Creating a new car from scratch in 2017 (really 2015 for the Tipo) takes some guts. You’re going up against the VW Golf, Ford Focus and Hyundai I30, all of which have had massive development budget and, the case of the Ford and VW, years of refining the end product. So how do you make an impact on this tough market? Like we can see in every shopping centre in the UK – cheapness sells.
The Fiat Tipo starts from £13,345 whereas the cheapest VW Golf comes in at £14,375 and that’s enough to get a lot of people’s attention.
Keeping that attention means you need to have a bit of style and this has always been where the Italian manufacturer excels compared to its more reserved European neighbours.
Look head on at the Fiat Tipo and you’re immediately drawn to the spiky chrome grill which works well in giving the Tipo a much more premium look than a base model Golf. The rest of the package from headlights to taillights is on par with it’s rivals which is good enough when you’re a grand cheaper.
Jump inside the Tipo and you can see where they saved the money. Controls are all clear and well placed, buttons feel nice enough and the satnav unit works well (if a bit slow) but the plastics and overall design are, as expected, not quite on par with the VW.
So, the job of the Fiat Tipo is to be an affordable family hatchback which handles shopping trips, children’s car seats and holidays and having lived with it for a couple of weeks over Christmas it manages this just fine. The boot is big enough for shopping and buggies, although not quite as big as a Skoda Rapid, and rear leg room is fine for adults.
Where Fiat does seem to have dropped the ball is making the Tipo a car you actually want to drive. My experience from Fiats of old was that they were cheap, not particularly well made but had zingy engines and liked to be chucked down a back road. The diesel engine, while torquey, is noisy and doesn’t encourage you to push it and the chassis never feels comfortable when pressing on.
This is disappointing for a small Fiat when Vauxhall manages to make their 1.0l Astra a decent little backroad warrior, but it might be down to the fact that Fiat are never going to make a hot version of the Tipo. We’ve got GTIs, RSs and even Hyundai coming out with a hot RN30 version, but Abarth aren’t going to be handed the Tipo. This is a real shame, but you have to assume that Fiat knows that it’s targeting people who are more interested in looks than driving pleasure.
CAR: Tipo Hatchback 1.6 MultiJet 120hp Lounge
PRICE: as tested £17,995.00
ENGINE:Â 1598cc turbo diesel
POWER: 120PS
TORQUE: 320 Nm
PERFORMANCE: Top speed 124, 0-62mph 9.8 secs
ECONOMY: 76.3 mpg combined
CO2 EMISSIONS: 98 g/km
TT Rating:
