Fiat Multipla Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Fiat Multipla range
Prices: £13,752 - £17,509 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 8-10
Emissions: 170-205g/km
Performance: [1.6] 0-60mph 12.6s / Max Speed 106mph
Fuel Consumption: [1.6] [urban] 25.4mpg / [extra urban] 39.2mpg / [combined] 32.8mpg
Safety: Twin front & side airbags / ABS
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height 3994/1871/1670mm

HIGH, WIDE AND NOW HANDSOME?

Our Rating: 7.6 / 10

Granted, it will no longer frighten small children, but does Fiat’s Multipla still have something to offer in the mini-MPV sector? Andy Enright reports

Although the motor industry showered it with awards, it seems Fiat’s original Multipla was just too extreme to find widespread favour. The rather bizarre exterior detailing was loved by some but hated by many others in a marketplace where conservative always made the numbers. As a result, in commercial terms at least, the Multipla has been something of a missed opportunity, despite a 2005 facelift that toned down the styling hoping to make the Multipla a whole lot more palatable.

I must admit to being slightly irked by the ’05 makeover. I loved the way the original Multipla looked, with its gargoyle visage and roll of puppy-fat sitting just beneath the windscreen. It was so avant garde and bold that it seemed impossible that it was given the green light by a major manufacturer, weaned as they are on the cold logic of corporate bean counters. It was even exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Score one for the stereotype of the happy-go-lucky Italian, in other words. That said, it’s not too easy to maintain a nod and a wink when the opposition are shifting huge quantities of stock and your rather eccentric offering is resolutely glued to the showroom floors.

Although in profile the current car could be nothing but a Multipla - same low waistline and huge, airy glasshouse – the ’05 changes saw it adopt the look of the now discontinued Idea supermini-MPV. The designers at Fiat Centro Stile fitted a corporate-style Fiat grille and lamps with the bonnet rising up a little awkwardly to meet the windscreen. The rear lights are these days more conventional square items and the wraparound bumpers are a good deal cleaner than the original ones. As a result of the changes, one can’t help but feel the Multipla has become that tad more anonymous. Still, Fiat will gladly trade a little of the old car’s big personality for a healthier bottom line and this model is no less competent than its excellent predecessor.

One thing that hasn’t changed a great deal is the interior. The dashboard still looks like something from the set of Alien, with a rev counter trying to burst out from the magnificently lumpen centre console. Yes, some of the minor controls are haphazardly located – who’d instinctively think of looking for a door mirror adjuster on the roof? – but otherwise it’s something you’ll get a real buzz out of using. It’s almost as if Fiat’s designers could only accept so much watering down of their bold styling, striking a deal that the exterior could be bowdlerized as long as the interior stayed much the same.

The Multipla’s USP is still alive and kicking insofar as it offers three-abreast seating layout front and rear. Since six people can therefore be accommodated in only two rows of seats, the overall length of the car can be kept short - four metres to be exact, half a foot less than a VW Golf. Getting in and out is easy, courtesy of high, wide doors and seats that are comfortably but not excessively high. All six seats are identical and equally comfortable, all have three-point seatbelts and all are light (16kg) and easily removable. The middle seat up front can be folded flat (to give three extra cupholders) or replaced completely by a console including an 18-litre cooled or heated box.

It's the same in the rear, where the middle seat can be either folded or removed to accommodate a small fridge. Rear seat leg and headroom is outstanding for such a small car - almost limousine-like in the rearmost of the two mounting positions on offer. Even with the seats set this far back, there's still as much luggage space (430 litres) behind them as you'd find in a Mercedes C-class, or 540 litres if you click them forward a notch (sacrificing little in terms of ride comfort). This is, in other words, the only mini-MPV you can buy with a decent amount of luggage space - as much as 1300 litres if you treat the Multipla as a three-seater.

Although keen drivers will prefer somet