Jack Frost’s winging his way to town, and if he’s winging in a FIAT 500, we can assume he found surprisingly ample space to bring enough snow and ice to annoy you this winter. Your FIAT 500 was designed with all four seasons in mind, and there’s plenty more winterizing you can easily accomplish with your service manager.  Now is the time to visit your FIAT Studio to prepare for winter. Here’s what your service manager will look for : High temps can weaken your car’s battery over the summer months, leaving you at risk come winter. Check it for a strong charge, but also check for corrosion and other damage to its terminals or case. If you notice dim or flickering interior or exterior lights, or if your ride is slow to start, it may be time for a new battery. Stick a penny in your tire treads, and if you can still see the top of Lincoln’s head, well, trust “honest Abe”– it’s time for new tires. Also, be sure to check your tires for overall wear. While the 500 comes with a standard tire-pressure monitoring system, make an extra effort to be properly inflated during the cold months for optimal traction and fuel economy.

Driving with snow, ice and salt mingling on your windshield is hard enough. Don’t make winter driving more dangerous by ignoring janky wiper blades. If you’ve been checking your blades with every oil change, good! If not, get on that, ASAP. If you notice any unusual squeaking or shredding, it’s time to replace. It’s a good idea to check your antifreeze/coolant level once a year. Do so before winter really sets in, and make sure your car’s power steering, brake, transmission and windshield washer fluids are topped off at factory-recommended levels. Since you’re under the hood, be sure to check the air filter, too. Like properly inflated tires, unrestricted airflow improves both overall performance and efficiency. But it’s not all on you… Don’t think you have to do all the work. If you’re driving a 500, you’ll benefit from its standard Electronic Stability Control (ESC) this winter and beyond. As you focus on the road ahead, ESC works behind the scenes, coordinating vehicle steering, braking and traction to keep you on your chosen path or to get you back on course should you skid on wet or slippery pavement.

For more information on getting your Cinquecento ready for winter, check out this Interactive Maintenance Guide. If you have helpful tips or tricks of your own, share in the comments or over on Facebook. © 2012 FCA US LLC, FIAT, FIAT 500 POP, and ABARTH are registered trademarks used under license by FCA US LLC.Fit on your car > The selection of tires for your FIAT 500 must be made carefully, with consideration for several factors, including the type of car, the dimensions, and the manner in which the vehicle is used, with respect to the routes that are taken on a daily basis. Tickets Bryan Adams LuxembourgTo help you in this delicate research stage, Pirelli has created a comprehensive tire catalog for FIAT, designed to ensure excellent driving performance in all conditions, and absolute safety. Graco Car Seat Shelf Life

In the extensive Pirelli catalog, you will find a wide selection of tires for FIATs designed for high performance: winter, summer and all-season tires, specifically for city cars, SUVs, sedans, or sports cars. The Pirelli tires for the FIAT 500 are a perfect marriage of technology and innovation, made with a special tread compound that can tackle any weather condition without hesitation. The tread pattern of the tire is designed to ensure maximum grip, both straight and cornering, while reducing hydroplaning on wet roads, braking distances, and fuel consumption. Giant House Rabbit For Sale NewcastleReviewing the specifications sheet for each FIAT 500 tire will allow you to verify their technical features, comparing the various possible options. Once you've found the FIAT 500 tires that will best meet your needs, contact an authorized Pirelli retailer for more details on the technical aspects and complete your purchase with complete confidence.

