Do 500s do snow? (Hi from Germany!)

[Cinquecittà]

After the long, loooooong winter with unusual amounts of snow we had here last winter, I was slight (very slightly) worried if I had made the right decision, buying a Fiat 500. We had the first snow here in northern Germany this week (or to be more precise, we got a shedload of the white stuff dumped on top of us within 12 hours biggrin2 ). And I am happy to report, that with proper snow tyres, the Fiat 500 does snow well. Even 10-15 cm of slush aren't much of a problem. But it wouldn't plough through the 50 cm of snow on the garage yard ;), so I parked in the street for a few days.

I got my 500 Lounge (cha cha blue, i.e. very light blue) in June. It is my first car. I have had my licence for 21 years but never owned a car. Drove pool cars (company) or carsharing cars or rent-a-cars, but most of the time used public transport or cycles. But after moving from a big city to a small city in a sparsely inhabited area, I "gave up" after 12 months and started looking for a car. I wanted a small car so after looking at the Aygo, C1 and Twingo, I settled for the Fiat 500. For space nothing beats the Twingo, but the Fiat is just much nicer all around. Quality interior, safety and less noise than the other cars in that class.

Fun fact: The only car I know that makes not only women but grown men go: "Cuuuute!" biggrin2

[VilleV]

Official welcome is in order then!:icon_thumleft:

My experience of the 500 on snow and ice is similar to yours! It goes really well on the slippery stuff!! Other than that the 1.2 version might not be the best winter car for our conditions up here north tho. It´s rather slow to heat up if you dont use the block heater beforehand and it does have a tendency to not start at first try if it´s cold and damp outside if the car is not heated first... But then again, what it lacks in chear capabilities it more than makes up in fun factor!:cool:

[Peter O]

Hi Cinquecittà,

:welcomeon500:

and here we go again! Finally I get to meet another member of our club500 (http://www.club500.de) here.
I'm sorry for the misconception when you put your first posts and pethead wanted a hello thread first. It's so unusual for this forum here, and I'm sure there will be nothing between the two of you any more. I know both of you forumwise and I hold both of you in high regard.

My orange 500 has just started into its second long winter season, and snow and ice don't bother it. The motor runs without any slight trouble. The traction is brilliant. You sit warm and comfortable in it. It's a great car. (But mine is in my opinion just 10% cute, 20% beautiful and 70% bold!)

[Cinquecittà]

Kiitos, VilleV and Danke, PeterO, for the welcome :).
I have to agree on the "not liking cold and damp", Ville. Just this noon when I started the car inside the garage, it coughed a bit (it had been spending the previous two nights snowed in in the street, because I could not reach the garage).
But then it is an Italian car! It's not expected to know cold and damp!

Block heater? You mean a motor heater you plug into a socket? (Finnish parking lots with electric sockets for every space? --I was like :wow:). I usually use the AC on full heat for the first 10 minutes if necessary to clear the damp windows then switch to motor heater --for short trips under 15-20 minutes I just wrap up warm. I am used to that as a pedestrian/cyclist.

Peter, I too hope Pethead will still talk to me :). Sometimes the written word comes across all wrong... --I should have learned after so many years...

[Peter O]

... I too hope Pethead will still talk to me :). Sometimes the written word comes across all wrong... --I should have learned after so many years...

I'm sure he will. Let's make a bet he will even say hello today.

[.Lefteris.]

:welcomeon500:

from here also! :)

[Pethead]

WILLKOMMEN Cinquecittá! I love the cha cha cha blue! It´s been always one of my favourite colours, together with the Jive blue.:icon_thumright:
Ich bin mit offenen Armen empfangen!:sLo_grouphug3:

[Il Consigliere]

Wellcome Cinquecittà, I like your nick name!

Block heater? You mean a motor heater you plug into a socket? (Finnish parking lots with electric sockets for every space? --I was like :wow:).

Yes that's the thing, purpose is to preheat the engine and in connection to that you normally have a plug inside the car for interior heater. I guess these are available mainly in Nordic countries.
http://wup.defa.com/en/wup_products_preheaters.html

Outdoor electric sockets are almost a standard, only older houses are missing those. Unfortunatelly I don't think they are suitable for these cars running on nuclear power. :rolleyes:
http://www.nettiauto.com/tesla/roadster/3598802

Sorry for off topic.

[Il Consigliere]

Quality interior, safety and less noise than the other cars in that class.

In many respect 500 is offering outstanding value for money. You might easily argue that it's expensive in it's class and technically old fashioned. But when you compare the style and especially the super stylish interior to any other car in same price category, there is no real competion. For me the interior of 500 is clearly it's best characteristic.

