Fiat 500X SUV: funky-looking and good-to-drive

Price:£14,595 - £25,845

Pros: Attractive retro styling, handles nicely, well equipped

Cons: Nine-speed automatic gearbox not great, some cabin materials feel cheap, large alloys give firm ride

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

3.2/5, Carbuyer "The Fiat 500X aims to replicate the success of the Fiat 500 city car in the compact crossover class. This type of car combines the neat size and low running costs of a supermini with the practicality and raised driving position of an SUV. The Nissan Juke was the first model in the class to really make the formula work, and other rivals for the 500X include the Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008 and Vauxhall Mokka. The Fiat also shares many parts with its Jeep Renegade sister model. Fiat offers the 500X in two distinct versions. There's a regular model, available in Pop, Pop Star and Lounge specifications and aimed mainly at urban drivers, as well as the more rugged Cross and Cross Plus, which are more suited to off-road driving. The Pop, Pop Star and Lounge are front-wheel-drive only and come with a choice of petrol or diesel power, while at launch the Cross and Cross Plus are available as front-wheel-drive petrols, front-wheel-drive diesels or four-wheel-drive diesels. A four-wheel-drive petrol option will be added to the Cross line-up later in 2015.

4/5, Auto Express “The handling is surprisingly sharp and high-speed refinement is exemplary for a car in this class, making it a perfect small family car for fashion-conscious buyers.”

4/5, Parkers "The suspension for the two-wheel drive models was soft, making easy work of bumps and dips in the roads, though the 4X4 Cross and Cross Plus versions are a little on the firm side.”

4/5, Telegraph "It's in its cheaper, simpler forms that the 500X is at its best. The Pop Star version on 17-inch wheels bimbles innocuously over most bumps, where the Lounge and Cross Plus with their 18-inch wheels crash and jolt.”