Fiat Fiorino (08 on) - Review

Thanks to a square and wide load area with minimal wheelarch intrusion, the Fiorino can carry 2.5 cubic metres. If you have the optional folding passenger seat this can be boosted to 2.8 cubic metres and also allows longer items of up to 2.5 metres to be carried. The rear doors open wide (although don't fold back on themselves) and the Fiat can be chosen with one or two sliding side doors. This means access is excellent and the 1.5 metre long loadspace can handle a pallet (just) with loads of around 1.2 metres high. All models come with a strong, nine-rung steel ladder partition behind the driver's seat while a solid (and sound absorbent) partition is available as an option, with or without a glazed panel. Choosing the Combi version with five seats means the payload is reduced to 270kg but it's still almost 750mm long. Removing the three-seat rear bench boosts carrying capacity to 2,500 litres. A four-seat version is also available with a payload of 338kg.

The Fiorino's side doors have been designed to resist opening in an accident, yet remain useable afterwards. All models come with the nine-bar steel ladder bulkhead to protect the driver from moving cargo and there are three-point seatbelts throughout. A dual-stage driver's airbags comes as standard but passenger and side airbags are optional. Similarly all cars have ABS and electronic brakeforce distribution but there's no stability or traction control available. An optional Thatcham security pack can be chosen which includes deadlocks, an immobiliser and a dual sensor-alarm while SX models and above have remote central locking and automatic door locking at 3mph.

Thanks to a frugal diesel engine, the Fiorino is cheap to run. The 1.3-litre Multijet can return 63mpg and even in town should manage 50mpg - this is far better than the 1.4-litre which manages 41mpg. Oil change intervals are set at 18,000 miles or 24 months and the diesel engine has been designed to cover more than 150,000 miles without the need for any maintenance to the mechanical components. The front end of the Fiorino has been designed to reduce damage and repair costs in the event of low speed frontal impacts.

Fiat doesn't have a great reputation for reliability but its modern vehicles have improved vastly. Its dealers haven't been quite as swift in terms of customer satisfaction, but they are getting better. The 1.3-litre diesel engine has been well proven in Fiat passenger cars and the quality cabin also borrow features from other models. The Fiorino was developed jointly with Peugeot and Citroen and all three versions of the small van have proved reliable.