You have to admit it's getting harder not to take notice of Fiat. Locally, the brand hasn't been synonymous with exciting products and build quality has raised a few eyebrows but it seems the times they are a-changing.
The Fiat 500 is taking the European market by storm and, along with unprecedented sales figures, has already scooped a few Car of the Year awards in those parts.
The Panda has grown some horns and the Bravo has just been nominated as a South African Car of the Year finalist - and I'm willing to bet my Pringle boxers the 500 will be a finalist in 2008!
Now, the Bravo.
Beside having some of the hottest babes I've seen in a while at the SA launch a few months ago (an Italian brand, remember), the Bravo will probably be remembered as the model that introduced the latest Fiat badge with a three-dimensional look said to be derived from the shield badge on Fiat cars of 1931 to 1968.
The range is made up of one petrol and one diesel engine - each a turbocharged, six-speed manual. There's talk of a smaller, entry-level petrol for 2008; time will tell.
The petrol, a 1.4-litre 16-valve turbocharged mill from the new T-Jet family, snorts along to the tune of 110kW and 206Nm, but the T-Jet Sport we reviewed had a sport button for a little bit of overboost - 24Nm more torque - bringing that figure closer to 230Nm.
And worth mentioning up front is the 30 000km service intervals, even for the diesel, thanks to what Fiat says is "effective oil/water heat exchange".
The Italians claim 8.2sec to 100km/h at sea level for the version with the special button, 8.5sec for the "ordinary" version. Either way, we just managed to break 10 seconds to 100km/h up on the Reef with Sport button on and traction control off, full-on Johnny Bravo mode.
The main problem with the T-Jet engine seems to be the mapping; the boost is somehow not consistent. If you rev it up and drop the clutch it works but it doesn't hold boost at high revs.
Acceleration falls off
In higher gears you can flatten the accelerator and get a nice spurt but the tapering-off starts sooner than you'd like. I'm not sure if this is because we're still working off a 1400cc platform or to counter lag but it's better than lots of lag followed by lots of go.
The downside is an often a jerky pull-off; it becomes a difficult to drive smoothly off the line as you're never quite sure how responsive the turbo will decide to be.
There's a cool digital boost gauge as part of the onboard computer menu, however, that lets you monitor boost pressure. It will be interesting to see what the aftermarket tuners can do chip-wise; a remap may just be the dottore ordered.
Fiat says the Bravo will run to 212km/h while sipping 7.1 litres/100km; 200km/h came up easily enough on some camera-free stretches but actual consumption averaged 10.9 litres/100km.
Sharp styling
Nobody can call the work of Fiat's in-house style centre ugly; the headlights are drop-shaped, the grille sharp and the bonnet wide (think Maserati but don't tell anyone).
The car seems to lean forward like an athlete on the starting blocks and follows through with a smooth roofline. The rear gets a little questionable with its froggy, round tail lights, but the 225/45 rubber attached to 17" grey rims makes up for it, as do the bee-sting aerial, rear spoiler and skirts.
The inside is just as Bravocious: racing pedals, piano black-finish centre console, subtle two-tone (black and burgundy) everything, chunky steering wheel, short gearlever - very nice.
However, the clutch pedal occasionally got stuck under the (official Fiat accessory) floor mat, which could be a problem.
The speedometer face is also marked out with every alternate figure in a smaller size - but it's the even numbers that are smaller so the key figures for the spietkop vultures (60, 100 and 120) are difficult to read.
Legroom adequate
And who in Italy thought it a good idea to put a velcro'd fold up triangle box thingie on the boot floor, five centimetres away from the corner? This means the boot is no longer flat, tilting parcels and boxes - although the Italians say the 400-litre capacity is segment-leading.
Front and rear legroom is adequate; Fiat proudly claims the rear is good for 1.84m tall kids and the front 1.83m tall adults.
Oh, impress the chick and order the "Blue&Me" option. It was developed with Microsoft and integrates access to items such as your cellphone through a voice command system, can read out your SMS's and will sort your music tracks from an iPod, cellphone or MP3 player.
The Bravo also earned five stars in the Euro NCAP rating.
VERDICT
I had to remind myself that this was really a 1400cc engine; it clearly outpunches its weight class. The look, finish, and general appeal are plusses, as is its relative scarcity in SA.
I do wish it was more keenly priced, however - at R197 000 it starts picking fights with 1.8 and two-litre players - but if anything it does the "new" Fiat brand proud.