Fiat Sedici Estate 2006 - Present

Fiat is looking to a joint project with Suzuki to target the compact 4x4 market. Built alongside the Suzuki SX4 at a new Hungarian factory, the Sedici is targeting mothers with young families. Fiat believes it will appeal because of the perceived security of four-wheel drives and its relatively compact dimensions, which make it easy to drive and manageable. The Petrol engines and transmissions are courtesy of Suzuki, while the six-speed 1.9 turbo diesel is made by Fiat.

Offering a relatively firm ride the Sedici has an almost sporty feel to it. The result of this is a reassuringly composed drive when steering the Sedici through a series of bends. While the steering somewhat lacks feel, it certainly points the car accurately.

The Sedici is relatively competent off-road, and although it doesn't have a set of low ratio gears, it can easily be switched to 'automatic' four-wheel drive mode. This means that the Sedici operates in front-wheel drive mode until the extra traction from the rear wheels is needed. The other option for off roading is the four-wheel drive lock with drive split evenly between the front and rear axles, this is not suitable for road work and automatically disengages above 37mph, reverting to 'auto' mode. A surprisingly competent off road performer the Sedici has almost as much ground clearance as a Land Rover Freelander and has enough guile in four-wheel drive mode to cope with mild inclines and moderately muddy conditions.

The 107bhp 1.6-litre engine is pokey enough for the Sedici to reach 60mph from rest in under 11 seconds. The 120bhp diesel feels quicker on the road although it is not as fast on paper. The diesel feels more relaxed and builds speed without fuss. It cruises easily at 70-80mph on the motorway and really there is no point thrashing it to go faster, because while it will go faster, it offers little fun. The six-speed gearbox doesn't particularly lend itself to smooth changes but works well once you get a used to it. The petrol engine seems to pull well from low down, and revs out well. If feels more lively than the 10.5 second 0-60 would indicate.

With it's rear seats in place the Sedici offers similar boot space as a new Renault Clio at 290 litres, but some way short of most small family cars, from which Fiat might hope to steal a handful of sales. However, with the rear seats folded forward there is a large load area measuring 670 litres up to window height. This is not really the ideal format for it's target market of mothers with young families, trying to wrestle the seats down and the kids in the car being two activities that don't really go together and besides where are the kids going to sit? Air conditioning is standard across the range as are electric front windows. The Sedici's ground clearance makes getting in and out of the car easy, while the rear seats should accommodate two adults quite easily. There's space behind front seats for six-foot occupants with adequate leg and head room.

The Sedici offers a competent entry in the compact 4X4 market and in the event that you want to drive it off the tarmac it will behave itself pretty well. But to be a serious contender for the market that it's looking for it really needs to be more usable in a practical sense, the boot space just isn't big enough and the rest of the car isn't enough fun to pull it through.

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