• Interior design is still very stylish
• High driving position with limited adjustment
• Infotainment isn’t as good as rivals’

How is the quality and layout?

Quality is good. The dashboard has been screwed together properly, the seats are well-upholstered and the switchgear (which is all mechanical – no fiddly touchscreen climate controls here) is solid. In fact, the interior is a lot like an item of designer clothing. It looks attractive and it’s well-made but, as we touched on in the previous section, it isn’t particularly functional.

The layout of the switchgear is good and we like the position of the gearstick high up in the dashboard. Your hand doesn’t have far to go from the wheel to change gear, which encourages you to row through the gearbox more and work the engine for the best performance.

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But the driving position isn’t great. The steering wheel only adjusts vertically, which for some drivers will means deciding which half of your body you want to be comfortable. Set the seat the correct distance away from the pedals for your legs and you’ll be over-reaching for the steering wheel. Move closer to get your arms in a relaxed position and your legs will be concertinaed into the dashboard. We appreciate there are cost and space limitations in this class of car, but Fiat could have solved some of the position problem with reach-adjustment for the steering column.

Infotainment and technology

The entry-level Fiat 500 features a 7.0-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. More expensive models adds built-in sat-nav and a circular 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster behind the steering wheel. Both screens work reliably.

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But the 500’s technology is showing its age. Its digital gauge cluster is pixelated, you can’t have a wireless smartphone charger and the infotainment system’s menu design is like that of a TomTom GPS from the previous decade, with only tiny icons to navigate through the menus. Five years ago, the 500’s technology suite was acceptable – but now, it’s been leapfrogged by its younger rivals.

Comfort

• Reasonably comfortable seats…
• … but they are very high
• Noisy on the motorway

When judged in isolation, the Fiat 500’s seats are quite comfortable and they’re wide enough to accommodate all shapes and sizes of driver. However, they’re mounted high and they don’t have any lumbar support. That means the 500 is fine for pottering around town, but can become rather tiring on a longer journey, especially for taller drivers.

Some of the 500’s comfort issues could have been solved if Fiat had simply mounted the seats an inch or so closer to the floor. If you sat a little lower, your legs would need to go further to reach the pedals which would mean you wouldn’t be scrunched into the dashboard. However, as we’ve pointed out previously, many drivers may be happy with this trade-off for the better view sitting high gives them of the road ahead.

As a small car with a small engine, it’s perhaps not surprising that the 500 is quite loud at higher speeds.