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By Jonathan Crouch

The Fiat Fiorino may be small but it could be perfectly formed for the modern urban environment. Jonathan Crouch takes a look

Ten Second Reviewword count: 70

With a 660kg payload limit and a 2.5m3 load volume, the Fiat Fiorino is pretty spacious for a city van. And you get impressive manoeuvrability and low running costs, plus provision of one of the best small diesel engines there is, made still more efficient for this revised model. Less at home on the open road, the Fiorino is nevertheless a great antidote to the woes of urban van operators.

Backgroundword count: 170

As our cities and urban areas continue to indulge their penchant for expansion and sprawl, commercial vehicles may have to undergo a spot of shrinkage to cope. At least that's the view at Fiat where the compact Fiorino van is being touted as the ideal solution for operators that find themselves beset by congestion and plagued by soaring costs. The Fiorino is Fiat's smallest purpose-built van. The Italian firm will also supply you with a commercial version of its Punto supermini but its teeny load carrying capacity precludes it for many. The Fiorino delivers a reasonably spacious load bay coupled with micro dimensions that should make the cuts and thrusts of metropolitan motoring that bit easier to avoid. The van, like the mainstay of Fiat's light commercial vehicle range, was created in partnership with PSA Peugeot Citroen. This means that prospective buyers can obtain vehicles that are borderline identical to the Fiorino in the shape of the Peugeot Bipper and Citroen Nemo. Fiat, of course, would prefer that they didn't.

Driving Experienceword count: 205

The engine line-up sees this Fiorino use a Euro6d-compliant 1.3-litre Multijet diesel putting out 80hp. This powerplant is extremely compact and lightweight, giving rise to excellent fuel economy and with at least 190Nm of torque, it feels strong as well. With that maximum torque produced at 1,750rpm, the Fiorino has the punchy element to its performance that's perfect for darting in and out of traffic. This van's extra pulling power comes into its own around town, meaning that you're less likely to feel the need to row the thing along with its chunky 5-speed gearbox lever. Plus you could tow a braked trailer grossing at 600kg. There's also an uprated 95hp version of this same diesel engine. For urban use, operators will be pleased to find that all Fiorinos have the accurate power steering and tight turning circle that's needed when space is tight. That means just 2.8 turns lock-to-lock, enabling a 10.0m kerb-to-kerb turning circle rising to 10.5m wall-to-wall. On the open road, body roll is well controlled, as are noise levels, but the ride is a bit choppy on uneven surfaces. You'll find ventilated disc brakes at the front, drums at the rear, and ABS and Electronic Brakeforce Distribution are both standard features.

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