Test drive Fiat Seicento 1998 - 2001 hatchback

Baby from the Fiat family

A joke on the topic:

Why is the radio do not install a radio in the Cossacks? And why, anyway, the knees of the ears can be heard.

Despite a large number of foreign cars on our roads, there are also classes of cars, which our motorists know only by hearing and newspapers. These are classes of the Grand Tourism class, a variety of limousines and stretchs and, oddly enough, are of particular small class cars. I repent, I myself once, having traveled on the oka and several Japanese smells, crossed them out of the clan of cars forever. But times are changing, and the other day the new Fiat Seicento made me look at the babies in a new way.

Initially, we wanted to take another model for the test, but when we saw a funny orange-gold muzzle Seicento, as if on command, turned to him in the parking lot. The three -door hatchback, recently removed from the car carrier, had a mileage of only twelve kilometers. While the craftsmen brought the car to the condition removed film coatings, laid rugs, installed plastic parts, examine it from the outside. The first thing that caught my eye, despite its purely urban purpose, SEI-CENTO has a rather large road clearance. And if you add minimal overhangs in front and especially from behind, then, in terms of overcoming various obstacles in the form of borders and the SEICENTO pardon, it should be very good. Wheel disks for thirteen inches are successfully combined with the appearance of the car, but for operation on our roads it is better to put a rubber with a high profile.

Having a little tormented with the lock of the hood lock, we found that our copy is equipped with a four -cylinder, a transversely located gasoline engine with a working volume of 900 cubic meters. See other modern motorcycles have a working volume twice as large. But this is not the main thing: given the small weight of Seicento, the power of this 40-horsepower engine is enough, especially if you go alone. After all, cars of this class are very sensitive to the load, and therefore the characteristics depend even on the number of passengers.

The salon pleased us with a very unusual shape of the instrument panel and the central console. By the number of places where you can store all sorts of trinkets, this baby can argue with the minivans. Sitting behind the wheel, you note a slightly vertical landing, and since the steering column is not adjusted, you have to drive closer. Another thing is the seat of the front passenger, slightly leaning back, you can go very comfortably. Yes, and the back sin to complain in the knees, the supply of space remains 10-15 centimeters, and also freely above the head. But, apparently, the small size and frivolous color of many caused associations with a toy, and therefore all the suitable people had the first, and the unreasonable claim was to the rear seat. Already tired of proved anything, we just threw back the front seat and let the doubtful there. By the way, landing both on the front and back seat is very convenient: the wide door and height of the machine make this procedure simply inconspicuous. If you pull the lever on the side of the front seat, then it leans, thoroughly leaving forward. So even people, two meters tall, climbed there without problems.

When creating this car, the main emphasis was on reducing the cost, and therefore we did not expect to see here climate control or leather interior. The door casing looks like that in a penny is also a small cheap insert in the central part, and bare iron around the perimeter. At the back of the sheathing, they didn’t save so much, but the unknown fragments of the wheel tires that stick out on the sides of the rear seat pillow are perplexed. Not only is it unaesthetic, it will also be quite tough if the three of them go from behind. Well, in general, everything is done quite high quality and the lever of a 5-speed manual gearbox, and pockets on the doors, and even the round-line control of ventilation and stove.

Well, it's time to drive. We start the engine, and the salon is filled with a measured buzzing. The engine practically does not give vibrations, and in terms of noise is at the level of Lada. Since there is no tachometer, only noise can serve as a kind of turnover limiter, because it is very difficult to say by dragic indicators whether the engine has already passed into the red zone, or you can continue acceleration. This is because the main peak of torque falls on the range of 1800-3000 rpm. It is very convenient in the city, releasing the clutch, you get a good jerk, and Seicento is always left from the traffic light. True, after ten to fifteen meters, other foreign cars and Samara begin to overtake it. Owners of other Soviet cars are difficult to succeed.

To improve dynamic indicators, the designers had to make very short gears, and if you want to go quickly, you often have to work as a gear lever. Fortunately, despite the large length of the lever, the clarity of the gear shifts is very good. For all the time of the test, no one has ever made a mistake with the choice of transmission, although this happens on some even more expensive cars.

In order to understand why Europeans are so fond of low -iority, it was enough for me to drive from the street. Zheleznodorozhnaya to Bangalor Square. Zhukov Oryolovskaya, who are warmly beloved by our motorists with countless traffic lights, quickly placed all the dots over I. On almost all traffic lights, we invariably found ourselves in the front row, although we drove up the last. Any more or less decent clearance between cars allowed us to carry out such maneuvers that you did not even think about driving another car about. After several such rebuildings, Seicento began to be associated with a scooter.

Slightly carried away by the races, I did not have time to rebuild, and a surprise was waiting for us behind the nearest intersection. And so far from the ideal, the road was dotted with rectangles, which are hidden in the asphalt for its subsequent repair. The suspension suffered such a cruel test without a single sound, and only the deepest pardon responded with a hard shudder. In general, when moving among all noise at a speed of 60-80 km/h dominates the sound of the engine, but if you switch to the fifth gear, then it disappears. A large number of parts without sound insulation in the cabin were to create a high noise background, but this is not.

The brakes were at a height despite the absence of ABS, thanks to the sensitive pedal, you can accurately slow down on the verge of locking. The tires provide a good slowdown in both dry and wet asphalt, but in lateral slides they begin to slide long before the appearance of dangerous rolls. Apparently, the designers deliberately went to this step, the soft suspension and high landing are poor allies during the speed of turning, and to protect the car from overturning, the tires begin to slip into a larger radius. The steering has a very low sensitivity in the near -storage position, and to pass the snake you have to turn it on large angles. But thanks to this, the light Seicento will not scour along the highway at high speed.

The logic of the work of the front wiper is not clear. In order to wash the glass, in all cars it is enough to pull the lever over the nozzles serve water until you hold the lever, after which the brushes automatically make three or four waves. In Seicento, you pull the nozzle lever over the nozzles, let go and ... nothing. The brushes need to be turned on separately. Strange focus.

But all these claims seem to be small nit-picking, after you try to park Seicento somewhere in the city center. It seems that you can get into any gap, the main thing is not to overdo it. A small length allows you to put the machine with diagonally or even transversely, if necessary. Well, the diagonal parking of the nightmare of any cadet of a driving school on Seicento does not create any problems. If where you wanted to squeeze, there are at least 3 meters of free area, then you can call there on the first attempt. A good, unlike most foreign cars, overview through the rear window allows you to park with a distance of 5-7 cm. In addition, the car is equipped with a fool on the edge of both side doors there is a small rubber spit, so if your passenger completely open the door in order to set it up His long legs, and the limiter of tearing the door will be standing near Grand Cherokee, then both cars and the neighboring cars will do without damage and scratches.

So if you value more imaginary prestige in the car convenience and reliability, take a closer look at Seicento. I'm sure you will not regret it.

Pavel Kozlovsky
 
 

Source: Auto -Gazeta / N 17 (276) dated 17.05.00