Faults:

Few niggles. Cruise doesn't work, screen washer fuse blows. No Bluetooth/USB.

General Comments:

I bought the car on a whim. Part of the appeal being it was loaded with features, including those noted above. I was after a short term fling with a couple of road trips in mind, and was fascinated by the specs of a modern TDi, the likes of which these guys do rather well. The price seemed OK too.

I've always thought the mkII Bravo was a good looking car and am surprised that you just don't see them about. FCA/Stellantis cars have a reasonable share of market presence in this part of the world, but it would seem small is best for Fiats. The medium far and away being dominated by Alfa's Giulietta. Size and appearance wise I suspect they are very close cousins.

Stepping inside you're greeted by a nicely laid out dash/interior, but with a wealth of information, which might take while to familiarize yourself with. I like the seats and generally the interior layout, which hasn't really dated very much. Features wise it's loaded, well for its time, only missing touch screen connectivity. (shame about the stuff that no longer works). I managed to get comfortable with a great range of adjustments, Sadly for the rear occupants things are more cramped with the front seats moved back. Why is it that its forebear, the Tipo, was such a tardis inside, but this isn't, even though like most cars it has grown somewhat...?

Driving: Well it goes pretty well. You're not really inclined to go past 3000. The torque really makes itself felt from round 1500rpm up. As it's my new toy and I'm a recent diesel convert, I test it by short shifting and letting that huge pulling power do its thing. On the open road in 6th it'll be doing 140kph at 2200 rpm. Great legs. I'd not take it faster than that due to the laws of the land. Overall it drives nicely and feels well planted. Mine has new front shocks, brakes and tyres, so feels pretty fresh. All the reviews will say the steering lacks feel which is true enough. Having said that you can thread it through the curves without too much bother and it holds its line easily enough.

Bloody good on gas.

So it's a stylish, feature laden, fast, fun Fiat. And safe. Build quality is reasonable, though the rear doors feel a bit tinny. Reliability seems OK bar the listed faults above, but gimme one of these over a VAG group product of this era any day. Begs the question really - Why didn't they do better?