Fiat Linea 1.3 Multijet

The car you see before you, the Linea, shares its platform with the Grande Punto but it’s difficult to see what’s common between the two. That’s because the Linea isn’t a Grande Punto with a boot. Not one panel is shared and the Linea was completey re-skinned to give it its own distinct identity. Fiat’s design director Frank Stephenson was someone more accustomed to doing Ferraris and Maseratis on one hand or Minis or new Fiat 500 on the other. Some of that genius seems to have seeped into the Linea too. It’s got some genuinely pretty bits, like the sweep of the roof, the brilliant nose with its two-part grille, or the tipped- forward glasshouse. The wheelbase of the Grande Punto has been stretched by more than 90mm. Under the skin this car has the regular front-wheel-drive layout; transversely mounted engine, MacPherson struts up front, non-independent torsion axle at the rear, anti-roll bars all around and a hydraulic steering. But it’s in the detail that this suspension really impresses. The front suspension arms are pressed steel sections, so unsprung mass is reduced, there is an aluminum crossbeam that improves the rigidity of the front section and there is an anti-roll bar at the rear. ABS is standard on this top-end model we tested.

The boot is a large 500 litres but the loading area is disappointingly narrow thanks to the large taillights. The suspension has been beefed up and the ride height raised, which works well with the standard 195/60 R15 tyres.