Fiat 500L: A really big tiny car

Now, the 500L isn't a total slouch when it comes to performance. It actually has the same engine under it's stubby hood as the performance-tuned Fiat 500 Abarth and while the engine is the same, It doesn't sound like the loud growling Abarth. That's because this car has a muffler, something engineers left off the Abarth. But the turbo-charged four-cylinder engine still puts out 160-horsepower and 185 pound-feet of torque. Granted, this is a bigger heavier machine but the 500L never seems particularly short of power.

Even with that extra length, the 500L is far from large on the outside. It's a lot shorter, nose-to-tail, than a Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus or Honda Civic. It's also narrower. That makes it ideal for squirming through city gridlock and sliding deftly past double parked delivery trucks. So it properly maintains Fiat's urban street smarts.

NEXT: Very big room inside