Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. Reviews

First drive: 2016 Fiat 500X

Scaled up from cute, Fiat’s 500X keeps its Italian charm intact

By

The 500X manages to make the jump upmarket and keep its Italian charm intact.

Fiat has long held that good things come in small packages. But can cute scale up? That’s the question asked by the 2016 Fiat 500X, bound for these shores as we speak. The Fiat won’t be able to rely on looks alone. The 500X will make landing in the U.S. with other new immigrants, trying to make a space for itself in the new world alongside strong competition from Honda’s HR-V and Mazda’s CX-3. Will the up-sized 500 have what it takes to stand out in the market’s hottest new segment? Let’s have a look.

Standout

The 500X stands out in the California sun. That Italian charm is laid on hard, from the classic Altoid headrests to the familial character lines in the body. On appearances alone, the 500X grew up nicely. Designed from the get-go to be Fiat’s halo car, one sold in 100 countries and holding down the bulk of Fiat’s sales in mature markets like the U.S., the looks of the Fiat 500X had to be good and almost universally enticing. They are.

It takes a reminder that the 500X is a fundamentally inexpensive thing. It starts cheap, at right around $20,000 for the pared-down “Pop” trim package. Upgrade the powertrain, throw a little trim at the thing, and class up the interior, and you’ve got the Trekking model. Once again, it’s thrifty, clocking in at $24,000. Even if you’re buying from the top of the 500X heap, it’s tough to bust through $30k. That’s Fiat’s stock in trade, Italian panache on the cheap.

Related

If anything benefits from the increase in scale, it’s the interior of the 500X. With room to breathe, handsome leather, and 6.5-inch entertainment and navigation units have taken root and flourished in the larger of the 500s. Uconnect controls adorn flat-bottomed, leather-wrapped steering wheels. Together, they’ve made Fiat’s best interiors downright satisfying, while color-matched painted dashes keep the family legacy alive.

Miraculously, the 500X manages to make the jump upmarket and keep its Italian charm intact.

Those same glowing oranges, Popsicle reds and inky blues contrast nicely with the light straw browns of the canyons north of Los Angeles. It’s clear out on the backroads that the chief appeal of the 500X is appeal itself. The 500X shares underpinnings with its stable mate, the 500L. The unfortunate 500L has proven to be a dog in both looks and sales. Fortunately, those shared guts are good, as demonstrated by another platform-mate, Jeep’s 2015 Renegade, and the 500X isn’t adverse to a little hustle.

Like the Jeep, the 500X can be had in FWD or AWD, and with a choice of familiar engines plucked from the Dodge Dart. Both are plucky, competent little four-bangers. Almost every America-bound 500X will roll with a 180-horsepower, 2.4-liter inline-four-cylinder and nine-speed automatic transmission. Together, they’re a nice little package.

Morning romp

A morning romp through coastal canyons showed off the merits of the Italian way of doing things. With the windows down, the 2.4-liter Tigershark engine rasps out a nice little song. Buttoned up, all is quiet and dignified. It’s a tasteful contrast with optional extras like the dual-pane sunroof and eight-speaker premium audio system. Lane departure warning and forward collision warning systems help out on the highway and give the 500X a feature set above its pay grade.

2016 Fiat 500X
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Throughout the morning, our lightly equipped FWD Easy edition struggled a little to stay composed atop its Nexen tires. A quick trip through Lounge and Trekking editions on different wheel and tire setups was enough to suggest the problem was limited to one pre-production model. The rest of the herd had no trouble bending into the turns with Italian aplomb. The optional AWD system, which can decouple from the rear axle for improved efficiency, only added mass on California’s dry roads. The $1,900 package has proven its worth motivating the Renegade though, and shouldn’t be discounted if your roads tend toward the slick or slippery.

The real surprise in the 500X lineup is the amusing and stripped-down base version, called the Pop, which sports front-wheel-drive only and Fiat’s endlessly charming turbocharged 160-hp, 1.4-liter MultiAir engine. Maybe it’s the six-speed manual, maybe it’s the soundtrack of the little four-cylinder trying to muscle around the nearly 3,000-lb 500X, or maybe it’s just sentimentality, but the Pop is the package that best captures the Italian spirit that made the original 500 a charmer.

