Fiat Bravo hatchback

Drive

The Fiat Bravo's light steering makes town driving easy, but the suspension isn’t very good at soaking up bumps, so the odd knock can be felt in the cabin. The Bravo is competent rather than exciting to drive, and will best suit those more interested in running costs and comfort than performance. There are plenty of engines to choose from, starting with the 89bhp 1.4-litre petrol. However, we would recommend the 1.4-litre T-Jet turbo petrol engine - it blends decent performance and economy, and is available in 118bhp or 148bhp form. There are three MultiJet diesel options: a 1.6-litre engine with 104bhp or 118bhp, and a powerful 163bhp 2.0-litre engine. All the diesels are very capable, but the smaller 1.6-litre versions are more affordable to run and they're available as low emissions models to keep running costs even lower.

Comfort

The Fiat Bravo's trump card is its near-silent cabin. Road and wind noise are virtually inaudible from inside the car, so it's a very quiet and relaxed place to be. The diesel engines are smooth, with not much in the way of noise or vibration from them. Fiat claims that the Bravo has more shoulder room for rear seat passengers than any other compact family hatchback. Despite this, legroom is quite tight for those in the back.

Reliability

A five-star adult and a three-star child occupant rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests is impressive, so the Fiat Bravo is a safe place to be. Interior quality is significantly better than that of the Bravo's predecessor, the Stilo, but there are still plenty of rival cars that feel better built inside. The Bravo finished a distant 102nd in the 2010 JD Power reliability survey – although there have been no recalls for the car issued since mid-2008.

Practicality

The Bravo has 365 litres of boot space, which isn't bad for a family hatchback, but the Ford Focus, the benchmark car in this sector, has a 385-litre boot. Fold the back seats down in the Fiat, and there's 1,165 litres on offer, although again the Focus beats it with 1,247 litres. Another snag is the high boot lip, which makes loading heavy items tricky.

Value for money

The Bravo is quite a bit cheaper than established family hatchbacks like the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf, so combined with the low running costs of the diesels and small petrol engines, it is a low-cost prospect.

Running costs

Small engines mean that the Bravo is cheap to run. The 1.4-litre petrol engines will return 42.2mpg on average or 40.4mpg for the more powerful T-Jet with 148bhp. The most frugal of the diesels will average 62.8mpg, while the 2.0-litre diesel models will still do a respectable 53.3mpg. Road Tax ranges from £30 to £125, depending on the exact model.