Fiat Idea (04-07) - Review

Four adults are easily accommodated and all get plenty of headroom. The rear seats recline and slide backwards if needed for extra legroom making it roomy enough to rival much bigger cars. Alternatively, three full seatbelts and head rests in the back mean three kids will be just as happy. All but the most basic models get front armrests and lumbar adjustment, and the top Eleganza model has a full length glass roof creating a very airy interior ambience.

Boot space is generous and its capacity can be increased further by sliding the rear seats forward or folding them down. The seats can't be easily removed and they don't fold into the floor. They can be split 40/20/40 however, and the centre seat and the front seats fold to form tables. There are 27 different storage points inside including cubbies in the footwells.

The driver's seat is height adjustable and the steering wheel is height and reach adjustable too. The interior feels well put together. On top models there's a second rear view mirror designed to be positioned so you can keep an eye on kids in the back. The driver enjoys an elevated view of the road with generally good levels of visibility in all directions. The one exception is the front windscreen pillars which are big enough to lose a car in completely from certain angles although this is a common problem with modern cars.