Base price: $26,895
As tested: $35,895
At the time of this review, Fiat sells only five models in the United States. That includes the Fiat 500 subcompact hatchback, which was discontinued at the end of the 2019 model year but there are enough left over in July of 2020 that it’s still listed on Fiat’s site. Make of that what you will. And here, we have the Fiat 500X, which is an upsized version of the 500, and it’s an interesting proposition when most crossover shoppers want, and get, vehicles that make up in value what they overwhelmingly lack in personality.
Though the Fiat 500X doesn’t stand out visually in any meaningful way, it’s still pretty cute. Though technically a small crossover, it just looks like a big hatchback, more so than other vehicles in its class. Still, that’s enough to make it look somewhat less generic than most of its competitors; the round front lights and sporty 18-inch wheels help a lot in this area. The test car for this review wore Grigio Moda (Graphite Gray Metallic) paint, and wore it well, for that matter. Gray and silver cars can be dull, obviously, but here, it added just enough sophistication, and a black contrast roof is a good choice to top it all off.
The Fiat 500X Sport AWD sits near the top of the trim hierarchy, just under the Trekking Plus model, and it’s a new trim for this model year. Since every 500X gets a 177-horsepower 1.3-liter turbo four-cylinder engine, plus all-wheel drive and a nine-speed auto transmission, it’s kind of odd that Fiat added a trim level to the lineup and bothers to call out the AWD as part of the trim name.
About that engine. Though 177 horsepower isn’t great these days, it’s not terrible, either, especially for a subcompact. Once the Fiat 500X gets going, it cruises along nicely and keeps up with highway traffic with ease. It’s loud, but so are most of its competitors. Then there’s the turbo lag, so acute that a launch from a stop felt like a surprise every time. That’s part of driving a turbocharged car, and given the Fiat 500X’s dedication to being different, perhaps it’s supposed to be part of the car’s personality.
The interior of this test car was fitted with sport bucket seats up front, a $995 option. Plenty comfortable, but nearly-four-figures comfortable? That’s a tough call. The overhead ambient lighting, part of the $795 Comfort Group package, is also a nice touch. The chunky sport steering wheel fit my hands nicely. Overall, the cabin design was comfortable and pleasant, with one notable exception.
That infotainment system, though. The display sticks up out of the dash because the interior designers had nowhere else to put it. The touchscreen is small, which I’m generally fine with, except the system’s native icons stayed put along the edge of the frame even with Apple CarPlay engaged, and it’s hard to use CarPlay without tapping one of those icons and navigating away from whatever you were trying to do.
And the fingerprints from all those accidental taps last forever.
To sum up a week in the Fiat 500X, well, it makes sense that Fiat’s in the situation it’s in: it’s not really the time to try to sell a car based on cuteness over all else, and it takes only a look at all the basic compact crossovers on the market to see evidence. There are so many good vehicles (maybe not exciting or even fun, but good) at the $25,000 and $35,000 price points, where the base 500X and the model tested for this review land, that it’s hard to go all in on the Fiat 500X, as cute and peppy as it is. Even though the Fiat 500’s initial charm has faded since it first arrived in the United States, the 500X still scores in the looks department, and it’s decent from behind the wheel. Is it better than most of the numerous small crossovers and hatchbacks at its price point? Probably not. But no one ever bought an Italian car for its practicality.
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