{"id":17323,"date":"2015-10-10T09:35:08","date_gmt":"2015-10-10T13:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=17323"},"modified":"2015-10-10T09:35:08","modified_gmt":"2015-10-10T13:35:08","slug":"payne-papal-fiat-500l-vs-presidential-chevy-suburban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/payne-papal-fiat-500l-vs-presidential-chevy-suburban","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Papal Fiat 500L vs. Presidential Chevy Suburban"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Contrasting<\/p>\n

When Pope Francis arrived at the White House in a Fiat 500L station wagon last month, media reports buzzed about his humble, fuel-sipping, little ride. Well … maybe \u201clittle\u201d when compared to the giant, Secret Service\u00a0Chevy Suburbans<\/a>\u00a0that usually ferry Washington dignitaries. Or the custom-built, gas-guzzling Cadillac limo \u2014 Secret Service code-name \u201cThe Beast\u201d \u2014 that President Obama tools around in (when he\u2019s not in one of two, presidential-sealed Suburbans).<\/p>\n

Or maybe the pope\u2019s Vatican team went out and found the biggest Italian car sold in the States.<\/p>\n

As prominent members of the Save the Polar Bear Club, the pope and the president might prefer, say, a battery-powered Fiat 500e subcompact (EPA rating: 116 MPGe) and a plug-in electric Chevy Volt sedan (EPA rating: 106 MPGe). But circumstances demand the opposite.<\/p>\n

Our leaders, it turns out, are no different than the rest of us when it comes to selecting their transportation in cheap-gas, big-avenue America: They prioritize practicality and comfort (and if they can wave the flag of a domestic brand, all the better).<\/p>\n

I drove a 500L and a Chevy Suburban side-by-side for a week to gain the perspective of pope and prez (or at least their chauffeur) \u2014 and the vehicles they are endorsing for America.<\/p>\n

Two feet longer and a half-foot taller than a Fiat 500, the L (for Large, introduced in 2013) got the free-advertising gift of a lifetime: A papal ride before a TV audience of millions.<\/p>\n

Truth be told, Fiat dealers would probably have preferred the pope in the all-new, 2016 Fiat 500X small ute which promises more success for the beleaguered brand \u2014 even though it\u2019s marginally smaller than the Large. We Yanks are ga-ga for crossovers.<\/p>\n

Still, the pope\u2019s visit has given\u00a0the tepid-selling L a shot in the arm<\/a>. Kelley Blue Book\u2019s website recorded a 50 percent spike in searches for Fiat and the 500L after the pope\u2019s visit. \u201cWe\u2019ve been inundated with calls,\u201d Kathy Finn, brand manager for Fiat Chrysler, told Bloomberg News. \u201cCustomers are calling surprised at how spacious the car is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Francis isn\u2019t the first headliner to endorse the 500L (remember P. Diddy\u2019s desert mirage ad?<\/a>), proving products aren\u2019t sold on celebrity alone. Still, the 500L is worth a drive. Like its competitors in the Multi-Purpose Vehicle (FCA\u2019s preferred name \u2014anything\u00a0<\/em>but \u201cstation wagon\u201d) segment, the L is a different animal.<\/p>\n

Take its upright, toaster shape.<\/p>\n

While the 500L bears Fiat\u2019s familiar, baby-cute face (is that a pacifier stuck in its grille?), the body behind it is less Fiat 500 and more Chrysler Town & Country. Honey, I shrunk the minivan!<\/p>\n

The massive greenhouse has more glass than Notre Dame. And unlike the Paris cathedral\u2019s stained panes, you can see right through the Large, making for excellent driver visibility \u2014 and views of waving popes. Fiat even added windows on the corner A- and C-pillars for better visibility. Include the optional moonroof on my tester and the pope has an unobstructed view of heaven from the backseat.<\/p>\n

Speaking of rear seats, the L has plenty of room for this 6\u20195\u201d ex-basketball player, much less the 5\u20199\u201d Francis. They\u2019ll tumble or fold flat, too, opening up the already ample 23 cubic feet of trunk volume. And the L comes with an excellent Beats stereo system \u2014 in case the pontiff wants to chill to some Diddy.<\/p>\n

From a distance, both the Suburban and 500L look like shoeboxes. And that\u2019s about the only thing they share.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Mark Wahlberg. Shut up!\u201d yells an annoyed theater-goer trying to get the attention of Amy Schumer\u2019s noisy, muscular boyfriend in \u201cTrainwreck.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Mark Wahlberg?\u2019\u201d the boyfriend shouts back. \u201cI look like Mark Wahlberg\u00a0ate<\/em>\u00a0Mark Wahlberg.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the Suburban. If the 500L is a supersized 500, the Chevy\u2019s rear hatch looks like it could swallow it in one bite. Where the L let\u2019s the sunshine in, the Silverado truck-based Suburban\u2019s interior is cavernous, with dark-tinted rear windows and out-of-sight back corners. President Obama could sit in the second row bucket seats, the pope comfortable in the third row bench behind \u2014 and there would still be room for their luggage in the 40 cubic feet of rear cargo space.<\/p>\n

The Suburban LTZ I drove is nearly as luxurious as its cousin, the Cadillac Escalade. Heated and air-conditioned leather seats, flip down movie screen, sun roof, 4G LTE Wi-Fi \u2014 even cool toys like Apple Car Play. Even before the Secret Service installs bulletproof glass the Suburban is loaded with safety systems like pre-collision automatic braking, blind-spot alert, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, 360-degree radar, and anti-aircraft missiles (just kidding about that last one). I managed to park in absurdly tight spaces thanks to the 360-view. Take this bad boy to Rome\u2019s tight streets and it would be still be able to maneuver.<\/p>\n

And if you gotta\u2019 run from the bad guys?<\/p>\n

Both vehicles are surprisingly nimble for their girth. While the Holy Father might have needed a barf bag if he were aboard, I had a blast flogging the balanced L through Oakland County \u2014 only betrayed by a wee 1.4-liter turbo engine that\u2019s not up to the task of the 3,200-pound MPV. The Suburban, meanwhile, is a revelation.<\/p>\n

Just shy of three tons, the LTZ is an elephant in ballet slippers. With coil-over springs front and rear and Magnetic Ride Control shocks, it glides along, taking corners with surprising confidence. On dark, slick Pontiac Trail one Saturday night, the Chevy was sure-footed as I chauffeured Mrs. Payne to a wedding reception. Nail the throttle out of a corner with 4WD churning and the 5.3-liter V-8 pulled like a farm ox. Catch me if you can, ISIS.<\/p>\n

The Fiat puts the Chevy in its rear view mirror when it comes to fuel economy (duh): 25 mpg to 18. Still, the Suburban has a green safety net: It can run on good ol\u2019 American-made, corn ethanol. When I was a reporter in Washington a couple of presidents ago, I asked if the Secret Service filled the Suburbans\u2019 tanks with ethanol. My inquiry was met with, um, suspicion. Awkward. I swear I was followed for the next month.<\/p>\n

Still, the president might insist on it. It would give him a hole card should the pope ever claim that he has the greener ride.<\/p>\n

2016 Fiat 500L<\/p>\n

Vehicle type:\u00a0Front-engine, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger station wagon<\/p>\n

Price:\u00a0$20,800 ($26,895 as tested)<\/p>\n

Power plant:\u00a01.4-liter, 16-valve, turbocharged inline-4 cylinder<\/p>\n

Power:\u00a0160 horsepower, 184 pound-feet of torque<\/p>\n

Transmission:\u00a0Six-speed manual; six-speed, twin-clutch; six-speed automatic<\/p>\n

Performance:\u00a00-60 mph, 8.9 seconds (Car & Driver)<\/p>\n

Weight:\u00a03,254 pounds (six-speed automatic as tested)<\/p>\n

Fuel economy:\u00a0EPA 22 mpg city\/30 mpg highway\/25 mpg combined (FWD manual)<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs:\u00a0Excellent visibility; lotsa\u2019 personality<\/p>\n

Lows:\u00a0Peaky turbo engine; third row, please?<\/p>\n

Overall:\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Pope Francis arrived at the White House in a Fiat 500L station wagon last month, media reports buzzed about his humble, fuel-sipping, little ride. Well … maybe \u201clittle\u201d when compared to the giant, Secret Service\u00a0Chevy Suburbans\u00a0that usually ferry Washington dignitaries. Or the custom-built, gas-guzzling Cadillac limo \u2014 Secret Service code-name \u201cThe Beast\u201d \u2014 that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17323"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17324,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17323\/revisions\/17324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}