Fun fact: The only car I know that makes not only women but grown men go: "Cuuuute!" biggrin2

Actually a friend of mine, who happens to be a barchelor, is driving Z4 and he was thinking of Abarth 500 because it would be fun for him, but would also attract ladies (better than a black Z4). lol

[wreckmaster]

Hello Cinquecitta and :welcomeon500: Hope you wil enjoy this great forum:icon_thumleft: Like the other scandinavian people on here says, the 500 is a great car in snowy conditions:) But it is a bit poorly heated:( But it is a great car all in all:)



Greetings from Norway:)

[Jor]

And a :welcomeon500: from Scotland too!

I've had my 500 for just over a week now, and so far it's been great in all the snow we're having at the moment! The traction is good, and it's low weight helps it to follow bends in the road rather than go straight ahead! ;)

By the way, it's a lovely colour you've got; it was no longer available when I ordered mine! :(

[VilleV]

The traction is good, and it's low weight helps it to follow bends in the road rather than go straight ahead! ;)

(


And the 500 does have nice lift off oversteer in corners if you want it to! First it does understeer but lift the throttle mid corner and the rear is sure to come around...:D

[Cinquecittà]

Thank you for all the nice Welcomes :).
Jor, I am not sure cha cha blue was still available when I bought my 500. Thing is, I bought it straight off the car dealership's yard. I have no idea why he hung on to it for so long (I think he had it for about 3-4 months). Might be because the area is a bit remote. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it is the colour and version I wanted. And I got a nice rebate. I found it in his online catalogue, took a look&drive on 1 June and took it home three days later :p.

BTW: "Low weight"? The thing weighs a bl**dy ton! A microsize! Those were the days, when you could say "Vier Mann, vier Ecken" and carry the Trabant (or Beetle) out of a parking space :D. Try that with a 500... It's clear they will never actually get to build a 3-litre car when they keep stuffing it with all sorts of electronics --although some of it is really nice and useful ;).

[Jor]

And the 500 does have nice lift off oversteer in corners if you want it to! First it does understeer but lift the throttle mid corner and the rear is sure to come around...:D

Naughty, naughty! :icon_thumright:

[Il Consigliere]

Naughty, naughty! :icon_thumright:

VilleV is probably one of those crazy Finnish rally drives who needs wipers in side windows also. lol

[Jor]

VilleV is probably one of those crazy Finnish rally drives who needs wipers in side windows also. lol

lol It might just be wishful thinking though; his car looks far too immaculate for such frivolities! lol

[Cinquecittà]

*worries*
I don't know what I will do when my Macchina gets it's first dent or scratch.
*worries some more*
(Note that I had no problems ramming my parents' car into a concrete pillar while backing up into a parking space (dented bumper). So it is only a question of time... :p )

[VilleV]

VilleV is probably one of those crazy Finnish rally drives who needs wipers in side windows also. lol

Pata kattilaa soimaa jne...lol I remember seeing some photos of a Mercs rear wheel all stucked in with snow! So that it could have only happened if the car had been going sideways...lollol

[Jor]

*worries*
I don't know what I will do when my Macchina gets it's first dent or scratch.
*worries some more*
(Note that I had no problems ramming my parents' car into a concrete pillar while backing up into a parking space (dented bumper). So it is only a question of time... :p )

I know what you mean! In a way it's much more peaceful to have an older car that already has a few scratches! I was thinking about that earlier while looking through my completely unscratched, unblemished and very clear windscreen! :D

[Jor]

Thank you for all the nice Welcomes :).
Jor, I am not sure cha cha blue was still available when I bought my 500. Thing is, I bought it straight off the car dealership's yard. I have no idea why he hung on to it for so long (I think he had it for about 3-4 months). Might be because the area is a bit remote. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it is the colour and version I wanted. And I got a nice rebate. I found it in his online catalogue, took a look&drive on 1 June and took it home three days later :p.

You were very lucky! I had to wait ages for mine, and no discounts! Having said that, I did get a good lease deal by promising that I would buy my next car at the same dealership... They sell many brands, so I'm not too worried about that! :icon_thumleft:
I suppose they took Cha Cha Blue away because it wasn't selling too well, so that may be why your dealer had it for such a long time. It might become collectable!:cool:

[Jor]

BTW: "Low weight"? The thing weighs a bl**dy ton! A microsize! Those were the days, when you could say "Vier Mann, vier Ecken" and carry the Trabant (or Beetle) out of a parking space :D. Try that with a 500... It's clear they will never actually get to build a 3-litre car when they keep stuffing it with all sorts of electronics --although some of it is really nice and useful ;).

Actually, a Beetle wasn't that much lighter than a 500 Pop (840kg vs 865kg), although it was a good deal bigger, of course.
And the original 500 wasn't all that light either; it weighed about 500kg, while a Citroen 2CV was 560kg although it was twice the size!
:cool:

[Abarthlyness]

Cinquecitta,

:welcomeon500: , from Sacramento California:icon_thumright:

Sorry I am a little bit late to the welcome party lol We'll call it fashionably late, yes?

