Fiat Tipo - where's the catch?

We have been driving a Fiat Tipo for several months now. It is clearly cheaper than other C-segment cars, but does it differ in quality as well? We noticed a few things that annoy us - so a lower price is possible?

The Fiat Tipo, which we have been testing for long distances since May of this year, is a fairly well-equipped version. It costs almost 100 rubles. zloty. That's a lot for this model, but the interior trim is pretty much the same as the base version, which we can get for even less than $50. zloty.

This amount usually allows you to buy a car in the B segment in the basic configuration, and the Tipo is a full-fledged representative of the C segment. This made us think - where's the catch? Is a low purchase price associated with lower quality?

To answer this question, we focused on the shortcomings of the test Fiat.

While driving

We remind you that we are testing a version with a 1.6 MultiJet diesel engine with 120 hp. and automatic transmission. Although the automatics in petrol engines are manufactured by the Japanese company Aisin, the diesel engine is a design manufactured by Fiat Powertrain Technologies, developed in collaboration with Magneti Marelli and Borg Warner. These are brands recognized in the automotive world.

However, we have a few comments about the operation of the machine. It works a little slowly, does not always shift gears at the right moments - either it drags through gears, or it is late with a decrease. It also happens that it twitches when shifting gears and scratches a little when lowering to two and one when stopping. It also takes a moment to switch from R mode to D mode and vice versa - so the conversion to "three" sometimes takes a little longer than we would like.

The operation of the gearbox is also to some extent related to the operation of the Start & Stop system. We praise the settings memory - you can turn it off once and forget about it. However, if we are already using this system, after starting the engine, it takes some time for the transmission to start. But since we don’t have an electromechanical handbrake here, the car rolls back on slopes at this time. If you forget about it and step on the gas too fast, you may end up in a small bump.

In Tipo, we also have active cruise control - we did not expect it in this car. Works fine, but in a limited range of speeds. It turns off below 30 km / h, even if there is a car in front of us.

We ride a rich version of the equipment - as evidenced by this cruise control - and at the same time there is no parking sensors in front and even a passive assistant to keep the lane.

We also have comments on the performance of the indicators. A light press causes three flashes, which is convenient for changing lanes. However, if we move the lever not vertically, but slightly diagonally, then it will not always work - and then we change the lane without a pointer. And I don't think anyone likes it when someone does it in front of us. You must forgive us.

Completing the list of what annoys us while driving, let's add a little about the range indicator. It is very sensitive and calculates the range from average fuel consumption over fairly short distances. If, for example, we now have a power reserve of 150 km, then it is enough to drive a little less economically so that 100 km appears on the on-board computer screen. In a moment, we can walk more calmly, and the range will quickly increase to 200 km. It's hard to trust him in this situation.

Not so budget

And that's exactly what a Fiat Tipo owner might worry about. It's not a lack of power, it's too economical, and the onboard systems work well. What we paid for works well.

Looking through the prism of this lower price, it's strange that it's the only thing that annoys us and it's such minor things. In fact, among the above minuses, they all boil down to the fact that ... little things interfere with us.

So it turns out that a car that is considered quite budgetary can be like that - but it shows up very little. And Fiat deserves a round of applause for that.