Discussion
My Passat died this week and had to be towed 200 miles back to my local VW dealer, so I had to book a hire car via AA Relay.
Turning up at the Avis depot, they offered me very few options as it was at short notice, but said they had a new Bravo diesel being returned any minute. Needless to say, I ripped his arm off.
So, I've spent the last couple of days in a Bravo 1.9 Multijet Active.
Wasn't expecting too much of it, but I love it.
It's pretty much the basic model, but has electric front windows, aircon, swivel headlamps and a really nice stereo.
The handling is great, but the ride a little hard, and the 120bhp diesel is more refined and rev-happy than the VW 2.0-140 engine.
Interior trim is a huge jump forward over the old Bravo - everything you touch is in VW-esque soft textured plastics with very little evidence of building it down to a price.
I've had great fun thrapping it around - much more fun than you'd expect to have in a poverty spec diesel hatch.
Best part of it is the price - if you're in the market for a diesel family hatch, you can pick these things up for about £12-£12.5k - why anyone buys a Focus when you can get a Bravo for less money, I'll never know.
I'm almost sad to see it go back tomorrow as it's a real return to form for Fiat. If I had the option, I'd seriously consider a top-spec 150bhp Multijet version as a company car. But my fleet manager doesn't like Italian cars....
Turning up at the Avis depot, they offered me very few options as it was at short notice, but said they had a new Bravo diesel being returned any minute. Needless to say, I ripped his arm off.
So, I've spent the last couple of days in a Bravo 1.9 Multijet Active.
Wasn't expecting too much of it, but I love it.
It's pretty much the basic model, but has electric front windows, aircon, swivel headlamps and a really nice stereo.
The handling is great, but the ride a little hard, and the 120bhp diesel is more refined and rev-happy than the VW 2.0-140 engine.
Interior trim is a huge jump forward over the old Bravo - everything you touch is in VW-esque soft textured plastics with very little evidence of building it down to a price.
I've had great fun thrapping it around - much more fun than you'd expect to have in a poverty spec diesel hatch.
Best part of it is the price - if you're in the market for a diesel family hatch, you can pick these things up for about £12-£12.5k - why anyone buys a Focus when you can get a Bravo for less money, I'll never know.
I'm almost sad to see it go back tomorrow as it's a real return to form for Fiat. If I had the option, I'd seriously consider a top-spec 150bhp Multijet version as a company car. But my fleet manager doesn't like Italian cars....
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