First drive: Fiat 500 TwinAir

Fiat’s TwinAir technology shows that the 500 has more than just ‘60s kitsch fun to offer customers.

The 500 TwinAir features a two-cylinder 875CC engine and while it’s not particularly refined, it is incredibly peppy and has CO2 emissions of just 95g/km which makes it VED exempt.

Compared with Fiat’s best-selling 1.2-litre petrol engine in the Fiat 500, the TwinAir delivers 23% more power with a 15% reduction in CO2 emissions and fuel consumption.

More than a fifth of 500 sales are forecast to be TwinAir versions and those customers get 85bhp and 68.9mpg too if they drive like saints.

Start&Stop helps with fuel consumption and drivers can also engage ECO mode which cuts torque by 45Nm to 100Nm at 2000rpm to help keep the engine at its most efficient.

This aids drivers to get close to the manufacturer quoted mpg target, but makes the car a lot more sluggish.

Zipping around town is where the 500 TwinAir is most capable, with extremely light steering at slow speeds for easy manoeuvrability which does firm up on the motorway.

Driving the car on a test drive might see customers battling with the gears as they’re extremely short, particularly in first and second

There’s no chance of creeping at a roundabout or pulling away in second and drivers will have to shift down if faced with a hill in fifth gear.

Despite its efficiency the exterior and interior design hasn’t been sedated, it’s still got that quirkiness its target demographic of young female drivers is looking for.