24/03/08

• Price14,495
• We like...Fizzy engine
• We don't...Awkward controls

Packed with character, but this small hatchback is no match for a Golf or FocusYou either ‘get’ cars - catch what they’re about - or you don’t. And it took a while for us to ‘get’ the Bravo.

First impressions weren’t promising. Fiddle with seat and wheel adjustments until they suit, start, then drive off. Stop. Fiddle some more, try to get comfy, drive off. We stopped a couple more times before we found a place that felt OK. But, despite tweaking the wheel to and fro, up and down, and doing the same with the seat, we never felt perfectly at home.

Then there are the switches for wipers and lights. These work off twin stalks. There’s nothing unusual about that. But whole chunks of the square-edged stalks turn in your grasp and it’s hard to judge how far you’ve twiddled.

Gripes aside, there’s plenty to like about the Fiat Bravo. The wheel and gear shift are leather-bound and look so good, they could have pinched from a costly sports saloon. The angled dash with carbon fibre-look trim and cowled instruments looks nifty, too. It’s a pity, though, that the plastics used elsewhere in the cabin feel brittle and look cheap. The seat material isn’t great, either, on this mid-range Dynamic. That aside, it’s roomy enough and packed with gargets for the price, including two-zone digital air conditioning and a hands-free phone kit. There’s also a button that boosts the power steering for threading through town and parking.

The Fiat Bravo rides firmly, but there’s enough ‘give’ in the set-up to keep things civilised. The engine, meanwhile, is a little belter. It’s only 1.4 petrol, but it’s turbocharged to produce 150bhp, which is the power you’d expect from a much bigger motor. It’s docile until prodded, when it gives ample mid-range shoves for safe overtaking.

Fiat reckons that it is also sufficiently careful with fuel to keep company with rival diesel engines. Not in our experience: steady driving across 420 mostly motorway miles returned 41mpg. That's good, but we’d expect 50mpg from a diesel.

The Bravo is characterful and keenly priced. If a fizzy engine and a sporty manner is all you want, you’ll love the Fiat Bravo. But it can’t match the elegance and form-follows-function excellence of a VW Golf, or the best-drive-for-your-bucks sharpness of Ford’s Focus. If you ‘get’ it, fine. Otherwise, when there’s so much else to buy at its size and price, it runs third-best.

• Engines1.4 turbocharged petrol
• Power150bhp
• 0-60 mph
• Economy39.8mpg
• CO2g/km167
• Insurance groupsgroup 10
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags6
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: