Paul Tan's Automotive Industry News

Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET 150hp Short Test Drive

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Fiat Bravo GT

People who value a fun drive in Malaysia now have another option to choose from in the form of the Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET, boasting a 1.4 liter turbocharged engine putting out 150 horsepower mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox.

This test drive was rather short and spontaneous – a friend and I just happened to see a Fiat showroom on our way back from lunch today, so I had to snap the photos with my camera phone. Also, this writeup is based on a rather short drive for just a few kilometers as it was a typical showroom test drive.

Read my impressions of my short but fun experience with the turbo Bravo after the jump.

Fiat Bravo GT

The Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET definitely looks the business – a proper hot hatch look with it’s bodykit and huge 18 inch wheels. The showroom brochure had listed the wheel options ranging from 15 inchers to 17 inchers, but somehow our Malaysian cars were specced with 18 inch 10 spoke Fiat wheels which dwarfed the little brakes hiding behind them. But a combination of a minimal fender to tyre gap and the size of the wheels in relation to to the car’s rather small body made the rest of the car look very sporty.

There are three colours available – 106 Maranello Red, 891 Crossover Black, and 487 Cool Jazz Blue. All three colours have matching colour coded interiors, which is a nice novelty that adds to the rather upmarket appeal of the car.

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge

In terms of styling of both the exterior and the interior, I’ve got to give it to the Italians, they really know what they’re doing. Fiats and Alfa Romeos are the automotive embodiments of the word sexy. When you get into the car, you feel like you’re in a very upmarket car.

Fiat has put in so many nice touches to the interior – every surface feels great to touch, and somehow Fiat has managed to achieve this without wrapping every damn thing including the dashboard with Alcantara or similiar materials.

The dashboard is mainly made of a soft touch plastic with little carbon fiber-like imprints all over it – you can somewhat see it in the photo above if you view the enlarged version.

Fiat Bravo GT

As I’ve mentioned before, the interior trim and stitching is colour coded to the car’s exterior. In the blue car, you get blue colour-coded trim and blue stitching on the leather bits, while in the red car you get red trim and red stitching.

There was no black car around the showroom – just a red showroom car and a blue test drive car so I don’t know if the black car’s stitches are black or some other contrasting colour, perhaps silver?

Fiat Bravo GT

The Fiat Bravo is supposed to be a C-segment hatchback – this means the likes of the Peugeot 308, the Kia Cee’d and the Civic hatchback are its competitors, but it certainly doesn’t seem so from the inside. It seems more like a big B-segment car of the old days, in fact the big B, small C segment Nissan Latio hatchback is larger than it.

The rear hatch opens with a solenoid – you just press the Fiat logo and the hatch pops loose. Lift the hatch up and you’ll see a 400 liter boot, which can be extended to 1175 liters if you fold the rear seat bench down.

The interior will be a rather tight squeeze if you fill it up, but for the driver it’s comfortable with the Alcantara-wrapped bucket seats being height adjustable, and the seats slide rearward sufficiently for my long legs, at the expense of ALOT of rear legroom of course. The nice leather steering wheel (which I felt was slightly slippery, more about steering later) was also both rake and reach adjustable.

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge

Peering back at you from behind the steering wheel are two large whitish-backed gauges enclosed in hoods shielding it from the glare of the sun. One is for speed and the other is for engine revs, and both meter panels start with the meter needle pointing south, very similiar to Alfa Romeo gauges – probably they are the same design with different faces.

At night, the gauge face’s needle and markings light up in sporty red.

Fiat Bravo GT

In the middle of the two meter “pods” is a multi-information display offering various information from different sources such as data from the in-car entertainment system, time, trip meter information, and also various indicators such as the little S which stands for whether the Sport mode is activated, more on what the Sport mode is later.

Fiat Bravo GT

Below the in-car entertainment system panel is the climate control panel, which features single zone automatic climate control. This system also includes a single air conditioning vent for the rear passengers.

This makes the Fiat Bravo GT the only other C-segment car under RM150,000 other than the Ford Focus sedan and hatchback to have rear passenger air conditioning vents.

If you lift up the center arm rest, you will also find a little compartment which is cooled, perfect for chilling your drinks on a hot day.

Fiat Bravo GT

You must already be thinking this car is seriously specified with very high levels of equipment, but the list does not stop at there. If you look above you will find that the car has a sunroof for the front and a moonroof for the rear, allowing both the front and rear passengers to enjoy a view at the sky if they want to.

Fiat Bravo GT

A little on the specs list – you’ve got bi-xenon headlamps with headlamp washers, and foglamps. There are also 8 airbags, yes… EIGHT AIRBAGS. The other number 8 in this car’s impressive feature list is the amount of speakers, an 8.1 setup to be exact.

The single disc player sends it’s output to 8 speakers and one subwoofer with its own enclosure in the boot – that’s a speaker and a tweeter on each of the Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET’s four doors.

The audio system also supports playing MP3 files either loaded from a CD, or a thumb drive which you can plug into the supplied USB port below the climate control panel.

Other safety features include ABS anti-lock brakes, Fiat’s Anti Slip Regulation (ASR) system which helps regulate wheel spin during hard acceleration, ESP stability control for corner stability, and for those who are just revisiting the manual gearbox after a long stint with automatics, there is the Hill Holder feature which helps you hold on to the brakes for a while while you are preparing your clutch and accelerator action to roll off from a stand still on an incline.

Fiat Bravo GT

The shift knob has a similiar colour-coordinated stitching as the rest of the car. There are 6 cogs to pick from, and to engage reverse you have to pull up a lever. The knob itself feels good in your hands, unlike the Cooper S which has an odd bevelled top that sometimes feels uncomfortable.

For those who recognize the little colourful thing in the background, you may be wondering what the little Windows logo is doing in this car. Well, this particular Fiat is equipped with Fiat’s Blue&Me system, jointly developed by Fiat and Microsoft and based on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile for Automotive platform. The USB connectivity that enables the audio system to read MP3 files from whatever storage devices you have (such as an Apple iPod, or a vanilla USB thumb drive) is part of this system.

The Blue&Me system also includes a hands-free system controlled by voice commands. It connects to your mobile phone, and enables the car hands-free system to have access to your phone book and SMS inbox. It can also display your SMS messaged on the MID display, or read aloud your SMS messages using a text to speech feature, which allows you to read your incoming text messages while safely keeping your eyes on the road.

I did not get to try out this system as I did not know it even existed – just found out what it was after looking around on the net for information on why there was a Windows logo in a sporty Italian hatchback.

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge

While we’re still waiting for Volkswagen Malaysia to introduce the 1.4 TSI here in Malaysia, the Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET already has a turbocharged 1.4 liter engine. The 1.4 liter DOHC turbocharged engine has a nice typical Italian growl and makes 150 PS at 5,500rpm and 206Nm of torque at 2,250rpm.

You can feel the turbo properly kick in at about 2,500rpm, but on the higher gears it will kick in earlier at just below 2,000rpm. It’s nothing frantic, but definitely fun and good for a 0-100km/h sprint of 8.5 seconds, and you will never guess the engine has a displacement of 1.4 liters – the wonders of turbocharging!

Press the little Sport button to the left of the audio player and the engine’s torque curve changes because of a small increase in boost pressure, peaking at 230Nm at 3,000rpm before it drops to the original torque levels.

Honestly, I did not feel any increase in power, but there were 3 people in the car so maybe it is more noticable with only the driver in the car.

Fiat Bravo GT

The Sport button also sharpens throttle response and increases the DualDrive Electric Power Steering’s steering resistance, which is actually rather light to begin with. A bit too light for a car with sporty intentions, and there is not much feedback either, but this light steering wheel is rather welcome during normal town driving and parking. So hit that Sport button when you approach the bends.

The chassis feels rigid, though that remains to be confirmed because of the short test drive and kinds of roads I drove on – mainly around the showroom vicinity. The suspension is firm, and could be potentially crashy if you meet the typical badly maintained uneven roads of Malaysia, littered with many mini potholes and the occasional large one. Extra care should definitely be taken in avoiding these to protect the Bravo GT’s large wheels, wrapped with 225/40R18 Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tyres.

The brakes were quite bitey and the pedal might seem a little too light and sensitive to those who drive the car for the first time, but you will soon get used to the feel of the brakes. Looking at how lost the discs seem behind the 18 inch wheels, you may want to look into better brakes if you ever decided to exploit the turbocharged engine’s tune-up potential.

Fiat Bravo GT

The Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 T-JET is a rather interesting addition to the Malaysian car market – for a small C-segment car under RM150,000 it has an insanely high equipment level and great feel-good, feel-expensive interior ambiance. I love the little design details such as the shape of the door handles, and the rear lamps which pay homage to the old Fiat Bravo hatch that Fiat sold before it was replaced by the ill-fated Stilo.

It costs only RM135,000 on the road exclusive of insurance, which makes the price seem worth considering, especially when you look at its equipment level and the engine under the hood. However, the beautiful Fiat Bravo gives me the impression that the designers had a dream, but along the way the vendors and procurement people messed it up. Some pieces of the car are rather shoddily put together, with noticable gaps and misaligned panels to be found all over the car. The paint behind the rear hatch which is visible when you lift the hatch up is also rough – you can really notice the difference in paint quality on the visible and not so visible parts of the car.

Another concern is Torino Motors’ service network – according to the sales advisor they have one 3S center in Ulu Klang, Ampang but that seems to be it. If you don’t mind or have your own solution to any of these – the car should be a great choice. I know I wouldn’t mind the little uneven gaps here and there – the car is fun and makes up for it.

The sales advisor told me warranty for the car is for 2 years, but Torino’s website says 3 years, so it could be either one – double check with the showroom if you decide to have a look at the car for yourself.

All photos snapped with the Nokia E90

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge

Fiat Bravo GT
Click to enlarge – Notice the subwoofer on the left hand side of the boot?

Fiat Bravo GT
Bad panel fitment can cause unsightly gaps, but thankfully mostly hidden from eyes

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT

Fiat Bravo GT

67 Comments »

  1. tariq said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 11:17 pm

    gotta love the sporty italian touch…detail stichwork…turbo ka…quite pocket friendly for an italian.

  2. drebar said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 11:35 pm

    dunno why, but felt the design, both interior and exterior a little bit outdated though…

  3. LittleFire85 said,

    November 17, 2007 @ 11:54 pm

    Fully packed mini fiat car… It will be really nice if the price is under RM100k… Fiat & Alfa romeo car’s are nice to look and drive, but when spare part + maintenance needed, u will headache… Only to those ppl who is rich will be no problem to own it… Haiz…

  4. kazai said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:11 am

    reverse gear just next to the first gear.if you want to go forward then will accidentally go backward.hehe

  5. BuLaiEn said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:23 am

    OMGosh it’s a manual!!
    well it’s so rare to see an imported car nowadays with a manual i’d get excited by just seeing one of these…
    the pedals are quite far apart for some heel-and-toeing tho. for my size 7 at least haha

    nice value for money considering the kit included, but i’ll skip the 18 inchers tho, would surely ruin the ride on our “not-so-well-paved” road…

  6. king said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:29 am

    LittleFire85 said,
    November 17, 2007 @ 11:54 pm

    Fully packed mini fiat car… It will be really nice if the price is under RM100k…

    _______________

    thats impossible….even yaris 1.5 oso above 100k. But this car is so much more powerful and equipment levels superb plus sexy. So its quite reasonably priced.

  7. raybrig85 said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:29 am

    looks outdated???no…no..no…looks trendy and sleek…ive already been in d showroom…i like dat car…and value for money…uve gt many gadgets…paul…did u noticed the grande punto with bodykit…d blue one…looks nice aite…

  8. BigFish said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:37 am

    It costs only RM135,000 on the road exclusive of insurance, which make the price seem worth considering, especially when you look at its equipment level and the engine under the hood.
    ————–
    This one must be “rich man talk”!

  9. Paul Tan said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:41 am

    BigFish: 135k is a decent price for the equipment level you are getting. i cannot afford this car, but what kind of stories am i supposed to write if i say every car over rm50k is not worth buying?

  10. armandd said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:50 am

    wow! the italians really know how to design cars ;-) . really nice exterior design (except for that unpractically small rear windows, but that’s just me). it’ll be more obvious if u park this babe next to, say, a honda city, hehe..

  11. proton.GL.. said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 1:37 am

    starngely ive seen this car lack of crisp in term of design, perhaps im too conservative when say about ‘italian’

    or im so into maserati old alfa as a true italian interior i guess,

    but 1.4 tc not bad, perhaps germans1.4tsi a little much batter,
    and looking at the plastic cam pulley cover theres no hint of cam angle adjustability,

    and heard a rumour that ‘alfasud’ will make a comeback,

  12. mystvearn said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 1:51 am

    A review by Clarkson

    http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article2642403.ece

  13. chap_de_x said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:00 am

    i like the interior much from the exterior…kinda look rich and sporty…plus the gadjet this car offer is magnificent…even more not many button located at the center panel…some car nowdays make u feel like u driving a plane…so many button which i consider not smart for driving…if i got a lot of money i will consider to own one.

  14. e-nabilll said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:07 am

    typical italian interior quality,nice to look at.terrible to to touch….noting new…bt i agree the price is very reasonable considering wat ur geting…bt Fiats are NOT known to be reliable cars…and with only one Service Center available…u need alot of prayers before purchasing it !

  15. spidermutu said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:18 am

    Paul Tan said,
    November 18, 2007 @ 12:41 am

    BigFish: 135k is a decent price for the equipment level you are getting. i cannot afford this car, but what kind of stories am i supposed to write if i say every car over rm50k is not worth buying?
    —————————————————————-
    Just write about Proton and he’ll get aroused…hehe..

  16. 90125 said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 2:30 am

    very sporty design, nice, but for Fiat enthusiast only, good if brand new, but after 5 or 6 years….always problematic…

  17. cbljkkj said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 4:31 am

    This car is seriously a looker, in and out. Like BuLaiEn said, its quite rare to find a car priced at that range with a manual apart from sports cars.

    The equipment range is amazing and for Rm135k, it certainly isn’t cheap but it does make all of it worth a person’s cheque-book/cash.

    I certainly hope this Fiat Bravo steps up the game for other manufacturers so we can enjoy this higher level of trim of which we have been deprived of for so long.

    Cheers

  18. ob8 said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 6:11 am

    mywhatever, why do you put clarkson review link? it’s inappropriate. paul’s review is better man.

  19. BrakeFader said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 9:13 am

    This bravo is really a beauty. With our petrol price expected to increase, having a 1.4L that produces 150hp would be ideal. I have to salute to the italians, you can see the passion they put in. Not forgetting the features. 8 AIRBAGS and 8.1 speakers!! All I can say is WOW!

    For RM135K, I would say this is bang for the buck. Where else can you get a hatchback with all that spec? Compare with Yaris and Jazz, they are quite standard when parked next to this. Even a Peugeot 206 looks standard when compared in my opinion.

    Only gripe is the limited network of service centres. Besides, I think it would be too demanding to have them having so many service centres when there are so little Fiats on the road.

    BTW, any news on FIAT 500 coming to Malaysia?

  20. droll said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 9:31 am

    #
    kazai said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:11 am

    reverse gear just next to the first gear.if you want to go forward then will accidentally go backward.hehe
    ——————–
    wei, read again lah. to activate reverse gear you need to lift a little catch below the gear knob lah. nobody grabs a gear knob like that in normal driving. :) so this is very unlikely to happen.

  21. droll said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 9:38 am

    for me, this car is a winner all round. plus, a little bird told me you can remap the ECU to get around 190bhp very cheap and quickly. 190bhp from a 1.4L turbo? wow….and a manual to boot!

    i’ve test drove it and i like it. the only thing that made me hesitate was Torino. such a pity. :( unless someone here decides to establish rapport with the fiat dealer in singapore to get spare parts….i ain’t going near Torino by a million miles.