I never plan to drive my A500 in the snow if I can help it... my wife's Chevy Tahoe is more than capable of pummling the snow, no matter the depth:icon_thumleft:

Again,

Welcome to 500Fans!

-Mike

[Cinquecittà]

Don't know about an A500 (wide-base tyres and all), but a standard 500 is pretty good on snow (provided you drive accordingly).

I was really glad I chose the 14" wheels with a narrow based snow tyre. Doesn't look that "fashionable" but works a treat in deep snow. Unless it reaches the hood. Haven't tried snow-chains yet :D.

Jor, you might be right about the colour. In the six months I have the car, I have only seen one other cha cha blue one (pulled up at a traffic light behind me, driver waved :icon_thumleft:). Maybe he bought the other one still on the yard?

[Jor]

Don't know about an A500 (wide-base tyres and all), but a standard 500 is pretty good on snow (provided you drive accordingly).

I was really glad I chose the 14" wheels with a narrow based snow tyre. Doesn't look that "fashionable" but works a treat in deep snow. Unless it reaches the hood. Haven't tried snow-chains yet :D.

Jor, you might be right about the colour. In the six months I have the car, I have only seen one other cha cha blue one (pulled up at a traffic light behind me, driver waved :icon_thumleft:). Maybe he bought the other one still on the yard?

I'm glad I'm not the only one here to deliberately choose 14" wheels! :icon_thumleft:

Yes, I think I've only seen one Cha Cha Blue too, although fortunately, I do see it quite often! Most 500s here are either white or red....

[VilleV]

My confidence on the 500 capabilities as a winter car are raising at the moment! -18 outside today and tha car works just perfectly even tho it has been outside pretty much the whole winter! As a matter of fact it seems to be running much smoother than it did last winter when it was very cold also. But it might have been so that it was even colder last year, temperatures as low as -25 to -30... Only little niggle is the petroltank cap, the lock freezes into solid ice and everytime I want to gas it up I have to take it inside first for a 10-15 minutes.

[Cinquecittà]

My confidence on the 500 capabilities as a winter car are raising at the moment! -18 outside today and tha car works just perfectly even tho it has been outside pretty much the whole winter! My car gets the sneezes every now and then (this morning it took a full second to start when I wanted to drive off after seeing my dentist, so second start for the day). Hm, looks like it'll get some more training in snow driving :399: --it is snowing right now! I put it through the car wash today, full rigmarole with top and underside wash and top-quality waxing. Shineeeeey! :clappinghands:. The hoovers were out of order, though, so the inside does not match the outside (it was extremely dirty). I should take some photos tomorrow --but the road services will probably have scraped the turning area next to the woods clean overnight...

Re the petrol tank cap:
Not that I have any experience in this (and not wanting to teach a Finn about winter!), but an acquaintance of mine in Finland is cycling througout the winter. He said that he has to clean AND oil the chain twice a week to keep it from freezing while the bicycle is parked. So my thoughts would be: If there is humidity getting into that lock, one would need to put some sort of lock oil in on a weekly basis or even more frequently to crowd out the water (no idea if the usual lock oils are frost resistant to this degree). Might be worth a try. Get a high quality lock oil from a locksmith, though, otherwise you might end up with gummed up oil in the lock :icon_rolleyes: ).

[wreckmaster]

Dont you use some lock oil to prevent it from freezing? Works perfect for me :)

[Cinquecittà]

Dont you use some lock oil to prevent it from freezing? Works perfect for me :)Ha! Synchro points! ;)

[VilleV]

^
I have tried both lock oil and gun oil and neither seems to work! Actually the gun oil is supposed to be even better for this kind of thing than the lock oil, but it still freezes solid so that at first I cant even get the key to go in to the lock!:eek: Maybe I have to try some different brand of oil...

[wreckmaster]

I use the turtle wax lock oil and it works perfect... Little spray can you can buy in almost every gas station. I use it on both cars after every wash( yes I wash cars even tough it is around -20C these dayslol ) and none of them has freezed for me since I started using the lock oil:D

[VilleV]

Ok! I must get that Turtle wax lock oil and try it! Thanks for the tip!!:icon_thumleft:

[Il Consigliere]

Yesterday our Fiat's trunk lock refused to work (-20 C). My wife had opened the trunk half an hour earlier and worked fine then. Well, luckily back seat can be used as emergency escape...

[VilleV]

^
Mine did that last winter when the tailgate was fully covered with snow. A little while indoors cured that and as soon as the snow melted the tailgate was ok again.

Today morning it was -25 when I started the car up and I got the "check power steering" message with the red warning light! Everything worked fine tho, and once I got to work I checked the battery voltage which was quite low! I think this could have caused the error message. Now my battery is being charged as we speak...