FIAT Doblo (2010 - )  

Huge space, massively practical, great diesel engines, decent ride quality, hardwearing interior.

Can be noisy especially under hard acceleration, styling not to everyone's taste, lacks refinement.

Introduction

The original Doblo, launched in 2001, was little more than a van with windows. And there was nothing wrong with that, it was an honest, reliable car that proved great value for buyers looking for massive space on a small budget.

And now, nine years on, the 2010 Doblo has moved the game on. The best bits remain: it's incredibly practical, has a huge amount of space inside and comes with some excellent engines, but it's so much more car-like than before. That's because it now shares much with the Punto Evo on which it's based. It handles better, has a far more user-friendly and attractive interior and gets a whole raft of electronic goodies including ESP with hill hold function, hands-free phone connectivity and touch-screen Blue&Me TomTom satellite navigation. 

A lot more thought has gone into how it looks this time round, too, with a number of styling tricks that make you think that you're looking at more than just a van with windows. There's no getting away from the overall van-like shape, but Fiat has created a floating roof, large glazed side area and what on first glance seems like a huge screen at the back, all of which makes Doblo look far more interesting and differentiates it from similar models. Styling-wise it now has more in common with the likes of the Skoda Roomster and even the Kia Soul than other van-based cars.

All cars come with five seats and a huge boot as standard, but as with the previous generation model, it's possible to specify two seats in the huge boot space, turning it into an affordable seven-seater.

Engines come in the shape of a 1.4-litre petrol and 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre diesel. The two diesels are the pick of the range. They're powerful, punchy and incredibly efficient, keeping Doblo's CO2 emissions - and therefore running costs - down.

This is also the first time that the Doblo will be available in the United States, too. Under Fiat's tie-up with Chrysler, the Doblo will be available as a RAM from 2012.

Next: What's Good »

Last updated 4 April 2012
More at the FIAT website  

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