  22. tommy73 said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:06 pm

    Mamamia! Nowadays, driving is more about fun and pride, besides getting you to your destination. Much like buying a watch, not just about time-telling anymore. This car has it all. Gadget, technology, build, look, and also quite special and rare in our Jap-dominated predominantly auto-transmition market. Absolutely refreshing. Have to test this out.

  23. mitlanevo said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 12:52 pm

    damn true, a car is not a tool for travelling from point A to point B, the driver must appreciate the value of the car itself….

    (hate those big tycoons, show off their wealth and buy so many cars just to show others that HEY I’M RICH!!!)

    this Fiat Bravo is really a nice looking car, simply BRAVO…….

    135k is not cheap, but yet again, its still worth it…..

  24. DrA said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 1:21 pm

    I really like this car. It’s beautiful and 135k is a bargain. I think this is one of the best effort from FIAT. Not quite German quality but it is worth considering. The problem with FIAT is how reliable is it?

  25. adibmuhammad said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 3:23 pm

    I’m reminded of the VW Golf when I see the rear end.
    The front isn’t as agressive as the back, but it is just as nicely designed, as is the interior (well, that is to be expected from such a brand).

    That little Windows logo in the car is so cool!
    Haha.

    The price range for such a car is considered affordable, especially when taking into account the amount of stuff they packed into the car, plus quality itself.
    But as mentioned many times before: how’s the reliability?
    I know someone who used to own a Fiat before having to switch to a kelisa, due to reliability problems.

    Hopefully someone would be able to enlighten us… :)

  26. mschai said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 3:47 pm

    Saw it at Subang Parade last week. It’s sexy and definately a babe.
    I asked the sale person about what’s the Window Mobile? He klentong me by saying it’s speakers at the doors or wondows or something…..funny….
    For RM135,000, it reasonable compared to the Cooper, Beetle and Golf GTI.
    Is the auto version available?

  27. szw said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 4:56 pm

    delicious.
    i saw the real car and i just fall in love with it .

  28. albagmane said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 4:57 pm

    this is one nice machine… if u don say its a fiat hatchback i was thinking this car is either jaguar or aston… high class indeed and packed with lots of features… very interesting car in an interesting price…

  29. shooter said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 5:32 pm

    RM135k for this sexy piece of kit is reasonable.

  30. ingolstadt said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 7:39 pm

    Not interested.

    Fiat 500 please. (How nice if they were to price it the same as Fiat Panda)

  31. DtG said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 8:21 pm

    anybody care to donate RM135k for the sake of a a ‘needy’ person?

  32. aesthari said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 8:41 pm

    Wo, nice!! All these in a RM150k package and people still want to worry about resale value!! BAH! I think the suspension will just do nicely on Malaysian roads, Fiat suspensions are typically firm and sporty but absorbs bumps nicely nonetheless :)

  33. BuLaiEn said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 9:50 pm

    yeah paul any news about the new fiat 500 coming to our shores?

    if this baby cost 135k, then i’d suppose the 500 could start under 100k, or even 90k!!!

  34. Apathy said,

    November 18, 2007 @ 10:28 pm

    umm without a credible and large network of service centres, this car’s sales will be a flop. unless u don’t mind to go to any AhBeng workshop. i don’t think this car is exclusive as the lambo or d prancing horse. just my 2 cents.

  35. topgunthang said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 12:20 am

    fiat 500 would be cool to own. but it would suffer the same fate as this one.

    theres the Gti. and theres the Mini. better looks and better engineering. and lasting elegance.

  36. topgunthang said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 12:41 am

    also by the way, malaysians are too use to cheap interiors. therefore majority of us dont know where the industry standard actually is. therefore this appears high class.

  37. coolguru said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:37 am

    We’re all price sensitive people hence it’s also subjective to how much is the limit when we call out “expensive”.

    Seriously speaking, RM135k OTR is worth a second thought given it’s European car with great details, superb level of equipment, turbo and nice design!

    For the same price, you get Civic 2.0 (correct??). It’s a bigger car, different class, could be better resale value BUT it’s everywhere on the road versus a FIAT.

