Climbing

Superbly capable car with exceptional off-road ability

I have owned this car for about 18 months now. It is fantastic off-road, helped no doubt by it's light weight. I love the simplicity of the 4WD - no diff-locks, 4x4 levers or low ratio - if you start to loose grip just give it some throttle. The build quality is much improved compared to previous Fiat's and my only complaint is the failure of the boot lid switch: a microswitch that has to be replaced as part of the whole handle (around £120 once painted). Now I just use the key to open the boot. Both the Fiat dealers that I have dealt with have been pleasant and efficient (one for an ABS recall, Middleton Bognor Regis), and the servicing dealer (Shortfield Godalming) offers clear pricing and a courtesy car.
The lack of tyre choice is disappointing though; for winter I have a set of Sportway A/T1 tyres (http://www.sportwaytyres.com/rally_tyres.htm) that are great off-road but very noisy on-road. For the rest of the year I use Avon Ice Touring.
The performance is adequate for local trips, and using this car for a mix of local and off-road driving returns around 33mpg. I don't use the car for any long journeys.
As a second car with genuine off-road ability, low running costs and good reliability, I cannot recommend it enough.

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