WASHINGTON — Looking for a fun-to-drive Italian convertible? The Fiat 124 Spider fits the bill with help from Japan.
Fiat has been back in the U.S. for a few years now, and for 2017 they add another small car to the lineup of Euro-focused small cars. This time, it’s the Italian take on the small roadster.
Instead of laying out a lot of money and starting from scratch, Fiat Chrysler turned to Mazda and the popular MX-5 Miata as the foundation for its small, Italian roadster.
Since the little roadster is already a fun car, Fiat could have slapped a Fiat badge on the Miata and it would have been fine. But Fiat wanted its 124 Spider to be different from the Mazda version, and the difference starts on the outside with its own look.
The Fiat 124 Spider front-end styling is a bit bigger with a friendly-looking face. Even the rear-end styling is unique. A slightly longer trunk and rear fascia add to the trunk space and also help balance the look of the car.
The Fiat 124 Spider is still a very small car that sits low to the ground and you and other cars tower over it; it’s what a small roadster should be.
Another change that sets the Fiat 124 Spider apart is the engine. A small, 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder engine lives in the bigger engine compartment. There is 160 horsepower and 184 foot-pound of torque for the Fiat — a bit more than the Mazda version. It is easier to extract the power in the Fiat at lower RPMs; you don’t have to really ring it out for max power. But I’m not sure this Fiat is about max performance. It feels more relaxed on the road. It could have been the optional $1,350 automatic, which doesn’t have paddles on the steering wheel that it certainly needed.
This is really a fun cruiser with a softer, reworked suspension. It is more confident on the highway without that wandering in the lane. It seems to handle bumps better, as well. With the top down, vision is good. You lose that great vision with the top up. Even with some spirited driving, fuel economy was good; I managed 30.2 mpg for my week of driving.
The inside of the Fiat 124 Spider seems more upscale, with more soft touch materials and nicer plastics. I drove the entry-level 124 with a starting price right around $25,000. For that price, you get pretty comfortable cloth seats with manual six-way driver’s seat and four-way controls for the passenger. Space is good for such a small car, though taller drivers might have problems fitting.
My car had one other option, the $1,295 technology package that has a larger 7-inch display with rearview camera and the capability for NAV. There is also Bluetooth and voice command. The car is so much more hushed with the top up. You can have a conversation at a more normal tone than when in the Mazda. The top operation is simple and you can do it from the driver’s seat without really moving anything but your right arm. No power operation here. It’s operated by one latch that you push toward the trunk until it clicks shut. Pull a lever and the top pops up enough that you can pull it shut with your right hand in two to five seconds.
A fun Italian roadster is now available at a decent price with some of the same underpinnings of the popular Miata, but with its own look and personality. The Fiat 124 Spider offers a summer vacation year-round, with top down motoring that makes every trip more of an adventure as you discover things you miss when you drive a normal car.
Mike Parris is a member of the Washington Automotive Press Association. The vehicles are provided by STI, FMI or Event Solutions for the purpose of this review.