    Remember, FIAT carries Ferrari legency… you get a hint of Ferrari on FIAT :)

  38. coolguru said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 8:39 am

    Forgot to add, I personally think RM30k (correct??) for a VIVA is cheap but not worth the money!

    But then again, it’s the price bracket that many could afford to pay hence you call it cheap…

  39. nuajon said,

    November 19, 2007 @ 4:34 pm

    i like…

  40. DrA said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 1:52 am

    Anyone know how reliable new FIATs are?

  41. in_put said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 1:25 pm

    If a car can stir your senses, or make you feel that extra bit special getting from point A to point B, then all things considered, it’s worth going throught all the mud…

  42. azolkipl said,

    November 20, 2007 @ 3:53 pm

    droool

  43. hyundai said,

    November 21, 2007 @ 12:42 pm

    135K is too expensive for me… but the equipment is not bad…

  44. Bella147 said,

    February 22, 2008 @ 10:28 am

    Very good specs for the price…. i like it… but prefer the exterior and interior design of my AR 147 :>

  45. afroiq said,

    April 3, 2008 @ 11:52 pm

    wah..i like this car..i can afford till RM130k car only..maybe i chose this over the impreza..

    i like the exterior, interior, design and engine..bloody hell if the engine is not powerfull or outdated..hey i like this car..using my power of attraction on this car now..

    maybe you can make a proper review paul about the engine performance..and the car off course..but i.m an Mac guy..can change arr the Winlows logo heehe kidding..

  46. Loh Wei Kong said,

    March 7, 2009 @ 9:48 pm

    I love fiat car. i am owner of ullyse,weekend maria, coupe, doblio and bravo 1.4 GT. They are all lovely car especially the diesel JTD. I need to pay a bit of attention on fiat”s car. They are very sensitive. I need to put the car under shade. When it rain, I make sure the rain water will not wet my interior bcos the plastic can take the rain. Change engine oil every 8k km.

    When i come to service i never go to torino motor. I wonder why torino provide second hand spare parts for customer. Once my car go to torino for service, they are more problems on my car. You can guess why.

    Fiat car are nice car. You have to get a trust worthy sevice guy to maintain your car. I am still looking for that guy. Ha Ha

  47. darkskies said,

    March 9, 2009 @ 12:52 am

    Just like to know, is the rear is really to tight?Been asking due to maybe I’ll consider to purchase its but kind to worried about rear space.
    Family guy with a wife and 2 kids.

  48. Anand said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 10:06 am

    its really luk outdated and not worth to buy 4 tht price and size of the car..i rather go for honda civic 2.0 or lancer 2.0GT..still i can save sum money…
    even if wana compare wit resale value or spare parts..it stil NOT WORTH AT ALL….

  49. kayly said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 10:54 am

    dream machine…

  50. red7 said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 2:03 pm

    [quote comment="222799"]dream machine…[/quote]

    wet dream machine…

    cheers!

  51. Sex is wonderful, but it’s like champagne.If you’re forced to have four glasses at every meal you start to fantasize about water. said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 2:23 pm

    this is just lovely

  52. seat-belt said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 6:16 pm

    the exterior is quite outdated & the meter panel is kinda weird n looks confusing…

  53. Maserati said,

    March 20, 2009 @ 10:35 pm

    Not nice at all.High equipment levels but super bad depreciation in value.

    Car looks bad with all those gaps and all.

    Not worth at all at RM 135k.Civic 2.0 is the wise choice.

    Car is so cramp and small and there is only one service centre.

    No no for me…

  54. bkk said,

    March 21, 2009 @ 2:03 am

    the meter panels look like you are riding a bike !

  55. napsterman said,

    March 21, 2009 @ 3:20 am

    I WANT ONE!!!!!!

