Fiat Croma - Italian family car
This is the most expensive, largest and most unusual passenger car in the Fiat line. Nothing is trying to prove. He doesn't follow anyone. He has his own Italian idea for a family car. He doesn't care about price, size, speed... or beauty.
Do you know such a situation? You are walking down the street after a slender and tall girl with an aspen waist and the figure of Magda Frontskowiak. And suddenly this character from teenage dreams turns around and ... you feel that he is still not your type. The comparison may be daring, but it is quite consistent with the car described today. At the rear, the body of the Fiat Croma is about 160 cm high, and at the rear, the dynamic shape of the stern is reminiscent of the curves of an SUV and even the magnificent Sport station wagons from Alfa Romeo. The car turns around, showing the individuality of its sideline, and, finally, you can see its "face" - whoever likes what, but not my type.
And yet, the designers of the Giugiaro team cannot be blamed for taking the easy way out. They tried their best and got a Fiat that cannot be confused with any other brand. There are no calculated German lines or the sweet sophistication of French cars here. This is an original and unique, but at the same time controversial Italian recipe for a family car. According to the Italians, with the Crom model, they have drawn a fine line between aggressive and impersonal, unique and average appearance. By building a product for the widest possible audience, they didn't want to get too close to any of these values, and they succeeded in this trick.
But is it worth chasing this widest audience in a segment in which the Italians have never felt too confident? Since Croma had the difficult task of convincing customers anyway, wouldn't it be better to bet on a smaller portion of them, giving them something extra and moving that thin line closer to the zone of aggression? I don't know if it's a wind tunnel or a marketing strategy, but the sleek and rounded silhouette of the Croma looks more like a full muzzle with huge foggy eyes than an aggressive bull with red eyes.
And who said that love should be at first sight? Worth a look again, and then sit down and ride. Load the trunk, a full set of passengers and hit the road. In the mountains. With bicycles. With kids. Play your favorite recording at full volume. Get out on the highway and check the acceleration. And believe me, after such an acquaintance with the car, something sparkles. No, not a good comparison for cars ... Maybe just like that: the car starts to like it and much more clearly than when viewed from the side.
There is even more space inside than the round body promises. In "Krom" you sit almost like in an SUV - a dozen centimeters higher than in ordinary cars, there is plenty of space above your head, yes ... a lot. Getting behind the wheel facilitates a wide range of adjustments for both the seats and the steering wheel. Even for tall passengers, there is plenty of space in the back seat - neither for the legs, nor for the head.
The front seats are firm and comfortable even on long journeys. They do not provide a clear lateral grip, but this is not critical in this car. With a comfortable suspension and a powerful, perfectly damped 150 Multijet 1,9 hp engine. this car does not perform well in strip slalom competitions. Firstly, this is not the case for a family-friendly, comfortably suspended station wagon, secondly, that the high center of gravity forces you to follow corners at higher speeds, and thirdly, that the torque in this engine (but only above 1800 rpm min) easily beats the tires duel for traction - especially when the front wheels are more twisted. Even if the electronics have not yet intervened, it is already felt on the steering wheel that the inverted wheels are likely to turn in place. You just need to be more careful with gas - at least in the city, because at higher speeds on the highway there is practically no problem. Then you can press the pedal to the floor and enjoy a flexible and powerful engine, which, in addition, even with rough handling, does not have much appetite for fuel. It consumes about 6,5 liters / 100 km on the highway, and about 9 in the city - a good result for such a big and strong car!
It takes some time to get used to the speedometer scaling. Unlike other Fiat models (except Punto), it does not start counting from 20 km / h, but from 10 km / h, which means that if you want to go 90 km / h, then you need to point the arrow exactly “in the figure ". and not between them (i.e. between 80 and 100 as in other machines). You will get used to it. Worse with the cruise control handle, which is placed quite low and sometimes rests on the left knee, and in the Croma, as in some other Italian cars, the designers decided that the "Cancel" function in the cruise control was completely unnecessary. Since I strongly disagree with this, I have made a "cancellation" of the use of this invention. Finally, I would like to note the rare, very convex shape of the airbag on the steering wheel. At some point, at the bottom of the steering wheel, the cushion protrudes so much that the bulge becomes slightly interfering with fast maneuvers.
Fearing that children would rummage in the car, the manufacturer did not use too much soft and scratch-resistant plastic in the car. The only element that enlivens the interior is another plastic that imitates wood. Whether he succeeds is another story, but it certainly enlivens the discussion of all the "visitors" inside the car. Interestingly, opinions are quite divided - some believe that these strips are very suitable here, others vice versa.
The key is a pear-shaped plastic box that fits into a slot in the ignition. Once in the car, the driver is in for a surprise - the search for ignition may be delayed. It took me about ten seconds before my hand, resigned to wandering, fell on the central tunnel, where was ... the ignition switch. How do we know this patent? Among other things, from expensive and exclusive cars from Scandinavia - it was Saabs who consistently installed the ignition there. A small detail that makes the car a little aristocratic. But for everyday city curbs, you need a fairly high suspension, not aristocratic qualities, and here the Croma also copes with the task. With a ground clearance of 18 cm, it flawlessly climbs the curbs without scaring the owner by tearing off the bumpers. The best result in the SUV segment.
In addition to its ground clearance, the Croma has many other advantages in the city. High landing provides the driver with excellent visibility. Add to this the large exterior mirrors, rear parking sensors and low window line, and we have a large car that is easy to “shove” into a hole in a tight parking lot. The only downside is the station wagon's heavily slanted rear window, making it difficult to judge distance correctly.
Croma was designed from the very beginning as a station wagon - Fiat does not release other versions. It is not surprising then that the volume of the luggage compartment leaves nothing to be desired: the minimum volume of the luggage compartment is 500 liters (this value is for a roller shutter - it will be much larger up to the ceiling), when the rear seat backrest is folded down, we get 1610 liters of volume. The luggage compartment is adjustable, the loading area is low, there is no shortage of stowage compartments and nets for attaching small luggage. It is a pity that a flat surface is not obtained after folding the back of the rear seat.
Nothing is missing in the Emotion Cromie version: a set of airbags, 2-zone air conditioning, xenon headlights, a good audio system and a multifunction steering wheel make traveling in this car comfortable and safe (Croma received a set of five stars in the Euro NCAP crash test). Optional equipment such as an overhead DVD will keep rear passengers entertained. In addition, the car is roomy and practical. Only advantages! Then why were there relatively few of these cars on our roads? Maybe they are too expensive? So, we reach for the price lists on the Fiat website and... we have a small problem. Well, on the Fiat website the Croma model is not offered at all! I went through old editorial catalogs and found information that Fiat wants just over PLN 100 for a car with this engine. Of course, dealers gave discounts, but this is still a questionable price for a brand that everyone associates with smaller and less expensive cars. Still, for a large family car it was a reasonably calculated price. The taxi driver who came to pick me up with Kroma on the day I was writing this test admitted that he drove 400 km in this 2010 car and after the suspension (directly from Opel, you still have to be meticulous) he didn’t have to repair anything about it. Encouraging? So hurry up, because it's worth it - the few that are still available in stores are new copies of the year and are offered to customers with a huge PLN discount. So if you're looking for a large, family-friendly, economical car that's smart and predictable, with no glaring flaws and at an attractive price, grab a bargain! This may be your last chance!
