You don’t need much to get a lot with the Fiat Tipo
Fiat hopes to turn South Africa’s C-segment on its head with the new Fiat Tipo that was launched in May this year, and after being pleasantly surprised at what it has to offer I looked forward to my second test-drive date this month.
As mentioned in my previous review, I have a number of new mommy-friends in the market for a bigger, more economical and safe family car and while SUVs seem to be first on their list of choices, I do wish they’d give some of the new hatches and sedans out there a chance. In some cases you could end up spending less, but gaining more in terms of size and specs when considering a car like the new Fiat Tipo.
Also read: Car Review: New Fiat Tipo
“You don’t need much to get a lot”
When it comes to size and space the new Tipo comfortably seats five people, even the tall ones! Family road trips and long journeys will be a happy occasion without any arguments between siblings on the back seat. Fiat claims that the secret is the regular shape of the rear end, with the horizontal roof profile providing added cabin headroom, but legroom is extremely generous too and offers 1,07 meters between the edge of the front seat and the passenger’s heel and 934 mm for the rear seat. It’s not something you’ll find easily in cars in this segment, and it means you won’t have to spend too much time fighting with your child seat installations.
Struggle to pack lightly? The Tipo’s bootspace is impressive and offers more than enough space to pack an entire family’s luggage for a long weekend. Load capacity is 440 litres in the hatch and 520 litres in the sedan and compartment panels are also available for any extra bits.
Okay, enough about space, what else do you get?
Every model in the new Tipo range offers innovative options with high resolution touchscreens. Bluetooth, audio streaming, voice recognition, SMS reader, USB and Aux ports. For the eco-friendly driver, you can monitor your eco-performance and fuel savings with the ecoDrive feature.
Three body styles are available: POP or EASY versions are available for the sedan, while POP, EASY and LOUNGE are the trim options for the hatch. On the POP version, manual air conditioning comes as standard while automatic air conditioning comes as standard with the EASY and LOUNGE.
Electric front windows, electrically adjustable door mirrors with defrosting function and the 60/40 split rear seat are available in all models excluding the POP sedan. POP models also feature 16 inch steel wheels with some pretty cool covers!
Easy models include 16 inch alloy rims, LED daytime running lights, chrome door handles, body-coloured mirror covers and a leather steering wheel! A reverse camera is standard on the hatchback LOUNGE model, and an optional extra on all models except the POP.
I’ve become rather fond of the new Tipo after driving it for just over seven days. It really is everything you need and nothing you don’t need, and for the price that it’s retailing at, I think I’ll be suggesting Fiat’s new Tipo range to more of my new mommy-friends in the future.
Fiat Tipo Sedan
1.4l Pop – R229,900
1.4l Easy – R249,900
1.3l D Easy – R274,900
1.6l Easy Auto – R274,900
Fiat Tipo Hatchback
1.4l POP – R249,900
1.4l EASY – R269,900
1.4l LOUNGE – R289,900
1.6l EASY Auto – R294,900
All Fiat Tipo models come with a standard 3 year / 100,000km warranty and service plan.