  56. han said,

    May 6, 2009 @ 1:48 pm

    this car is the one that Akif Zamani been driving in the drama (the hero in malay drama ‘Dari Mata Arisa’) It’s a cool car..I hope I got a boyfriend that drove this car…hahaha
    I can’t take away my eyes from this car when it appears in the drama..I fall in love with this car. For me, the car is the hero…hahaha
    But sadly, in today episode, the car been stolen by some punk…I hope nothing happen to the car…I miss the car already..T_T

  57. Loh Wei Kong said,

    May 7, 2009 @ 3:47 pm

    Good news that Torino has revised the price lower for Fiat Bravo 1.4 GT manual since automatic is out in the market. The price is affordable now. I never regret to drive this fast respond car.

  58. lando said,

    June 10, 2009 @ 11:48 pm

    Waiting a punto gt!!!

  59. Li2 said,

    June 11, 2009 @ 12:17 am

    Better than my lambretta! Hee..

  60. KC said,

    June 27, 2009 @ 10:54 am

    Now the manual version is even cheaper. I got mine for RM109K. New car but 2008 make.

  61. Ledzeman said,

    July 6, 2009 @ 2:32 pm

    I have been looking for a replacement for my face-lifted Alfa Romeo 156 2.0 after six years of bitter-sweet memories together. It’s still a beauty to look at and still very fun to drive around. The killer-look of shinny black with red leather inetrior, tuned-up 170plus HP means I can kick the asses of most ordinary Japanese and Korean cars, and of course the however-modified national cars. I am really reluctant to let it go for the market price of sub RM50k but somehow I needed a change.

    The 159 2.2 JTS is finally here and seems to be the natural replacement. But I had decided not worth taking up a RM140k loan to get one after parking mine next to it; they look almost identical with similar expectations.

    So I have a ‘nice’ problem of not knowing what new car to buy with a budget of RM150k. Surely, with that amount of money, there are many makes and models to choose from: 307, Ford Escape, Wish, Stream, CRV, Civic and so on. I am sure they are all nice, practical and probably with high resell value after years of ownership. But they all have one thing in common – lack of characters and very boring to drive around.

    If I was that practical and rational, I would have swapped for a Toyota Camry 2.0 two years ago. It’s big and spacious, very mid-size ‘Tauke’ looking, almost bullet-proof build quality and most impressively – real cool air from the aircond vent.

    Fiat Bravo GT 1.4T seems to have a package with almost all the answers I was looking for. Frankly, I will settle for a six-speed manual for any car that is not fitted with twin-clutch gearbox. Those 4-speed or 5-speed auto are for people just wanted to drive from Point A to B. The so-called semi auto +/- gears fitted in most luxury automobiles are just ‘feel-good-to-have’ toys for owners who probably never use again after two weeks of ownership.

    I am going to test drive one very soon and hopefully it will convince me to call off my dogs and end the search. .

  62. Ledzeman said,

    July 6, 2009 @ 2:37 pm

    Oh, btw, I only got to know the exciting package of Bravo GT after reading July’s Autocar Mag. Damn…someone should had told me this earlier.

  63. darkskais said,

    July 7, 2009 @ 1:12 pm

    KC, is it Rm109k with insurance or without insurance?

  64. Affanddy Bin Ahmad said,

    July 23, 2009 @ 2:31 am

    Dear Mr paultan. and friends, Fiat do offer door to door Fiat Bravo GT 1.4 and 500test drive for product awareness. do ring at 0132908556/ 0342519750 /email at affanddy@yahoo.com. Tq

  65. Affanddy Bin Ahmad said,

    July 23, 2009 @ 2:54 am

    retail price for bravo 1.4MT 135k otr definitely there is deduction for 2008 model

  66. type r said,

    August 18, 2009 @ 5:06 pm

    it is a ‘honest’ car, I drove it a week through Italy and France and the turbo asskick is a pleasure, fast enough without spending too much for petrol. My cousin is a fanatic Vw golf VI owner and the german car is still a little above for general quality, but unlike in the past Fiat jumped up quite close even still not equal to Vw, and Fiat engines are always funnier than vw ones at the same hp power. But I would never buy these cars after flying on my beloved Civic Type R, no need for turbo with this outstanding engine!

  67. Ken said,

    October 4, 2009 @ 12:47 pm

    Those with Multiair engine will be perfect

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