New car news

02 December 2008 - 14:00

Bravo two (point) zero

We know that your automotive Christmas wish list is probably filled with Ferrari Scud Spiders and Nissan 370Zs, but if you’re needin’ something a bit more sensible, how about the Fiat Bravo with a lovely new diesel engine?

Yes, Fiat’s Focus-rival is getting a new two-litre turbodiesel, and it sounds like a proper cracker. Replacing the 1.9-litre MultiJet, it’s cleaner, more frugal and more powerful. Oh, and faster. This is all good.

Putting out 165bhp – a 17bhp jump over the 1.9 – and 265lb ft of torque (up 40lb ft), the 2.0 MultiJet will manage 53mpg while putting out just 139g/km of CO2. It’s not slow, either – it’ll haul the five-door Bravo to 60mph in 8.2 seconds, nearly a second quicker than the old engine.

Enough to make you put it on your Christmas wish list? No? Well, we tried…