Fiat IDEA
Fiats Idea Offers Family Motorists A Neatly Styled And Versatile Option. June Neary Reports
If somebody had set out to design a car that would appeal to my personal set of characteristics it wouldnt be too far off a
Fiat Idea. Practical without being dull, spacious, neatly styled, reasonably unobtrusive, with a range of modern engines to choose from and inexpensive to run. I find myself the nominated driver for most of my partner Dels social activities and as such need a car thats capable of hauling all of his DJ equipment and some burly friends between venues. The Idea is well up to this task without being such a behemoth that it takes all evening to park.
The version I tried came with a 1.3-litre JTD diesel engine which gave it plenty of torque to haul when fully laden.
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Although the styling is very neat, the first time I sat in an Idea I was immediately disappointed by the thick windscreen pillars that restrict all round visibility a pet peeve of mine. Otherwise the car received a glowing report. The Giugiaro design keeps a good deal of family hatch about it but consult the specification sheets and youll realise theres a good deal more room in here than in, say, a Punto. Theres plenty of room for five in the airy cabin and Ive been told that the elevated rear seats would be very good for children who often get bored and fractious if they cant see where theyre going.
The same applies to Del and his friends. It does help if youve no aversion to rather hard plastics as much of the fascia is constructed of it and the quality doesnt seem quite as good as some rivals. Nevertheless the two-tone design is clean and inviting and theres no shortage of storage areas and pockets. At one venue we arrived at a frantic search ensued for our guest passes.
It was only on the tenth cubbyhole we searched that we finally found them. The seats cant be removed but the rear bench splits in two and both halves can slide back and forth independently of each other. You can thus choose whether you want to optimise passenger or luggage space.
The 70bhp diesel engine fitted to our test car required a good prod of the throttle pedal to stir it into life but when it was roused it had enough about it to offer satisfactory performance. The sprint to 60mph is notched off in just over 15 seconds but in normal urban driving the low down torque is ample to fling you out of T-junctions and onto
mini roundabouts with some verve. The real bonus comes in terms of fuel economy, the 1.3 JTD managing a scarcely believable average of 55mpg.
Keen drivers may find the suspension little soft when cornering, even in the Dynamic version that we tested. The gearbox and brakes were both very good although that issue of visibility again raised its ugly head on sharp right hand corners, forcing the driver to rock back and forth in order to see around the thick door pillars.
The Idea competes in a sector that has been dominated by Vauxhalls Meriva and itll have its work cut out to peg back the little Vauxhalls head start in the sales charts. Keen pricing will help and the £10,895 that
Fiat are charging for the Idea 1.3 JTD Dynamique looks good value against the rather slower, less civilised and more expensive 1.7DTi Meriva.
Those looking for a petrol powered Idea can opt for a zippy 1.4-litre car at prices ranging between £9,995 and £12,495.
Although I found myself occasionally pining for a wacky junior version of the old Multipla, the conservative but slick styling of the Idea is sure to win fans. It seems a little more assured than a
Vauxhall Meriva if not quite so ingeniously practical. Those looking for a supermini MPV that looks as good as it drives may well prefer the Idea.
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