Funky Fiat for family fun

The baby Fiat comes with two engine choices, both offering good economy - an important consideration now that the fuel price seems to be going into orbit.

It's practical, safe, comfortable, economical and funky enough to please any yummy mummy and cool enough to make fussy teenagers smile. Even dads might be brave enough to park it outside the golf clubhouse.... And don't be too surprised if you spot a few eighteen-turning-seventies creak out of a Qubo at the local shopping mall, for this is a fun car, designed to put a smile on everybody's face.

Very much a compact urban car, the Qubo (pronounced Cubo, as in Cuba) has the cute and cuddly looks of a pug dog puppy and has a number of eye-catching features such as sliding doors to access the rear passenger seats. It oozes look-twice appeal, particularly when decked out in one of an interesting range of optional bright colours.

Sporty and comfortable

The living quarters have the look and feel of Italian flair with attractive two-tone seats and a fairly flashy dash lay-out. The small steering wheel, which is armed with fingertip controls, and the stubby central gear lever also inject some sporty fun to the cabin.

As with its trendy looks the Qubo is bang-on with its communication and entertainment kit. Its handy Blue&Me system allows you to make and receive phone calls, listen to text messages and connect your media player via a USB port - and the beauty of the set-up is that you can let it all happen without ever having to take your eyes off the road.

You have bags of load space.

The baby Fiat comes in two choices, a 1.4 litre petrol model that produces 54kW and 118Nm and, say Fiat, will gallop to a top speed of 155km/h and keep fuel consumption down to 6.6 litres/100km and emissions down to 152g/km.

The other variant is a 1.3-litre oil-burner which churns out 55kW and 190Nm. It will trot up to 155km/h and release only115g/km of yucky stuff while sipping as little as 4.4 litres/100km diesel in the combined cycle.

Henrie has some fun

At the Media introduction in Cape Town I drove both models and found them lots of fun, rather surprisingly, considering their box-like shape. Road-holding is not bad at all and the steering is fairly sharp (it has a turning cycle of less than 11m) and even unloaded it trots along quite smoothly and without too much hip-hop.

The brakes are sharp without biting, the riding position is nice and high, giving it a feel of being at the wheel of an SUV. Visibility is really good, courtesy of large glass windows, but the glaring African sun could turn the Qubo into a hot-house on wheels.

The sliding door is a good feature in a confined parking bay, but beware of the fact that one will always be facing traffic.

It has aircon, but like other Euro-centred vehicles, it might battle to keep the interior comfortably cool. But then the Qubo will probably be used mainly for short hops between home, shopping, schools, gym and the coffee cafe and not for long journeys through the Karoo.

The sliding doors are practical but they might be of some initial concern to some parents because one of the two side sliding doors will always be facing traffic. Children in a hurry and busy roads are not a good mix so this situation will require careful training and watchful drivers, particularly on the school run.

Diesel preferred

Of the two versions my co-driver and I much preferred the more expensive diesel option. Its respected MultiJet engine delivers impressively and the car felt much peppier than the rather lethargic petrol model. Our initial drive was at the coast and the vehicles were only carrying two adults and no load. With four up and some baggage the petrol user's shortage of breath will be more noticeable, particular at the energy-sapping high altitude of the Reef.

So now you have room for Johnny and his mates, but bear in mind, that you are NOT allowed to say anything. Even a friendly "Hi Guys" is likely to earn you a "DAD!"

However, both models do the job of city car very well. They are well designed, particularly when it comes to the flexible living and loading areas where the back seats can be folded 60/40 to provide an amazing 2,500 litres of storage space.

Both models are also well kitted out with a host of safety features such as ABS (anti-locking brakes) with EBD (electronic brake distribution), ISOFIX child seat anchors, automatically locking doors, four airbags, rear head restraints and three-point seat belts with pre-tensioner.

Personalise it if you like

Designed for family fun, the Qubo can be personalised with optional extras such as a longitudinal roof rack (ideal for bikes), a "cage" roof rack, tow bar (fitted or detachable), special carpets and a kickplate set for the doors to prevent scuffing.

The Qubo faces tough competition but it's a tasty alternative on a menu of rather similar compact family transport offerings and well worth a family test drive.

click to enlarge

What we really liked about the Qubo is the range of colour choices; just a pity buyers will have to pay if they choose anything but standard white from the list which includes Rumba Red, Disco Green, Jazz Blue and Funky Orange. However, standard peace-of-mind offerings include a three-year/100,000km warranty, a three-year/100,000km maintenance plan, one-year road assistance and 20,000km service intervals.

The Qubo faces tough opponents such as Toyota Avenza, Honda Jazz, Kia Soul and Nissan Livina but as something cheerful, funky, practical and economical Fiat's latest addition is a tasty alternative on a menu of rather similar compact family transport offerings and well worth a family test drive.

The Qubo is priced at R10 short of R178,000 for the petrol model and R10 short of R200,000 for the diesel option.

Specifications

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