MOTORING
FIAT IS BACK by
F
or quite a while now Fiat has been pretty quiet when it comes to new cars. They have relied on the hugely successful Fiat 500. They have added many different variants of the 500 in much the same way BMW has with the Mini but it has been the 500 that has been most successful.
The new Fiat Tipo has just entered the Hatchback market; it lines up against the Ford Focus, The Vauxhall Astra that size of a car and that market. A brave decision in my opinion.
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The Tipo is inoffensively styled, something made more obvious by the ultrachic looks of the smaller 500 family that we’ ve come to know and love.
It sits firmly within Fiat’ s pragmatic lineup alongside the Panda, so it’ s more about interior space and low running costs than eyecatching looks. I liked its boxy look and the curves in the roof added some style. The Tipo is a good looking car and it’ s different to its competitors.
The Tipo with a 1.6 118hp diesel engine and
Happy Suzuki Ignis
he new Suzuki Ignis is just that: Happy. It looks happy as soon as you see it.
TTechnically, the Ignis is a small crossover, available with a 1.2litre fourcylinder petrol engine, the possibility of a very mild hybrid allied to the same motor, and either two or fourwheel drive.
If you think crossovers tend to be on the larger side though, the Ignis will surprise it’ s tiny. More like a Fiat Panda.
It is completely new from the ground up. Its tall, has funlooking bulky arches that shroud surprisingly skinny wheels and tyres pushed right out into the corners and some decently perky design touches.
Suzuki has covered all bases throughout the model range Available in SZ3, SZT and SZ5 grades; priced from £ 9,999 for SZ3, £ 11,499 for SZT and £ 12,999 for SZ5 with two wheel drive. A 90hp 1.2litre four cylinder Dualjet Petrol engine offers CO2 emissions of 104g / km and combined fuel consumption of 61.4mpg.
The engine is the same across the range and a perfect fit as well, it is a sweet free revving engine that offers plenty of fun and feels a lot livelier than the figures suggest.
Available with Suzuki’ s SHVS mild hybrid
Ian Beasant, BUSINESSFIRSTMAGAZINE motoring correspondent
system( Smart Hybrid Vehicle by Suzuki) offering latest technology with CO2 emissions of 97g / km is the model I drove as with exterior the interior is quirky and fun.
The round shape of its airconditioning system’ s panel and the advanced feel of its distinctive instrument cluster design combine to give the cabin environment a futuristic look. Six airbags, Air conditioning, DAB Radio and Bluetooth fitted as standard on all IGNIS models.
SZT adds sliding rear seats, which are a sixspeed manual gearbox was the car of choice for me. The engine is a bit rattily when cold but it does settle down. The Tipo is economical averaging over 60miles per gallon, it is not that sharp taking nearly 10 seconds to hit 60 mph; but really it’ s not made for performance. The Tipo chassis is a beauty and great fun as it handles as if it is stuck to the road – even over a bumpy, twisty B road it is very hard to upset the poise of the Tipo. Inside you get a lot of standard kit, including aircon, DAB radio, Bluetooth, steering wheel audio controls, electrically adjustable door mirrors and remote central locking.
Climb the £ 1000 steps to the rangetopping Lounge trim, like my test car, and you get things like 17inch alloys, rear parking sensors and camera, climate control and satnav on a fiveinch touchscreen. It feels wellbuilt and is the dash is well laid out. The driving position is comfortable and there is generous space for five people with room in the back for shopping trip.
The days of Fiat and badly built cars are long gone if this new Tipo is anything to go by as it is a welldesigned family hatch back built to as good a level of quality as its rivals and it does offer a different face on the road which is good. If I was in the market for a practical car of this size that won’ t let you down you could do a lot worse than choose a Fiat Tipo.
great and offer rear extra rear passenger room, the only pay off for this is you lose a little boot space. Then again this is one of the smallest, if not the smallest crossover on the road. Satellite navigation, rear view camera, wheel arch extensions, side mouldings and roof rails and 16inch alloy wheels all come as standard with SZT. Move up to the SZ5 and you get even more auto air conditioning, LED headlights with LED DRL, Dual Camera Brake Support and Cruise Control.