Out for a Drive

Sure am glad I went for the sunroof after all.  I was originally looking at the fixed glass that did not open just to get a little more headroom.  Thank goodness I didn't.  Who wants a window that you can't open :)

Lots of fun to open the windows and the roof on a sunny day.

Luigi Key Chain

After much Ebay searching I found the perfect keychain for Luigi  - A Luigi keychain.  Since the Super Mario Luigi was the inspiration for naming my 500 it seemed appropriate.  He waves at me while I am driving!!

Key Covers

Picked up these fun key covers on Ebay.  I was happy to find this set that included one white and one green Key cover.  The green is really close to the Verde Chiaro but not an exact match.

They were easy to install and look really sharp.  So much better than the standard black keys that all cars have.

Welcome package from Fiat

I received a welcome package in the mail from Fiat this week.  It was a nice touch.  Of course I had heard of an earlier practice of actually sending a FIAT branded usb flash drive.  Now that would have been cool!

Nevertheless, the little booklet they sent was fun to look through.  It also included a road side assistance card to put in your car.

EcoDrive

The next thing I have started playing around with is EcoDrive.  The FIAT 500 comes with a program built in that will track your driving habits and give you tips to be more fuel efficient.  

Basically, you download the software from their website onto a USB thumb drive.  You plug this in to your FIAT 500 and turn on EcoDrive.  I have found that you don't have to leave the thumb drive in all the time.  Your Fiat will store up to 8 days worth of driving information.  So I am plugging mine in each week to download the data from the car.  

You take the USB and plug it back into your computer in order to see how you stack up.  They give you an Eco Index between 1 and 100.  The higher number the more fuel efficient you are.  The tips they give you are common sense things like accerlate slowly and don't be an aggressive driver.  I guess that is easier said than done for some people.

So how did I do so far?  After my first week I was given a rating of 66.  This was already above the "community" which is the average of all the registered Fiat owners.  This past week I have been trying out my cruise control for the drive to work.  So I plugged in the updated data to see if it made a difference.  Wow.  I'm already at 77!  

While the EcoDrive is a fun little feature I'm sure I will get tired of it soon.  Since I already have a high score there isn't much incentive to keep using it. 

Bluetooth Music

One of the first things I had to figure out was how I would play my music or podcasts from my iphone. The Blue&Me system in the FIAT is great for phone calls but you can not stream your music through bluetooth.  You can plug MP3 players into the USB in the glove box and use the controls on the steering wheel to select music.  I really didn't play around with this too much.  My drive to work each day is only around 20 minutes each way.  Having my phone charging (hence using the USB) is not really necessary.  So it would be a pain to have to plug/unplug it.

The solution I went for is a bluetooth receiver.  It looks like a USB thumb drive with a 3mm cord attached.  You plug the USB into your glove box and the 3mm into the aux port next to your USB slot.  So it is completely out of sight.  You sync the receiver to your phone through bluetooth.  So when you get in the car it will automatically connect.  You change your media to be AUX on the radio and select what you want to play directly on your iphone.  The music/podcast will play through your radio stereo.

Here is the one I am using:

MELS 500

I ordered my personalized plates the day I brought Luigi home.  I was thrilled when the plates showed up about 2 weeks later.

There really was no question that Luigi was going to get his own plates.  It is kind of my thing when it comes to the cars I drive.  I know it would make more finanical sense to pick a plate that I could take with me from car to car.  However, that is just not what I do.  I like to keep the plates from each car as a memento.

Here is where it all started.  My first car was MELS BUG.

Then I went with MELZCUBE (never really liked this plate so was glad to see it go)

Here is Luigi with his new plates.  I was also contemplating MELSFIAT but I like how the plates look with a space like my bug plates.  So I was glad to find MELS 500 was available!