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Here's one for you. Sometime next year I'm considering getting myself a toy (call it my mid-life crisis). I really hanker after one of the new Fiat 500's - the 1.4 16v. Having driven one I love it & would really like one. Whilst it wouldn't be first choice as an out & out towcar, has anyone actually towed anything with one?

I intend towing a small camping trailer, fair enough it'll easily cope with that. But, we were also kind of thinking about possibly buying an Eriba Puck caravan (we've had one before) which is really tiny (about 10ft) and lightweight. Used to tow our previous Puck with a Rover 213 1.3 which easily coped with the van. Indeed the Puck weighs in at about 700kg according to the mfrs & the Fiat 500 mfrs towing limit is given at 800kg, so in theory should be OK (will at least be legal). Now I know about the 85% rule etc which is normally recommended (I have towed caravans before - bigger outfits) - the 500's kerb weight is 930kg so the Puck is within the 85% rule. I reckon the amount I'm likely to be towing (occasional) if I pick my routes carefully - always used to when towing anyway - (I'll not expect to tackle mountain roads towing), I reckon should be OK if I don't expect startling performance whilst towing. 

But has anyone on here actually towed anything with the new Fiat 500?

And has anyone on here towed an Eriba Puck with any other small car?

Thanks MartyM. You are quite right of course I would be running the Puck intentionally as light as poss (always did with our old one) so no it won't be loaded up to it's MGW. And yes Eriba's do tow beautifully (our old Puck did anyway).   

I know diesels often make better towcars generally in view of their torque characteristics, and modern diesel engines are very good. But I will admit to having a personal (maybe irrational to some?) dislike of diesels and cannot bring myself to have one (although I did consider it when buying my current Berlingo which the 500 will replace). Fuel cost doesn't come into it for me - I do so few miles now anyway (I walk to & from work) it won't make a significant enough difference. The other thing is that the 500 is after all most of the time going to be my "toy" so driving solo I'd much prefer the performance /refinement/driving characteristics of the 16v petrol engine. No, the actual engine choice is a given, I've already decided on the 1.4 petrol which should be fine for towing a Puck. But I would be interested to hear from anyone who has towed with the new Fiat 500.

Can you put a tow bar on it?  Some of the really small cars never had tow bars manufactured for them as they weren't rated for towing by the manufacturer.  The Ford Ka was one such vehicle if I remember correctly.

Ali

Quote: Originally posted by snowy747 on 01/11/2008

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Can you put a tow bar on it?  Some of the really small cars never had tow bars manufactured for them as they weren't rated for towing by the manufacturer.  The Ford Ka was one such vehicle if I remember correctly.

Ali

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Yes I had a Ka for 7 years - it would easily have towed our Combi-camp or our Eriba Puck, & I would have had a trailer for all our camping gear, but possibly for technical reasons Ford never saw fit to rate it for towing. Maybe because it was manfrd down to a price - it was based on an old cut down Fiesta platform, or maybe because towing didn't fit Ford's perceived image for it & it's target market - it was a "cool" motor and towing isn't "cool" so it wasn't the right image Ford was after.

They may also have been mindful of the problems with the original early Mark III Escorts that had problems with the rear ends not being sturdy enough so people using them to tow with were pulling the rear end out of alignment. Later versions were modified to cure that problem. The margins on the Ka were probably considered too small to warrant the cost of redesigning the cut down Fiesta platform to make it sturdy enough (perhaps also why it's taken so long for Ford to come up with a new Ka). We're talking here about the same co. that worked out the resultant likely compensation claims would cost them far less than the cost of putting right a dangerous safety fault with the Ford Pinto. 

Anyway, the new Fiat 500 - yes you can put a towbar on it, I've already checked. There's a detachable one available - ideal as it means the appearance of the car is unspoilt (just one of the 500's many appealing factors is its looks). And Fiat do publish towing limits for it. 

Love those fiat 500's, our next door but one neighbours daughter (I think) has a yellow one and its dead funky

We used to tow a freedom caravan (light weight) with a suzuki wagon R 1.3 and it towed fine, Lightweight van, easy and cheap to tax and insure car (my bank misses those days)

Nowadays we have a 7 seat van/mpv thing with a 1500kg van that we love but if it we're just two of us with 1 dog again we would change to a smaller car and light van.

Just noticed you are in Redditch, Snap (Greenlands to be precise!)

Oopps, pressed wrong button!

I haven't any experience of towing with a small car but there is an article featuring the Fiat 500 in this month's Camping and Caravan Club magazine.

I have driven a Fiat Seicento Sporting for the last two years, having changed from a Punto and I love it!!  Fun to drive, economical on Petrol and looks really funky.  If I was in the market for a newer model, I would definitely look at the 500!