Μεταφρασμένο απο βουλγαρο στα αγγλικα (πρόκειτε για γερμανικο τεστ-φαινεται και απο τα ονοματα των δοκιμαστων που δημοσιευτηκε στην βουλγαρικη εκδοση του Auto Bild)
AUTO BILD - CONTINUOUS TEST - FIAT BRAVO 1.9 MJT EMOTION
Applauds for Bravo.
Until recently FIAT wasn’t performing particularly well in exhaustive tests. That was until this car, which throws away all prejudices: excellent (6) for the best Italian so far!
God, how tenacious prejudices can be. Especially when speaking about cars, where clichés seem so hammered in our heads: Mercedes rides smoothly, BMW sprints well, Mazda lasts forever. And a FIAT always breaks. That’s just how it is!
But then a moment comes when prejudice falls apart like a tower of cards. That’s exactly what happened while we were doing the exhaustive test of Fiat Bravo. The reliability of the compact 5-door model through the 100,000km distance was so impressive, that not only it beats the fellow cars from FIAT group, but performed better than some more expensive cars from prestigious brands. In short: at the final FIAT deserved excellent score (6).
Ever since its first appearance in Auto Bild HQ in April 2008, the FIAT Bravo 1.9 MJT Emotion started collecting praises. This car is full of hidden talents: a wonderful common-rail diesel engine under the hood with the impressive 150bhp, multimedia navigation system, driver knees airbag, automatic A/C, and xenon headlights – features, sometimes missing in cars from the upper segment.
First applauds – the compact car offers a lot of interior space and is often chosen by the Auto Bild teammates for long journeys. The Bravo quickly becomes famous for its qualities in long distance travels. “Great engine, low MPG – a nice companion for the road”, resumes the photo-editor Eleonora Kuchina.
In the same time, another colleague points a drawback, which somewhat ruins the good impression – the seats are too short, poorly upholstered and with bad side support. “Golf is better than Bravo in this respect”, says editor Stefan Shtih.
In our board log there are also complains about the non-harmonic and stiff ride. After a long journey the editor Yoachim Staat notes: “There’s slight knocking when going over short waves. Some side swinging is present despite the stiff suspension – Bravo never feels calm.”
On the other hand, some of the drivers really liked the sporty setting of the suspension. Over a good road you can travel really smoothly, but you need to get used to the weird logic of some of the controls: the sat navigation controls are on the ceiling, the seat temperature cannot be changed.
All criticism fades away however, as the Bravo convinces us in its consistency and reliability. Not a single problem after 60,000 km. We’re only bugged by the strange A/C controls and the hard to read dashboard. The first two service visits were a pure routine. The third service check also didn’t show any signs of problems, we only had to replace the front brake pads – the disks and the pads were worn out because of our aggressive driving and the frequent use of the powerful diesel engine. The third service check is also the most thorough one, so the mechanics had some more work to do.
It is pity FIAT’s service in Hamburg isn’t performing as well as our test car. Even though we warned them we are coming for the big service check, the guys were not prepared and were missing even standard replacement parts, such as pollen filter and wipers. This definitely does not deserve any good words.
Continues:
In the same time the Bravo continued its reliable 100,000 km journey kilometer after kilometer. After 92,300 km we had to replace the rear brake pads, which was also the point at which we made the third service check. More than outstanding results so far. 5,000 km later, however, just before the end of the test, the wonderful compact car started to choke and entered in service mode. There’s was a yellow light on the dashboard, indicating engine problem. Are prejudices valid after all?
In the course of 5 days the garage guys were announcing different diagnoses, changing various parts and clearing computer errors. Just to find in the end that some rodent has eaten part of the hose of the turbo compressor, causing the problems.
As a result the engine control electronics went crazy, the fuel mixture became too rich and the extra soot bugged the DPF filter and all sensors. The garage should have noticed the cut hose much earlier and spare the unnecessary work and part replacements.
They did however found a real problem while the car was in the garage – the service guys changed a damaged garniture (?) between cylinders’ head and the exhaust collector (?). Right before the final, a bulb died. And we willingly closed our eyes for little rust on some consoles and bolts, because a surface corrosion is really harmless.
