiesta hire cars with work and the 3 cylinder engines sound awesome. They may get good mpg if driven carefully but not when you thrash them!

I think the key point is the turbo !! Makes all the difference

I've also heard good things about the Ford engine. Small capacity turbos are the way forward.

The Ford engine in the Hertz Focus I hired last weekend was dreadful. Don't know what it was (too dull to care), but if it was the 1.6 I thought I was getting, it wasn't very good at all. Coarse and very lacking in power.

Strange ---my daughter has a 1.2 500 and it honestly is great to drive !!!
My wife has a 500 Abarth and both my wife and daughter always pick the 1.2 first --- the ride in the abarth is bloody awful -- you spend all your time avoiding potholes for fear of ripping a wheel off
Our 1.2 feels really smooth and pulls no prob !

Totally agree with you Nobby, good engine note, enough low down tourque to pull at low revs and change early for best economy. But who said I drive it with economy in mind

Yup - we replaced our MiTo 155 turbo with the 1.2 500 Lounge - for a while we had both cars and I'd take the 500 every time - such a hoot to drive with far less than half the power. Mind you, the MiTo was pretty dreadful to drive even if it looked fantastic.

I should add that I bought the Fiat in Cambridge and drove it the 550 miles home (a journey I'd normally do in the Merc). I thought I'd arrive crippled and knackered but the Fiat will cruise perfectly at 80 and I was astonished how fresh I felt when I arrived.

When I visit Cambridge, I will hire 500s at Stansted by preference and I'm disappointed if they don't have one available and have to upgrade me.