Doblo Passenger is a van with five-seats, but there are times when a van makes perfect sense as a family car!
The five-seat Doblo is functionally beautiful, which is a nice way of saying you will take no pride in its appearance whatsoever.
The Doblo has had a makeover and there are a few new bits like the revised lights, bumpers, grille and side mirrors with built-in indicators. Despite these tweaks the only admiring glances you'll get will come from parents with cars that are too small for their family and kit or in Ikea's car park when you effortlessly load those kitchen chairs in the back - upright! The boot is huge at 790 litres and if you need 3,200 litres of cargo space the Doblo can oblige. The practicality doesn't stop there: you can get two extra folding seats that turn the Doblo into an immensely practical seven-seater. To a parent or even a surfer with friends this is a thing of beauty.
Inside there are acres of space. The Doblo's slab-sided exterior means that in the back there is enough shoulder room for the Irish rugby team's entire front row! The driving position is good. The height adjustable seat lets you sit as high as a Range Rover driver (well, almost), meaning you have excellent vision. There is also a high roof version available, designed especially for people with mobility issues and taxi drivers.
There is just one engine available. Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre 'Multijet' turbodiesel that pushes out 105bhp and delivers 290nm of torque. The six-speed manual gearbox helps deliver an average fuel consumption of 5.2 litres to travel 100 kilometres. Doblo falls into tax band 'B' so annual road tax will be just €156.
The 0-100km/h isn't going to set pulses racing - in fact you may find it hard to find a pulse as it takes 13.4 seconds to get to 100km per hour from a standing start but acceleration is hardly what this MPV is all about. You can also forget about ripping up the Autobahn as Doblo's top speed is just over 100mph (164km/h).
The ride is good thanks to suspension revisions and the fitting of an anti-roll bar as standard (this is basically an additional metal rod that helps keep the suspension from flexing - especially when cornering). New also is the engine Start/Stop function that helps reduce CO2 and fuel consumption about town. ESP is now standard and this is a big plus for the FIAT.
Prices start at €17,995 for the 'Active'. 'Dynamic' is next, rising to €20,595 for the 'Eleganza' version. My Eleganza test car comes in at just under €22,000. It has loads of standard kit like the built-in 'Blue & Me' docking station plus the optional Comfort pack (that adds rear parking sensors, dual climate and cruise control).
My kids were sad to see it go. They loved the acres of space in the back seats, the large glass area and the high roof, but most of all they loved the sliding doors. My usual car park cry of "mind your doors" was never heard, meaning I didn't have to endure the stress of passenger doors swinging wide open and potentially hitting other parked cars!
Michael Sheridan
