Fiat Brava diesel shows how good Europe carmakers are

It might seem strange that the fastest car in a particular model is a diesel, but that’s the case with the Fiat Brava, the most recent incarnation of which I have just been driving. And maybe it could rekindle my old love affair with oil-burners, rather gone for some time. Certainly, it’s one of the best such engines that Fiat have ever produced.

The Brava itself had also become something of a stranger to me, and I’d forgotten just how good a car it is. Time was when Fiat products were dismissed (often unfairly, mind you) as tinny. This one’s built like a tank. I swear, it feels as if it has been built like a Mercedes. (I’m sure they won’t mind me saying that?).

Anyway, to style first, and the car recently had a few aesthetic minor tweaks, most of which I can’t see. It is still a well-proportioned hatchback, and very distinctive in these days of same-boxes. The only difficulty is this Brava/Bravo business which the marque’s marketing people went for, one which still confuses most of us. (Brav-o gets a bigger engine and different tail-lights and two less doors, is really all we have to remember.) I like the smooth curves, the colour-keyed bumpers and the sweep of the side profile to another curve of tail. It all works.

Inside the JTD105 we still have that very strong, dominating even, central console with all the radio bits nice and high up (and with big buttons that don’t have you fiddling to make changes). The plastic quality here has been improved, and a door over the tape deck is now said to be less prone to breaking than before. Moving to the instrument area, it is well designed and executed, and I found that there were no visibility clashes even when I lowered the steering wheel to the position I prefer.

The seats are really good in this car, both in support terms and very high quality of material. The review vehicle had bright blue inserts and nice tall backs. My rear seat passengers also commented favourably on the comfort of their place in the scheme of things, so we could all live comfortably in the Brava, I think. As for luggage accommodation, it’s very large indeed for the class of car, maybe as much as is in the Seat Toledo. Which is pretty good.

Traditionally, Fiat diesel-powered cars felt rather front-heavy, and the controls got more truck-like in feel too. Might have been imagination, but I don’t think so. That’s certainly not the case anyway with the JTD105 ... the front-end balance is quite spot-on, and the only pedal gripe is that the clutch seems a little on the heavy side, though this might have been a reaction to the very light clutch I had in the previous week’s Japanese car. Anyway, it wasn’t anything of a very serious nature and after a few days I wasn’t noticing. Maybe I should say too that the clutch ‘bite’ was nice and progressive.

So anyway, what about the Brava JTD105 on real travels? The engine is a common-rail unit with a pretty high pressure maintained in the ‘rail’ part that feeds the injectors. The result is a startup that clatters mildly for a few minutes in normal diesel style and then it becomes not noticeable unless you have the window open. In driving, there’s absolutely no ‘lag’ from the turbo end of things and the 0-60mph shift is a very respectable 10.6secs. In short, the car drives just like it had a petrol engine under that smooth sloping bonnet. A matter shown by a colleague who did the Dublin-Cork trip to a dinner appointment in what might well have been a land speed record for a road-going diesel car ... more importantly, he achieved a 55mpg-plus fuel consumption doing it.

Which is where the Brava JTD105 comes into its own ... in character it is a good-looking and comfortable machine, tough as they come but with a reasonable lightness of touch, and incredible economy possible if you drive it sensibly.

Now that I’ve driven it again, I remember I was impressed by Brava before. Very. Well, I still am. You can have the entry-level 1.2-litre version for a very competitive £12,000. If you want the one I’ve reviewed, add another £3,800, which, apart from the engine, gets you foglights, alloy wheels, electric glass sunroof and ABS.

I tell you, guys (and gals), once again, that Europeans are really giving Pacific Rim carmakers a real hard race in the quality stakes. Which I applaud. As for the Europeans carmakers, it’s time to put that quality on the line, and give us the 3-year warranty that we get from Japan (and also, mind you, from Fiat brand Alfa).