[JSpira]

I recently spent 10 days with a Fiat 500c - fun car and great handling. (My review is online here for those interested.)

I decided to look up the specs for the diesel version (not sold in the U.S.) as I was curious how fuel efficient it would be in diesel guise.

It uses 3.3 l/100 km (71 mpg) in highway driving with a 1.3-liter 95 hp motor that develops 200 Nm (147 pound-feet) of torque.

We probably won't see the diesel 500 and 500c here in the U.S. but 71 mpg is something that would make people forget about hybrids.

[koreez88]

Yeah I remember reading about 70mpg cars 10 years ago... Funny how Prius gets 60mpg here in States and people go apeshit.

[Q4P]

The fuel economy is excellent and the TQ/no start stop is why I would prefer diesels to hybrids but let's be serious how useful/practical or realistic is this car for the average American? Not gonna happen, it'll be a nice ride, I have been at a dealership and actually like them a lot though.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by Questforpower

how useful/practical or realistic is this car for the average American?

Actually, more practical and realistic than you think.

Most people don't travel very far from home (esp. in two-car families, one car almost always stays close to home AFAIU) and most trips involve one or two occupants.

If I needed a car just for "local" stuff (I do a lot of longer driving trips however), I would consider this.

[Artmasterx]

Originally Posted by JSpira

I recently spent 10 days with a Fiat 500c - fun car and great handling. (My review is online here for those interested.)

I decided to look up the specs for the diesel version (not sold in the U.S.) as I was curious how fuel efficient it would be in diesel guise.

It uses 3.3 l/100 km (71 mpg) in highway driving with a 1.3-liter 95 hp motor that develops 200 Nm (147 pound-feet) of torque.

We probably won't see the diesel 500 and 500c here in the U.S. but 71 mpg is something that would make people forget about hybrids.

Just note that the European cycle for determining MPG is more optimistic than the US cycle. You probably have to reduce the Euro values by 20% to get a fair comparison. So that 71 mpg and drop it to ~55-60 mpg, which is still excellent.

Of course, you may get better than 55 in the real world.

0-60 in 10.5 seconds isn't too bad either, considering what it is.

Also, I would definitely like to see more diesel car in the States... slowly but surely they are coming.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Artmasterx

Also, I would definitely like to see more diesel car in the States... slowly but surely they are coming.

There was a good article in one of the US car magazines a few months ago about why it's unlikely that we'll ever get a significant portion of our cars and trucks onto diesel. The gist of it was that our refineries, which are all forty plus years old were setup to crack oil into roughly 90% gasoline/10% diesel, while Europe's refineries crack at close to 50/50. So our issue is that 18 wheelers already use just about all of the available diesel and an influx of cars using it would be left at the pump with no flow.

Bummer, I worked in Germany for about five years and always preferred the diesel cars from the car pool. I'd be all over an F31 with a diesel 4 and all three pedals.

[JSpira]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

There was a good article in one of the US car magazines a few months ago about why it's unlikely that we'll ever get a significant portion of our cars and trucks onto diesel. The gist of it was that our refineries, which are all forty plus years old were setup to crack oil into roughly 90% gasoline/10% diesel, while Europe's refineries crack at close to 50/50. So our issue is that 18 wheelers already use just about all of the available diesel and an influx of cars using it would be left at the pump with no flow.

That doesn't sound right. To quote from a September article in the Houston Chronicle,

The companies that buy barrels of oil and turn them into gasoline and other fuels have suffered from waning consumer demand for years, closing some refineries and reducing operations at others.

...

Diesel powers about 3 percent of U.S. passenger vehicles, said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, a nonprofit industry organization. Industry consultants expect the CAFE regulations will help push their market share to 8 percent by 2025.
That could be a boon for U.S. refiners, which now produce about twice as much gasoline as diesel fuel. Marathon Oil Corp. completed a $3.9 billion expansion of its Garyville, La., refinery in late 2009 and better equipped it to produce diesel. "When we look at the need for diesel, not only in the U.S., but the Far East, China and Central America, we feel very positive," said Robert Calmus, a spokesman for Marathon Petroleum Corp., the new refining company spun off from Marathon Oil earlier this year. Other U.S. refiners, including Valero, are eyeing growing diesel demand overseas for exports. Shell and Saudi Refining are expanding the diesel export capacity of their jointly owned Port Arthur refinery, said Tom Purves, vice president of manufacturing for the project.
Sweetening the pot, diesel has been commanding a larger profit margin than gasoline, noted Roger Ihne, a refining industry consultant for Deloitte. While the CAFE rule is expected to increase diesel use by light-duty vehicles on U.S. roads, it also requires that buses, commercial trucks and other big vehicles improve diesel fuel efficiency up to 20 percent by model year 2018.

[smellthebeans]

I recently spent over one month in a 500 rental not a diesel. I even drove it from Vicenza Italy to Stuttgart and back. Fantastic seats in my opinion.

At first I did not think the torsion bar rear set up it would be all that great. But, man was I surprised! Toss this little car into a corner and smile. It handles mid corner bumps (plenty on Italian back roads) without much fuss.

Proof positive that smaller is better. To bad it is not selling so well in the US.