Fiat's Bravo is an attractive-looking five-door hatchback - squint carefully and there's shades of Maserati about its front end - but it's generally overlooked in favour of the Ford Focus, Volkswagen Golf, Vauxhall Astra and suchlike. But here's a reason to remember it: the new 1.6-litre MultiJet 105 diesel engine delivers, in combination with the optional Eco pack, an impressive 62.8mpg and 119g/km of carbon dioxide.
This output allows the 1.6 Eco to slip into Band B for tax purposes (currently just £35 a year) and to evade the London congestion charge as of October 2008, if new mayor Boris doesn't change the rules. And with list prices from £14,150, this model also comes up cheaper than both the Focus 1.6 TDCI Econetic and the Golf Bluemotion, its Band B counterparts - even before you take into account the large discounts around on pre-registered, nearly-new and even brand-new Fiats (no-one pays full list price for a Bravo).
The Eco pack (a £295 option) comprises different ECU settings, lower rolling-resistance tyres and revised gear ratios; this improves fuel consumption by 5mpg and lowers carbon dioxide output by 10g/km, though the mods do mean that this model can't meet the Euro 5 standards for other emissions. It comes with a six-speed manual gearbox and a choice of Active or Dynamic specifications.
The Bravo range also includes the non-Eco but Euro 5-compliant 1.6 MultiJet 105, the 1.6 MultiJet 120 with extra turbo boost, and the continuing 1.9 16v Multijet 150 diesel engine, as well as the 1.4 16v 90, 1.4 16v T-Jet 120 and T-Jet 150 petrol engines.
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