Fiat Bravo SLX
Maxabout Review
Fiat India IS On A Roll
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
The Fiat Bravo and Fiat Brava are small family cars produced by the Italian automaker Fiat from 1995 to 2001. The name was revived for 2007 with an all-new replacement for the Stilo; the new version will use only the Bravo name and is not available with three doors. The earlier Brava/Bravo models were effectively two versions of the same car, the Bravo a three-door hatchback and the Brava a longer five-door hatchback.
The car was designed by Fiat Style Centre. Austrian automotive company Magna Steyr engineered a large amount of the car's body and internal fittings. CAD engineering and computer simulations were used on a very large scale with this model and the design was finished to a very tight schedule. Bravo will be imported by Fiat India as CBU (Compeletely Built-up Units) from Italy and will be sold in a price bracket of 16-18 lakhs. It is due to our high tax structure, which is 104 percent on ready imports. Fiat is saying that Bravo will be sold in limited numbers like the recently launched Fiat 500.
Engines - It is available with 2 engine options - one petrol and one diesel. The diesel one is 1910cc, 4 cylinder with maximum power of 150bhp at 4000rpm with maximum torque of 305nm at 2000rpm.
And petrol engine is 1368cc, 4 cylinder with maximum power of 148bhp at 5500rpm & maximum torque of 21kgm at 2250rpm. Both the engines have been developed in house by Fiat and are technically very advanced in comparison to its rivals.
Interiors & Comfort - In spite of that swooping roofline, there's plenty of headroom throughout the cabin, but rear kneeroom is tight compared to the class leaders. Luggage space is far more generous, thanks to the sheer depth of the boot, although you have to lift items over a high load lip, and the rear wheelarches intrude.
It has driver's seat height adjustment and a steering wheel that moves for both reach and rake to help you make yourself comfortable. However, the Bravo's sleek exterior styling takes its toll on rear visibility, with a small rear screen, sharply rising waistline and chunky rear side pillars all creating blind spots.
Ride & Handling - The Bravo can't match the nimbleness of the best small family cars because its light steering has an artificial feel and there's a lot of body roll in corners. To make matters worse, its suspension struggles to deal with imperfections in the road surface, making the ride jittery.
One of the best aspects of the Bravo is its quietness. Road noise is well suppressed, and although there is some wind noise, it's far from intrusive. Engine noise fades into the background at a steady cruise.
Safety - The Bravo performed very well in the Euro NCAP crash tests, gaining the maximum five stars for adult safety and an impressive three stars for child safety. All models are fitted with six airbags and every model has Isofix child seat mounting points on the outer rear seats. Traction control and electronic stability control are available as options.
Reliability - Fiat is working to improve the reliability of its cars and while engines have typically been fairly robust, problems in the past have tended to be niggling faults to do with electrics or build standards.
The recently launched Linea & Punto has done wonders for Fiat and it is expected that the company is not going to make any mistakes this time. They are keen to improve on its past reputation & revamping its total dealer network in India with the help of Tata Motors as they are the authorised dealers to sell Fiat cars in India.