Styled by Ital Design the Croma is clearly no oil painting. It has a front end that is very forgettable, viewed side on the Croma’s high shoulder line implies structural strength but it is only the car’s rear that looks vaguely interesting.
With seating for just five the Croma can’t claim to be an MPV despite occupants sitting higher off the road than most Mondeo sized cars. Therefore as a conventional five-seater Croma has no excuse for being so dull on the outside, but what’s it like inside?
There is a great deal of space and hints of Lancia-like comfort with well padded big seats in keeping with the original Croma and Fiat 132 it replaced from the 70s and 80s.
Sadly the dash fails to reflect this century and appears to be a composite from the Fiat/GM parts bin. There is nothing offensive about the interior but Croma simply fails to inspire or offer the driver any bragging rights. Specification levels are high but this fact can’t compensate for the poor driving position. Visibility is very good all round but my major gripe with the driving position is down to the badly positioned steering wheel that despite being fully adjustable seems designed to only suit a small driver who likes to sit very close to the windscreen.
The gear-lever is dash-mounted and very well placed for easy operation but, and this is a big but, there is absolutely no excuse for the ridiculously positioned handbrake! I had to lift the lid of the centre cubby/armrest every time I wanted to apply or release the lever. This poor design is potentially dangerous as it discourages the use of the handbrake.
On the go Croma is set up for comfortable cruising and on smooth roads the large Fiat is very pleasant. On your average Irish ‘B’ road the ride can be a little choppy.
Croma is built on a tried and tested GM platform that is also found in Opel’s Vectra and SAAB’s 93. GM provides 30% of the parts and the petrol engines while the ‘Multijet’ diesels are Fiat’s own. In Europe there is a market for big hatchbacks but as Renault Ireland learnt to its cost when it had to withdraw the luxurious Vel Satis from sale and Opel Ireland is learning with the big Signum hatchback, Irish buyers just can’t see the point of such machines.
The Croma cost relatively little for Fiat to bring to the market and this is a good thing for the cash strapped company as the big Croma will enjoy only modest sales. Prices start at €27,995 for the 1.8 petrol and rise to nearly forty grand. Sitting squarely in the ‘D’ sector Croma goes head to head with the likes of Passat and Avensis. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that Fiat has its work cut out.
On paper the Croma makes sense but in reality it doesn't!
Michael Sheridan