When the time comes to replace your FIAT 500 tires, choose the signature quality and security of Pirelli. What Fiat do you drive?Tips from our Pros: Modos with Winter Tires Kelvin S., Operations Manager My Modo neighbourhood: Coquitlam My Favourite Modo: Fiat 500 Abarth Where I Modo: Around Coquitlam and Buntzen Lake My Tip of the Month: Book our winterized fleet — check for winter tires and roof racks! As we come closer to the holiday season, the first thought my team has every year is preparing your Modos for the winter. Aside from regularly scheduled maintenance, we equip many of our All Wheel Drive vehicles (AWDs) with winter tires. We’ve already started the install process and by mid-November, we’ll have 50 vehicles in the fleet outfitted with winter tires. How do I book one of these Modos? You can quickly find a Modo with winter tires by using the Filter Search when booking online or on your phone. Select Required Accessories filter

Choose any accessories you want for your trip, including winter tires Confirm your choices and then click Search to pull up a customized list to choose from See the screenshots below for a visual guide! FYI, winter sports fans — all our caravans have roof racks ready to transport your gear!1. It's plenty pretty.Listen, we all know about the 500L: the gangly mini people mover Fiat hastily brought to showrooms to show us the company gets the American market. That thing looks like a Mazda MPV wearing a suit made from the skins of three or four 500s. The 500X is an attractive thing, incorporating design elements from its smaller brother in a proportional way. The nose is slightly more aggressive, with downturned headlights in place of the pie-eyed look of the 500, and sculpted shoulders over each wheel give the machine more visual muscle. Overall, the translation works just fine. The result is good helping of personality in a segment that's more catatonic than catwalk.2.

You're going to dig the interior. The 500X is big enough for four full-grown adults inside, but that's not what makes the interior good. Fiat nailed the material choices in the upper trims, including gorgeous brown premium leather seats on Trekking Plus models. While base cars get a painted dash to match the exterior color, nice textured pieces show up elsewhere. The seats are comfortable and there's plenty of rearward visibility.The 500X does suffer from a huge set of A pillars, however. Don't bother trying to look through a turn.The rear hatch offers up a good amount of room, and the folding seat backs make space for longer items. Likewise, the floor has two positions to accommodate taller cargo.3. The tires make all the difference. Fiat offers three tire options on the 500X, including an 18" Continental, a 17" Continental, and a 17" Nexen. The latter shows up on base cars, and is good for little more than spoiling an otherwise decent ride. Compared to its Conti-shod twins, our wide-sidewalled tester felt sloppy and disconnected.

The Nexens turned the steering vague and accentuated body roll. They also wailed in duress at the first hint of aggression. Avoid those suckers at all costs.The larger 18" wheel and Continental rubber solves most of those woes, or at least puts the 500X on better footing against upcoming rivals like the Mazda CX-3 and Honda HR-V, as well as the currently available Nissan Juke. With the bigger rubber, steering feels more responsive and the body roll dials back to tolerable levels.4. Yes, you want the manual transmission.Most buyers will wind up with a 2.4-liter Multiair four-cylinder engine stuck to a nine-speed automatic transmission. There's also an all-wheel drive option, though Fiat is quick to point out that the system is designed to provide on-road traction, not off-road prowess. The combination is good for 180 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque, and can huck the 3,000 lb CUV to speed with relative ease. The nine-speed automatic hunts and pecks, seldom letting the engine settle down.

Fiat's made big noise about the drive-mode selector on the 500X, offering buyers on-the-fly switching between Sport, Auto, and Traction + modes. Traction + dulls throttle inputs, offers up second-gear starts, and generally keeps the tires from flailing in slippery conditions, while Auto mode is good enough for daily duty. Sport mode is good for little more than making the transmission worse, with abrupt, surging leaps from gear to gear. Gross.And that's what you get in almost every trim, with the exception of the lowly base Pop. There's a jewel down here in the cheap seats. For starters, you get the same turbocharged 1.4-liter four-cylinder found in the devilish 500 Abarth. It makes good, brusque, Italian noises, and delivers almost 10 more lb-ft of torque than its larger-displacement counterpart thanks to 22 psi of boost. Yeah, it makes do with 20 fewer horses, but you won't care. It's the better engine.5. The base car is the best of the bunch.The 1.4 is bolted to a solid six-speed manual, and the duo will chirp the tires in second all day long.