Fiat Sedici had been launched back in 2006 and has been revisiting the showrooms with its upgrades for over the years. It takes a lot from the Suzuki SX4 be it the engine or the interiors, but at the end it’s a Fiat product, an elegant one at that.

Performance:

The Sedici had its second coming this year, after its four wheel drive was incorporated into the system, giving the 1.6 liter engine a power boost to all axels. It has a five speed gearbox and notches up to 62 mph in 10.8 seconds. One major problem with the vehicle, is it does tend to lag while pulling in gear at high speeds. The Fiat Sedici has lately added a 1.9 liter engine, the Multijet that packs the same features except that it eliminates all the negatives of petrol and adds a six speed transmission gear box.

Handling:

Though the interiors may not be quite so sporty, the car does ride like one, with a racy and edgy look. It looks and feels great to make those narrow turns with ease. Maneuverability is top of the mark and suspension kicks in quite well too.  It’s off road expertise may not be as good as an SUV but it does fare quite well in that regard.  One thing that is missing from the car’s inventory is: a set of low ratio gears, but the car makes up for it by adding an automatic four wheel drive or even a permanent 4x4 mode. This makes travelling through slush and muddy terrain seem like a breeze.

Interiors:

The Sedici has the interior feel of that of the Suzuki SX4, which is simply due to the fact that it apes the latter in its interiors, making it more Suzuki than Fiat. Anyways, apart from that, the car has an exquisite layout. The Fiat Sedici houses a stereo atop the centre console. Interior material quality is top of the line, even though the looks at times seem all too boring. If anything the car makers could have made it a tad bit sporty, when it came to the interior designing.

Equipment:

The Fiat Sedici latest model comes packed with features, with a few changes here and there between the Dynamic and the Eleganza variant. We will list down the various equipments that make up the Fiat Sedici. The ABS system is found in both while air conditioning is surprisingly available only to the Dynamic. Whereas the Eleganza, exclusively sports the Audio remote and the climate control systems. Other than these both car models feature the CD rack, the electronically controlled mirror, front electric windows, the front fog lights, and the roof rails. The Dynamic model uses the steel wheels whereas the Eleganza sports alloy wheels. Both of them are fitted with Steering wheel rake. Other essential features that pertain to safety are available to both models, and that are the remote locking and the side, front and passenger airbags, along with an Isofix child seat anchor. Another trendy feature of both these models is that they house a space saver spare wheel. Dynamic sports a cloth trim while the Eleganza goes for a interior chrome trim.

Comfort:

Let’s take a sneak peak at the comfort aspect of things in the Sedici. The newest model, like all its predecessors rides fairly well though at times at high speeds gives out a shrill noise. One negative that we spotted with the car, was with its petrol engine, it generates an audible hum all throughout. On the other hand, the seating is impressive and crafty but at the same time, they lack support. The roofline is pretty high and the air conditioning in the Dynamic models is brilliant.

Practicality:

The best bit about the car is its good and comfortable spacing thanks to some crafty designing. This car’s best features are accentuated in the wintry conditions. This may not be built for the rural terrain but does still fair impressively while taking on the dust roads. Another practical feature that we found interesting is the electronic 4WD.

Pricing:

The Fiat Sedici is priced between £10,505 and £16585. The price isn’t all that attractive but it isn’t the costliest of the lot. It may not be by far the cheapest, but given the specifications and features allotted to the car, the pricing can be said to be fairly reasonable. The costs vary for the different engine variants as the model also comes in with a four wheel drive. If you are to go for the used car, then the prices obviously come down a bit. Our rough estimate for a used car is anywhere in between £4150 and £12154 depending on mileage covered and other component conditions.

Running Costs:

We have already covered the product cost, now let’s take a look at how the car fairs in term of ergonomics. The car gives a fairly decent mileage given its hefty drive. When we take into account fuel consumption for roughly 10,000 miles covered in a year’s time, the costs run up to £1,374 in case of unleaded fuel and in case of diesel the costs are lowered a bit to £1235. The car comes with a warranty of 3 years or 60,000 miles and has a £115-£190 road tax pinned to it. The car needs to be serviced every 12,000 miles.

Safety:

The car engine is drawn in from the makers of Suzuki bikes. Suzuki is renowned for its top of the line perfect products, and since Fiat has endowed Suzuki with the car’s engine, you can’t rest assure it is one reliable hunk. And when it comes to safety, the car has got four out of five stars in terms of protection from the European Car Assessment Programme.

Eco- friendliness:

The car comes fairly close to an extremely good Green credential. It has a 171gm/km CO2 emission which is quite low compared to others in its category. And given the fact that this one is a four wheel drive, it makes for some remarkable engineering to keep the emissions down to such levels. There’s not much difference in the emission rates with the various models, be it the 1.6 liter petrol or the 1.9 MultiJet or even the diesel variant of the Fiat Sedici.