Fiat Avventura Review- Stylish compact crossover but turning radius disappoints

The Fiat Avventura is an attractive looking compact crossover from the automobile giant Fiat India Automobiles Limited and comes in six versions with one transmission, two engine and two fuel options. The Fiat Avventura is based on the Fiat Punto Evo hatchback. Now, the car also comes powered by Abarth.

The price of the Fiat Avventura starts at Rs 6.81 lakh and goes up to Rs 10.26 lakh. All prices are ex-showroom, New Delhi. The chief rivals of the Fiat Avventura are the Toyota Etios Cross, Ford EcoSport and Volkswagen Cross polo.

ENGINE AND SPECIFICATIONS

Avventura has 4-cylinder 1368cc petrol version as well as 1248 cc multijet diesel engine.

The Fiat Avventura is available in both petrol and diesel trims. The 1.4-litre, 4-cylinders, 16-valves, 1368 cc, DOHC, FIRE petrol engine produces 88.8 bhp of power at 6000 rpm and a highest torque of 115 Nm at 4500 rpm. On the other hand, the 1.3-litre, 1248 cc Multi-Jet diesel engine generates a maximum power of 91.7 bhp at 4000 rpm and a peak torque of 209 Nm at 2000 rpm. Both the engines are mated to a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox.

As far as mileage is concerned, the petrol powered Fiat Avventura delivers a mileage of 14.4 km/l whereas the diesel version of the Fiat Avventura returns a fuel efficiency of 20.5 km/l. Both mileage figures are ARAI certified, as the company claims. Besides, the Fiat Avventura comes with a 45 litre of fuel tank capacity.

In terms of acceleration, the petrol version of the Fiat Avventura crosses the 0 – 100 kmph mark from standstill within 14 seconds with a top speed of 155 kmph. On the other hand, the diesel engine sprints the 0 – 100 kmph barrier in around 13 seconds with a top speed of 165 kmph.

EXTERIOR

Fiat Avventura 2016 has an awesome sporty look with a  fantastic ground clearence of  205 mm

The exterior design of the Fiat Avventura looks marvellous. The front profile of the car has reindeer headlight cluster. It has projector headlamps with turn indicators. While, at the rear the car gets mounted spare wheel that gives the Fiat Avventura a sporty look.

Other prominent features of the Fiat Avventura include a radiator grille, a large windscreen which is made of green tinted glass and accompanied by a wiper with defogger, body painted electrically adjustable ORVMs with integrated turn indicators, front and rear fog lights, a functional roof rail, 16-inch alloy wheels, tubeless radial tyres and an elegant taillight cluster.

In terms of dimensions, the Fiat Avventura measures 3989 mm in length, 1706 mm in width and 1542 mm in height along with a wheelbase of 2510 mm and a minimum ground clearance of 205 mm.

The Fiat Avventura is available with a choice of seven attractive colours- Exotica Red, Zafferano Orange, Bronzo Tap, Pearl White, Hip Hop Black, Minimal Grey and Vocal White.

INTERIOR

The front is packed with a leather wrapped three spoke steering wheel , keyless entry and other features

The Fiat Avventura comes with a dual tone colour scheme. One of the chief attractions of the car is the ambient lighting on the dashboard that enhances the elegance of interiors, though it is available exclusively on the top end version.

Feature-wise, the Fiat Avventura gets a leather wrapped three spoke steering wheel along with several multi functional switches, tilt steering, keyless entry, front and rear power windows, an instrument cluster with compass and inclinometer, electrically adjustable wing mirrors, automatic AC with rear AC vents, climate control and an audio system which supports CDs, MP3s, FM Radio, Microsoft Blue and Me voice recognition, SMS readout, Bluetooth, AUX-in and USB port. On the plus side, it is equipped with a speed sensitive auto-volume feature, which adjusts automatically the volume of speakers.                 

Fiat Avventura 2016 is a 5 seater compact crossover but leg space in rear seats is less      

The Fiat Avventura is a five seater car and its seats are wide, ergonomically designed and well cushioned and comes with integrated head rests. The car has ample leg and shoulder space. There is also a glove box which has sufficient storage amount, though it is not cooled. Besides, the Fiat Avventura has a 280 litre of boot space which can be further increased by folding the rear seat.

PERFORMANCE

Avventura has McPherson Struts suspension at the front and Torsion Beam suspension at the rear

The performance of the Fiat Avventura is excellent. The ride and handling of the car is nice. On the braking front, the car gets ventilated disc brakes at the front and drum brakes at the rear. In addition, the car has Independent McPherson Struts suspension at the front and Torsion Beam suspension at the rear.

On the safety front, the Fiat Avventura is loaded with plenty of features like driver and passenger airbags, Anti-lock braking system (ABS) with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), three point ELR front seatbelts with pre-tensioners, child safety locks, seatbelt reminder, side impact beams, automatic door lock, fire prevention system (FPS), door ajar warning and engine immobilizers.

ADVANTAGES

The Fiat Avventura has the highest ground clearance of 205 mm in its class that is really a plus point for the car. The performance of the FIRE engine is impressive. Besides, the car has decent cabin space.

DRAWBACKS

Absence of rear parking sensors with camera is the major drawback of the Fiat Avventura. At the same time, safety feature ABS with EBD is not given as standard for all the variants. The rear seats of the car do not offer adequate knee-room. Moreover, minimum turning radius of the car is quite high.

VERDICT

The Fiat Avventura is an extremely comfortable and reasonably spacious car. Furthermore, the decent ground clearance of the Fiat Avventura makes it the most suitable car for Indian road conditions. No doubt, the Fiat Avventura is a value-for-money car.