Ghettoblaster on wheels Fiat 500L Beats Edition

Fiat is becoming the go-to brand for buyers who want a fun, happy car to turn the drive across town from a horror into a highlight. The 500L Beats Edition uses a punchy stereo from Beats Audio, but it comes at a price. Matt Kimberley reports.

What’s new? The 500L Beats Edition takes the ruggedly smart 500L Trekking and adds a big stereo from the makers of Beats Audio headphones. Imagine Daniel Craig holding a ghettoblaster and you’re along the right lines. It keeps the chunky, off-road capable tyres and tall stance of the Trekking, but on the inside there’s a multi-speaker sound system that includes a subwoofer for deeper, more powerful bass notes. Even playing music through a basic Bluetooth connection the quality is surprisingly good. Fiat has chosen to squeeze as much potential for fun as possible into its new range of cars, setting them up not just as everyday tools but as essential parts of a lifestyle.

Looks and image Special colour schemes and red detailing throughout the car make this probably the bestlooking of all the 500Ls that have so far come to the market. Frankly it’s a smashing-looking no-so-little thing, and a car that most young families would be over the moon to have outside.

Space and practicality The boot floor is pretty high, but don’t let that put you off. There’s still a load of room in there for everyday stuff, even if it’s maybe too plush a car to want to try to squeeze a St Bernard into the back. Families will just want to have a nose around it to see if it’s big enough for their own lifestyles. On the practicality front the Trekking platform comes with chunky semi-winter tyres as standard, giving the Beats Engine: 1.6-litre diesel producing 118bhp and 236lb/ft Transmission: Six-speed manual driving the front wheels Performance: Top speed 117mph, 0-62mph in 10.7 seconds Economy: 61.4mpg combined Emissions: 120g/km of CO2 Edition a huge grip advantage when temperatures take a plunge worthy of Tom Daley.

Behind the wheel Mild-mannered, easy to drive and surprisingly comfortable are the defining characteristics, although an honorary mention goes to the Beats Audio stereo system, which, while it can’t touch the Meridian and Naim packages in Jaguars and Bentleys, makes a brilliant fist of giving your music a bit more punch. The new 120-horsepower 1.6-litre diesel engine is a star, too, using new turbocharger technology to make itself much, much quieter and more refined than its predecessors.

Who would buy one? The family that revolves around music would love this. Whether it’s classical or hiphop the Beats Audio system pumps out the tunes with that ‘wow factor’. In this class of car there aren’t many others with great stereos, so anyone who loves their music loud should start forming an orderly queue. This car summed up in a single word: Loud If this car was a…: house party it would be Noel’s: loud, entertaining and everyone’s invited.