A six-speed automatic is an option, and it comes with a Sport button that tightens up shift points and quickens the throttle feel. The shifter action is light and precise enough, but the limited foot space doesn't mate up with the clutch pedal's long stroke and high uptake point. Two transmissions are offered we drove the five-speed manual exclusively. The cabin's so small, the noise never will prevent you from hearing back-seat conversations, though. That small-animal pitch raised underhood weaves itself into the steady tire and wind noise the 500 accrues as it picks up speed. With two aboard, you'd be ill advised to try passing uphill-and yet, in the heart of its powerband, with the transmission in third gear, the 500 feels flexible and lively and eager beyond its power figures. That's not to imply the 500, in this configuration, is "fast"-it's likely barely under 10 seconds in the 0-60 mph run, but pleasing to wring through the paces. There's a lively rasp as it rushes over 3000 rpm, and it doesn't get too harsh as it rises higher through the rev range. It delivers 101 horsepower at 6000 rpm, and this is one engine that's happy to run up to redline in each and every gear. The 500 has one engine to its credit, a 1.4-liter four-cylinder with variable air intake "MultAir" technology that Fiat credits for better power delivery and fuel economy. Those low-wattage numbers light up in the course of duty: once it's up to a rolling boil, the 500 bubbles over with the same variety of enthusiasm you'll find in the frisky Ford Fiesta. With just 101 horsepower at its disposal, the Fiat 500 gets outgunned by almost everything in the automotive galaxy. The usual primary car colors are on the list, but the 500 looks pretty fetching in a copper-toned hue, in a creamy grey-white shade of mocha, even in flat grey that recalls the first Audi TT and its Deco boldness. With Fiat's "extreme customization" plan, an enormous range of colors and trim can be splashed on the 500's Mona Lisa-sized canvas. The MINI Cooper renders its interior as a sturdy homage to the past the 500's dash pokes fun at its own heritage, with a playfulness that turns faintly sexy if you opt for the lipstick-red trim-or veers into Hollywood Regency style if you opt for a nearly all-white cabin. The 500's layers of color and detail draw your hand to touch them and your eyes to linger on them. The chaotic controls of the MINI can't hold a match to the simple concentric gauges of the 500. Fiat has much better ideas running around in the heads of its designers and ergonimicists. The 500's dash may vaguely remind you of the one found in the MINI Cooper, what with all the circles strewn about. And the 500 will thrive or not, based on a momentous swing in drivers' tastes. No one can predict if this truly is the tide-turning moment for small cars in the States. And it comes packaged with the features that have become essential in our daily lives-stuff like Bluetooth and aux jacks. It's engaging to drive, if you're used to the subcompact drudgery of the Yaris or the Fit or the Aveo. The 500 is almost a two-seater, by American standards, and a small one at that. The hurdles it faces are pretty big ones, for a car so tiny, and for a brand that left the American market more than 20 years ago with a hideous reputation for build quality and reliability. But unlike other subcompact buyers with big EPA numbers, the 500 has a heady dose of style, from its heritage-induced proportions to the mix-and-match color play of its pint-sized interior. Gas prices are over $3 a gallon, and the 500's nearly 40-mpg fuel economy gives it at least one convincing argument to park itself in the garages of small-car buyers everywhere. It could hardly have arrived at a better time. safety and marketing standards, and to be built in a North American plant, too. The 500's been on sale for years in Europe now it's been engineered to meet U.S. The 2012 Fiat 500 is out in the wild now, streaming out of more than a hundred new Fiat showrooms across the country, as Chrysler and Fiat firm up their alliance and find new, inventive ways to get high-gas-mileage cars to America quickly. Italian automakers may never have been known for world-class quality, or for brilliant marketing, but the eye for a finely turned turn signal, or a pure side-glass silhouette? That's all Italian, all the time from Ferrari right down to this pert little hatchback with the weight of Fiat's rebirth all on its very small back. If you can indulge us one more stereotype, we'll go with style. So.what's left for the Italians to bring back to the U.S. Americans bring muscle, the Germans engineering might, and the Asian brands, reliability.
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