What's the news?
Fiat has jazzed up its 500 range, by slotting in a new top model - the Cult - and giving the excellent TwinAir engine more power. No prizes for guessing where the 2014 500 will be revealed, though. We'll give you a hint - it's a car show in Switzerland that you might just have heard about on these pages...
Exterior
Three new body colours are available for all 500s, although one of them is exclusive to the S model. Without giving them their official names, Fiat has revealed they are a retro green, a three-layer white and a 'striking' blue (the latter of these is the S-only colour). There are also new alloy wheel designs.
Interior
Aside from revised seat fabrics and leather upholsteries inside, Fiat's making a big play about the introduction of a seven-inch thin-film transistor - or TFT, to you and I - screen across the 500 range. The Italian firm is claiming it is the first vehicle in its segment to be thus equipped.
Developed with Magneti Marelli, the TFT maintains the retro ethos of the car's interior, essentially by rendering the 500's familiar speedo, rev counter and trip computer gauges in digital form. There's a little picture of the car in the middle too that can be configured to show whatever available on-board information you prefer, plus more prominence for warning messages and the gearshift indicator.
Naturally, the screen also displays infotainment, such as media, telephone functionality and navigation (if equipped). On the new 105hp TwinAir engine, pressing the Sport button switches the TFT from an eco display to a boost gauge.
Mechanicals
Fiat's superb 0.9-litre two-cylinder TwinAir turbo engine has long been a favourite in this class, and the good news is there's now a higher-powered model with 105hp and 145Nm. It develops these at 5,500rpm and 2,000rpm respectively in Sport mode, but 'detunes' itself to 98hp and 120Nm when in its Eco set-up. The 105hp TwinAir makes its new power courtesy of a 'high-efficiency' turbocharger, an exhaust manifold integrated into the cylinder head, start-stop technology and new MultiAir II intake valve control.
The TwinAir in this guise is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox and can, ahem, dash to 62mph from rest in 10 seconds and run on to 117mph. It'll return 67mpg combined and emit just 99g/km of CO2, meaning it is VED exempt in the UK. Finally, the TwinAir 105hp models get rear disc brakes as standard.
Anything else?
The old 85hp TwinAir engine soldiers on, though, and is most notably one of four engine options you can spec in the new range-topping 500 Cult. This builds on the current halo product, the Lounge, and adds 16-inch alloy wheels, a gloss black roof panel, chrome or gloss black door mirror covers, chrome exterior detailing, gloss black surrounds for the tail lights and rear parking sensors - all on top of the fixed glass sunroof, air conditioning, Blue&Me Bluetooth connectivity and leather steering wheel that the Lounge already comes with.
Inside, the Cult gets leather as standard, in three main colours with various contrasting inserts, and of course the new TFT screen. You can have a 68hp 1.2 petrol or the 85hp 0.9 TwinAir with either regular or Dualogic robotised manual gearboxes, while the 95hp 1.3 MultiJet II turbodiesel and 105hp TwinAir come only with the manual transmission.
The 2014 Fiat 500 is due to go on sale in the UK by the end of April, with pricing to be announced closer to the car's launch.
Matt Robinson - 5 Mar 2014