The hot hatchback’s main purpose is to put a smile on the face of its driver. Owners will forgive and forget the flaws, the compromises the carmaker had to make to deliver a go-faster small car. Here the heart will always rule the head. The three-door Fiat 500 Abarth is the perfect example of such trade-offs. Inside and out it is dressed to thrill, with lots of detailing to suit the Scorpion logo, company founder Carlo Abarth’s zodiac sign.  But despite the fancy bits the cabin layout remains a Fiat 500: two seats up front, two smaller ones in the back, and an even smaller boot. The smiley face begins once you fire up the engine, push the ‘1’ button for first gear, and move off under a raspy exhaust note. What happens next will wipe the smile off your face. The robotised manual gearbox – an automated manual with no clutch pedal and paddle shifters on the steering column – in the 500 Esseesse doesn’t like shifting up a gear. There’s a brief delay – it feels like the car is about to run out of petrol – at low revs while the electronics do their thing. Upshifts get better as the revs climb towards 6000rpm, especially in ‘Sport’ mode where peak torque rises to 230Nm. Lifting off the accelerator on each upshift helps. Shifting down, however, is a delight, the process neatly matching engine revs. Get through the upshift learning curve and the little hatchback struts its stuff. On good roads, it is bags of fun. Steering is accurate, handling quick and sharp, grip tenacious, ride firm – always very firm – and composed. On bad roads, the ride gets crashy and noisy. There is so little travel in the shock absorbers – another compromise to performance – that the car sort of jars out of one bump and slings itself into another. Too long on a bad road will rattle the fillings in your teeth. In a nutshell, there are better go-fast hatchbacks, one or two costing a few thousands dollars less. But the Fiat 500 Abarth has a character all its own. It plays games with your mind; makes you smile, charms your socks off.

Good features
Handling, steering, lively engine, overall charm

Not so good
Crashy ride on bad surfaces, automated manual gearbox

The post Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse appeared first on Automotive News NZ.

Rental car companies looking for a small car option with factory-built sat-nav for tourists should take a look at the facelifted Citroen C3 Exclusive. For starters, it has one of the airiest cabins in its class, thanks largely to side windows that fall lower than the bonnet line, and the vast “Zenith” windscreen. It uses a sliding headlining. In the forward position, the C3’s windscreen is just another windscreen. But sliding the headlining back opens up the windscreen into a panoramic glass roof.  It stretches so far into the roofline that the sun visors have to be mounted on a slide to allow them to reach forward far enough. The result is an exceptionally bright cabin.  It is also one of the roomiest in class, too, helped by some clever packaging and the car’s tall stance, which aids headroom front and rear. Boot space, for instance, at 300 litres, is better than most rivals. The dashboard design, dials and switchgear also compete with the best, the steering wheel can be adjusted every which way, as can the driver’s seat. But the seats themselves could offer more support. On the road the C3 offers acceptable noise levels, a supple ride, and predictable handling. The relationship between the free-revving engine and the dated four-speed auto ‘box is at its best under a light throttle. Jump on it and engine yells out for an extra gear or two that the gearbox can’t provide. A fifth gear would help refinement and economy.

Good features
The airy cabin and clever Zenith ‘screen.

Not so good
Dated four-speed automatic gearbox.

The post Citroen C3 Exclusive appeared first on Automotive News NZ.

Mitsubishi has scored something of a triumph here, with a small car that’s cheap, well equipped, roomy and capable of excellent mileage. Replacing to Colt, Mirage benefits from everything auto engineers have learnt about wringing maximum economy from small-capacity engines, without ruining performance; about making small cars safe; and providing maximum interior room in a compact body package. Contemporary body lines avoid those silly extremes on some of the latest small hatches. The LS is rated at 4.6 litres per 100km overall, the “luxury” GLS at 4.9. Around town, though, we were “only” getting in the sixes. One key to the good mileage is a new 1.2 litre SmartMIVEC three cylinder producing 58kW at 6000rpm and 102Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Although modest figures, they only have to move a curb weight of less than 900kg and a body with a slippery drag co-efficient of 0.30.The automatic is a new Jatco CVT that uses belts and planetary gears. Gears help provide get-up-and-go, then the belts seamlessly take over to provide economical cruising. The engine sounds noisy and hard working when asked to accelerate briskly, but it’s a smooth and quite refined cruiser. Mirage isn’t lacking safety gear, with driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags, ABS, stability and traction control and electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD). There’s a three-point seatbelt at each of the three rear seat positions and a pair of ISOFIX child-seat mounting points. A GLS costs $3000 more and swaps manual air for climate control, 14 inch steel rims for 15 inch alloys, and adds fog lights and bits and pieces such as a spoiler. LS is the better deal. – Phil Hanson

Good features
Compact, economical

Not so good
Noisy, buzzy when busy

The post Mitsubishi Mirage LS appeared first on Automotive News NZ.