We are applauding, because never before in the history of AUTO BILD’s long tests had any FIAT performed so convincingly.
Ian Horn/Manfred Klangvald
Little wearing out, but negligence in some details
Good work, FIAT: if it weren’t the troubles, caused by the rodent’s teeth, this Italian would have passed the long test so effortlessly, as if it was a Japanese car from the beginning of the 90-ies. Have things in Torino changed so much? Yes, to some extent, but not fully, as evident from the chassis conservation. When DEKRA’s representative Gunter Schile checks with endoscope the chassis hollow parts, he notices drops of water and even rubbish around the rubber caps of the drainage holes. The caps seem placed after the anti-corrosion layer, so they don’t sit perfectly. Besides, the protecting wax in the hollow spaces is not distributed evenly. Some of the thermal protection shields above the exhaust are broken; one of them is even missing. The same is true with the ventilation holes at the back. One of the four rubber membranes is not correctly mounted. Improvement is also possible with the tight-moving wire of the gears, as well as with the badly firming muffs of the semi-axes. Special praise for the engine – it didn’t show any wearing out and performs even better than what’s stated by FIAT. The same is true for the gearbox and the clutch. Electrical connections and cables are also fine. Seats are also in great condition. Well done, FIAT.
Excellent (6) for reliability
Who would think of that – FIAT Bravo goes 100,000 kilometers without any technical problem. This is an achievement, which was not up to any VW in the history of our tests. Undoubtedly, the well-known negligence of FIAT was also noticed here and there. Official garages might have been much better. Build quality might have been even higher. The specifics of driving a Bravo are excusable – eventually you’ll get used to control the navigation from the ceiling. In the end, Bravo deserved its score (6) and our sincere applauds.
Repairs
At 62,223 km – new front brake discs and pads (300 EUR)
At 92,337 km – new rear brake pads (100 EUR)
At 96,750 km – replacement of fuse of turbo compressor, eaten by a rodent (40 EUR)
At 96,590 km – the Bravo goes in service mode for a second time. Replaced parts: exhaust gas recirculation valve, DPF, exhaust collector and collector’s gasket. In fact, only the last two really needed replacement.
At 103,000 km – replacement of died rear bulb (8 EUR)
Expenses for two years
Insurance: 1650 EUR
Taxes: 330 EUR
State insurance (not sure how you call that, it’s something like “civil responsibility” here and makes your insurance company pay for the damages you did to another car): 160 EUR
Fuel expenses (for 100,000 km): 7084 liters, 6730 EUR
Oil topping: 1,5 liters
Service costs (including oil change):
15,000 km – 230 EUR
30,000 km – 230 EUR
45,000 km – 230 EUR
60,000 km – 250 EUR
75,000 km – 565 EUR
90,000 km – 230 EUR
Tire costs (including montage):
2 sets of summer tires Bridgestone Turanza ER300 205/55 R16 V
1 set of winter tires Pirelli 190 Snowcontrol 195/65 R15 T
Price and loss of value:
Price of test car, April 2008: 18,745 EUR
Current price of new car (for 2.0 MJet 165): 20,745 EUR
Estimated price February 2010: 9,950 EUR
Loss of value of test car: 8,795 EUR
Total expenses for two years:
For 100,770 km – 11,755 EUR
Cost per km – 0,12 EUR
Cost per km, including loss of value – 0,20 EUR
Readers’ letters
Great design, too wide back column. I would recommend parktronic to everyone, because the rear column is too wide. Bravo is a wonderful car, not perfect unfortunately. (Bravo 1.6 MJT)
Engines: market share
1,4 120 bhp: 51%
1,4 90 bhp: 23%
1,4 150 bhp: 10%
1,6 MJT 120 bhp: 8%
1.9/2.0 MJT 150/165 bhp: 5%
1,6 MJT 105: 3%
Colors: market share
Black: 33%
Red: 21%
Grey: 20%
White: 15%
Blue: 9%
Silver: 2%
