General S design

[IDVA]

That's very good economy, especially on the long run! If I get even 40mpg out of it I'd be happy.

I'll keep an eye on the oil - I've got out of the habit of checking the oil level more than every few months because the last 4 Italian cars I've had were all diesel and 3 of them never used a drop of oil with the 4th (a Mk2 Punto JTD) only using oil for the first year I owned it, when it was still low mileage. I'll have to remember to check it every month

Hi, how you getting on with the s design?

 

[JTD_Liam]

Hi, how you getting on with the s design?

It's been a pretty uneventful 2500 miles to be honest - in a good way!

The only niggles are an occasionally rattly offside front door, which has quietened down for now, plus a nearside front passenger window which squeaks loudly when you wind it down. Neither are worth going back to the dealer for, so i'll hang on for the first service if that's the extent of the problems.

Knowing how Fiat's are often a bit compromised in the ride department I was concerned the 18" wheels would make the ride on the bumpy side, but it's fine It's smoother than my Alfa MiTo was on 17" wheels and only marginally firmer (but less crashy and prone to 'bottoming-out') than my Alfa Giulietta on small 16" wheels. Not quite sure how they've managed this on the Tipo with bigger wheels and torsion beam suspension (the Giulietta was on independent rear suspension). Genuinely happy with that aspect of the car, along with how it drives - decent steering, good throttle response, nice brakes and light clutch. Noise level is acceptable too. Gearbox occasionally notchy going into fifth gear, but it's no massive issue and less obstructive than the Giulietta's box could be.

Still love how it looks. A combination of bad weather and being ill means it's only been washed once (I refuse to use a car wash when it's so new) but the Street Grey paint hides the dirt brilliantly. My biggest negative is the fuel economy - the computer says 34-35mpg but calculated manually it's 29-30mpg. I knew it'd be a drop from the Fiat/Alfa diesels i've driven for 14 years but I expected 35-40mpg on a run from the Tipo - it's not achieved more than 330 miles to a tank of fuel yet, so that's a shame. Performance is better than expected, so that's good, but the feeling that I wasn't constantly going to get fuel would be welcome!

Overall a decent 7 out of 10 I think. Not sure how it gets such a pasting in the press reviews.