Fiat Bravo Hatchback 1.6 Multijet 105 Active Eco 5dr Reader reviews

My car

I've recently been looking round at a few cars with the idea of looking to save money in running costs. The Fiat Bravo 1.6 Diesel seemed to fit the bill, and so I have been out and test driven one.

First off, I was very impressed with the way that the car drives. Its definitely a car that you can 'chuck' into corners, and have fun with. The steering is very well weighted and reasonably communicative. The ride is generally very comfortable, and the road noise at motorway speeds is very little indeed. One word of caution that slightly ruins the driving experience - the driver's seat. It lacks under knee support and the backrest seems to have a slightly odd shape to it that takes some getting used to. Performance from the engine is very good though, and in fact pulls more like a petrol than a diesel - very impressive.

If the official figures are to be believed it will be very cheap to run. £35 a year road tax also helps.

The interior is well put together, and the soft touch plastics on the upper dash are particularly impressive. Lower plastics are harder, but still ok. Space inside is reasonable, rather than outstanding, the dash in front of the passenger cutting down on leg room too much for them.

If you can get a good deal on one of these, it would certainly seem like a very worthwhile buy. Definitely at the top of my purchase list, at least for now.

My car

A very acceptable car from Fiat. Quality of finish is good as is the interior space. As for the fuel economy, there is no way you can get the advertised figures. The best that can be achieved is 50 mpg and that is with the best possible conditions and driving very gently. Also the steering is very light even without the girly button turned on. Another down side is the fact that if you do not pay the RRP for the car you only get a 3 year warranty (this is not a well known fact) but I rang Fiat Uk and was told this!