Quote:
Originally Posted by babydriver
I would never in my entire life own a Fiat. Everyone I've ever known that had any model of Fiat had nothing but trouble. In the shop more than on the road.
Also, I didn't crash my FR-S this week... but as Scarlett O'Hara said, "Tomorrow is another day."
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Since it was a rental I have no clue on reliability but understand they have come a long way from the old ones.
Drivability was not bad if you need a car just to zip around town and it actually handled really nice when I took it through the canyons. The steering is spot on and the suspension did an OK job of keeping it in the right place in a turn. It does of course tend to understeer but not horribly.
However, the acceleration of the AT from a stop makes the FRS seem like a Mustang GT and I thought it was going to blow up every time I pushed it. The injectors sound like a machine gone going off beside you even at an idle and there were so many creaks, rattles and other interior noises the FRS now is like riding in a Lexus.
Controls ergonomics were poor and the placement of the shift lever was designed by a mad man in a fit of total hatred for all drivers (and that was with AT with MT it would have been worse). All the gauges are crammed into the one little circle and you are not really sure if that is the tack or temperature you are looking at with a quick glance. Whoever designed a gas gauge that only shows in 1/8 of a tank blocks should be taken out and shot. Seating was comfortable but the rear seats are only about 5% more useful than the FRS and the "trunk" is about the same size as the glove box on my old 58 Chev. By folding the rear seats forward you gain about 3/4 of an inch and getting two suitcases in there tested my Tetris skills to the max. It did have some really slick fold down arm rests for the front though.
All in all it was a good little rental and handled my driving in the nightmare conditions of Vegas like a champ but I would never want to own one.