BRAVO TO FIAT FOR ITS FAMILY HATCH Going back about 20 years, I borrowed a Peugeot 205 GTI from a company called Turbo Technics. As you might imagine from the name, it had a reworked engine with a turbo to boost it. But even better was the secret weapon, a button you could press to raise engine output from fantastic to phenomenal. The reason I’m telling you this is that there’s a brand new car on UK roads that offers exactly the same experience, the latest Fiat Bravo. Buy it in the right spec and you get a feisty 150 bhp 1.4 litre turbo petrol engine. And there, lurking on the dash, is a Sport button. Press that and the car is transformed. The steering becomes much sharper and so also does throttle response with the result that the car literally becomes a bit wild and difficult to tame. It’s not the setting you want to use in traffic, but get this car on the open road and there’s the chance of some fantastic fun for the next few miles. Back in the days of the Turbo Technics car, there was a £500 insurance excess I would have had to pay. Driving round imagining there’s £500 in notes strapped to the bonnet, waiting to blow away as soon as you put a foot wrong, does tend to dampen your enthusiasm. But the Fiat brought no such qualms and I had a whale of a time. The Bravo replaces the Stilo, the car that took over from the original Bravo three door and Brava five door from the 90s. The Stilo was bland to the extreme but the previous Bravo had been a great car. My daughter and her partner ran one for several years with no great dramas, apart from when the cambelt let go and did a lot of damage. Mike told me it was obvious there was a link between the old Bravo and the new – the essential DNA was there to make this latest Bravo a good car. It needs a few more people to cotton on to it, though. I don’t think it has been a great success so far but that might change as the new 500 fun car arrives in UK Fiat showrooms and buyers who go to view it see the rest of the Fiat range as well. My test car was the 1.4 T-Jet 150 Sport, a hell of a name to sling on a car but it lives up to it, even the jet bit if you push that button. It’s not cheap at £14,295, which makes it the flagship petrol-engined Bravo, but other people charge more for cars that are ultimately less spectacular. Running costs are not brilliant with an average 31 mpg but you have to pay for the engine’s punch somewhere. People often ask me if I hanker after driving a Ferrari, and my reply that it’s a lot of money to pay for a Fiat frequently rattles them. But if you want Italian flair combined with performance you could save yourself a shedload of money by having this Bravo, which is probably just as much fun on British roads and won’t wave a red rag to the traffic cops (should you ever see any). The car is also practical as well as exciting, so you could get three kids in the back without too much trouble. Adults may find the space a bit tight but it’s no worse than other cars this size. Fiat’s last car to wear a Bravo badge was distinctive and great to drive. This one is no different, and at night even the carefully crafted rear lights reflect the car that went before. All Fiat needs now is for you to get out there and buy it. Maurice Hardy Fiat is expert at making small cars but if they get any bigger than the Bravo they tend to founder – witness the Croma, which has quietly disappeared from the UK market and I see the Ulysse people carrier is no longer in the price list, either, with the model range now stopping at the six seat Multipla. The Bravo deserves to succeed but I would not choose the Sport as I find the ride just too jarring. One of the lesser cars could well appeal though as Bravo prices start at £10,995 and determined haggling is likely to shave quite a bit off that. Young drivers are likely to favour options like the Blue&Me package that brings the ability to plug a memory stick into the fascia to instantly access your favourite MP3 files. It also brings Bluetooth connectivity and voice operation for the audio system which is actually quite a safety feature, too. Styling has been allowed to get in the way of providing a rear tailgate with a sensible shape and the narrowing of the opening towards the bottom makes life difficult, especially when combined with the deep lip. But boot space is generally good. Annette Hardy Car: Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet 150 Sport Does it fit your ego?... 0-62 mph: 8.5 secs Top speed: 131 mph Bhp: 150 @ 5500rpm Torque: 169 lb ft @ 3000 rpm ...and your wallet?... Price: £14,295 Urban: 30.4 mpg Extra urban: 48.7 mpg Combined: 39.8 mpg CO2 emissions: 167 g/km Insurance Group: 10 Best bits: that Sport button; reasonably practical; Italian DNA.