• Passenger space is impressive
• Full-length sunroof doesn’t impede space
• Storage for small items could be better

How much space is there?

The 500X is quite large for an SUV in this size class, and there’s more space in the rear seats than in some offerings from the class above. Certainly it’s capable of seating four adults with ease, though the cabin’s a little narrow to seat five.

Those in the back will find plenty of legroom and adequate headroom, and even opting for a Dolcevita model with its full-length fabric sunroof doesn’t impede the latter. You get Isofix points on the two outer rear seats, but none in the front.

Boot space and storage

The boot is quite small at just 350 litres in capacity – that’s even less than a supermini such as the Renault Clio, and trails the 434-litre capacity of a Peugeot 2008 or the 456 litres of a Ford Puma.

It is at least a very nice square shape, with no protrusions or awkward wells, and when you fold the rear seats down there’s no awkward lip to hoick bags over. The boot opening could be wider – it’s limited by the car’s large taillights.

Storage for small items inside isn’t the best, though. There are a couple of cupholders but nowhere particularly convenient to keep your phone while it’s connected, and the door bins are awkward to access. There are two gloveboxes, but neither is huge.

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Is it easy to park?

All 500Xs now come with a rear-view camera as standard equipment. It’s sorely needed, actually, as the car’s bulbous extremities aren’t all visible from the driver’s seat.

You do get a ‘City’ button on the dashboard though, which lightens the steering to make it almost completely weightless at low speeds.

Safety

• Four-star rating…
• … but last tested in 2015
• Advanced safety equipment rather lacking

Having last been crash tested in 2015, the Fiat 500X’s four-star score has technically lapsed. Fiat’s older models don’t typically fare very well when re-tested by the organisation, as evidenced by the Panda and Punto – if Euro NCAP gets round to re-testing the 500X we’d expect a lower score.

There’s unlikely to be anything particularly wrong with the car’s crash structures, but it’s likely the advanced safety aids­­­ that are available – including lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking, driver attention warning and adaptive cruise control – won’t be quite as useful as those on more modern vehicles.

WATCH: Fiat 500X SUV Euro NCAP crash test