The competition has party tricks. Good ones. Honda’s HR-V boasts an enormously useful origami interior. Mazda’s CX-3 is expected to be a sensation on backroads, while achieving similarly sensational fuel economy. There’s no question the 500X is the most Italian of the lot, and Italian charm is a commodity in itself.

Conclusion

Scale is critical to the likeability of the Fiat 500 family. In a diminutive package, quirks and flaws are quickly dismissed as character and charisma.

We delight in that tiny scale because it means being a little ridiculous. “It’s just an Italian thing!” can be applied as enthusiastically to the joyfully barbaric exhaust note of Fiat’s 500 Abarth as it can the squeaking painted dash of the most economical 500 urban runabout.

Miraculously, the 500X manages to make the jump upmarket and keep its Italian charm intact.

Highs

  • Italian charm to scale
  • Quiet on the inside, Italian soundtrack on the outside
  • Slightly unrefined

Lows

  • Seats for five, thrills for none
  • Slightly unrefined

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Chris Cantle
Chris Cantle
Writer and photographer Chris Cantle has spent a decade focused on cars, motorcycles, and the passion behind them.
The 10 best car battery brands in 2024
How to test a car battery

You must know this, but your car needs a battery to run properly. A dead battery means a car won't start, but various electronics in the car won't work properly either, including overhead dome lights, the radio, and even some security features, like door locks or alerts. So, it's in your best interest to ensure your vehicle's battery is in tip-top shape at all times. It's especially important if your car or vehicle sits unused for long periods. A trickle charger can help keep the battery powered in those situations, or worst case, a portable jump starter can help you get it going. But eventually, you're going to need to replace your battery, and it will help to know the best car battery brands out there so you know precisely what to replace your old one with. Let's discuss.
AC Delco
In operation for more than a century, AC Delco has been recommended as "the only batteries" for GM vehicles. You'll find them at retailers like AutoZone, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Amazon, and even some Walmarts. They're reliable, reasonably priced, and come with a good warranty, 18 months or above, depending on where you buy. A great AC Delco battery to call out is the Advantage series.

Bosch
Bosch is a solid mid-grade battery provider both in quality and price. They do have some affordable options, but their premium lines are still reasonably priced, with several tiers available for a wide variety of vehicles. The downside is that Bosch batteries are not carried by all retailers like some of the other options on our list, but you can find them online. You can also visit a Bosch service center if there's one near you. Callouts are the S4 to S6 series and the T4 to T6 series. We will say the brand's four-year free replacement warranty is unmatched.

Read more
Tesla’s fix for faulty Cybertruck pedal is simpler than you might think
Tesla Cybertruck

Less than five months after handing over the first Cybertrucks to customers, Tesla has had to recall the electric pickup to fix an issue with the accelerator.

In a notice issued on Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that the recall impacts Cybertruck vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024. This suggests that all -- or almost all -- of the 3,878 Cybertrucks being recalled are those that have been manufactured to date.

Read more
Ford Mustang Mach-E 2024 vs. Mach-E 2023: What’s new in Ford’s electric Mustang?
Blue Ford Mustang Mach-E on a rooftop

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is easily one of the best EVs for the price, offering a solid range, sleek design, and pretty good tech on the inside. In recent years, it has gotten even cheaper -- thanks in large part to a price war between it and the Tesla Model 3. And, the company just took the wraps off of the latest and greatest version of the Mach-E, labeled as the 2024 model.

The 2024 Mustang Mach-E is notably different from the 2023 iteration in some meaningful ways. So much so that we decided to take a look at the two head-to-head -- to see if it was better to pay for the 2024 model or save some cash on any remaining 2023 stock.
Design
The Mustang Mach-E looks relatively unique -- in a good way. And thankfully, Ford has largely kept the overall design the same for the 2024 model, at least when it comes to the more consumer-focused models. The car retains the slatted taillights and crossover size. It also offers a large selection of colors, including the very blue Grabber Blue Metallic, as well as Rapid Red Metallic. It's a good selection of colors, and there should be an option for most buyers.

Read more