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The New Fiat Croma Review

May 2005
Filed under: FIAT Car News | FIAT Headlines
Fiat presents the new Croma, an evolution of the Station Wagon concept, which will be on the market in the summer.

The New Fiat Croma

Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and built in the Cassino plant, south of Rome, the new Fiat revives the name of the former model which was a benchmark among medium-high range saloons from 1985 to 1994, and of which over 450,000 were built.
Like the earlier model, the new Croma stands out for the "substance" of the concepts it embodies:

· generous interior roominess for outstanding comfort;
· technological innovation in the field of diesel engines;
· superior quality for a mass produced model.

The new Croma was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it introduces an original "stylistic" formula with innovative architecture and intelligent features. As the designer explained: "In the last 20 years, technological progress and market expectations have evolved rapidly. We just have to think of safety and the work involved in inserting airbags in the most effective points, the services offered by electronics in terms of individual comfort, active and passive safety, and of information. I would say that, compared to the 3-box model of 1985, the new Croma has basically taken onboard the lessons learned with people-movers - tall cars on which the space can be interpreted freely according to circumstances - while it maintains the image of a very comfortable saloon": in other words a Comfort Wagon.

The New Fiat Croma

This premise has created a highly original car that leads its class in certain areas. For example, where access is concerned, thanks to the flat floor and raised H-points at the front and rear. But the car fears no comparison in terms of roominess, as we can see from the generous space above the passengers' heads, the distance between the rows of seats (the best in its category) and the raised driving position that guarantees better control over the road and better external visibility. In addition to the fact that the glazed area on the new model is one of the best in its segment (3.254 m2) and guarantees excellent acoustic and vibration comfort, thanks to careful analysis of the passenger compartment and special suspension setting. And finally, certain outfits propose an innovative modular system for the luggage compartment which adapts perfectly to a wide range of individual needs.

Together these features make it the roomiest car in its segment: the new Croma comes with one bodywork version, 475 centimetres long, 177 cm wide and 160 cm high, and a wheelbase of 270 cm, measurements that translate into an extraordinary amount of interior roominess. The new model is in line with the best competition where length and width are concerned, but about 10 centimetres higher, and it is the best in its segment in terms of interior dimensions.

Original outside, spacious and silent inside. The new Croma is a car born to cater for people with different needs, tastes and lifestyles, but who all share the desire for a comfortable car. And for those looking for unbeatable performance, the Croma offers the powerful 200 bhp 2.4 Multijet engine (combined with the 6-speed sequential automatic transmission), which leads its class with a specific power output of 83 bhp/litre.

It is where the engines are concerned that the new Croma reveals the second aspect of its "substance": in addition to the two sparkling petrol engines (the 2.2 16v that delivers 147 bhp, and the 1.8 16v delivering 140 bhp which will be available after the launch), the model proposes three Multijet turbodiesel engines (the 120 or 150 bhp 1.9, and the new 2.4 litre unit that delivers 200 bhp), yet another demonstration of Fiat Auto's technological superiority in this field. The Fiat Group has set numerous records in the field of diesel cars, starting with the Croma TDI which was the world's first direct injection diesel car back in 1986.

The new Croma is offered with 5 different gearboxes to exploit the performance of its engines in full; all the engines meet EU Stage 4 emissions standards, and the diesel units are fitted with particulate filters. All the petrol engines are combined with 5-speed transmissions, with the option of the sequential automatic transmission on the 2.2 16v, and all the diesel engines have 6-speed gearboxes (the sequential automatic unit is offered as an alternative on the 150 bhp 1.9 Multijet, and as the standard unit on the powerful 200 bhp 2.4 Multijet 20v).

The third aspect of "substance" is quality. The quality standards on the Fiat Croma are extremely high, and were set at the very early stages of the project. During the various stages of experimentation, prototypes covered over 3 million kilometres, to test the car in all road and climatic conditions. The manufacturing processes at the Cassino plant were tested earlier than usual in the development of the project, and process verification was carried out right on the plant's assembly lines. Quality controls, which were already high, were raised even higher by the introduction of a 100 km test drive for 100% of the pre-production cars.

In other words, everything is in place to ensure that the success of the previous model is repeated. The new Croma plays the same trump card that has proved a winner in the past: listening to customers and creating the product on the basis of their wishes. In other words, the new Croma responds to the first and most important demand made by every customer when it comes to buying a new car, by offering "value for money" first of all, expressed in an extensive range with numerous outfits that allow a wide choice of customisation and advantages that increase progressively with the higher specification levels. For example, if he chooses the second outfit, the Dynamic, the customer benefits from an advantage equal to 40% of the value of the additional features present on this version.

Every outfit has been designed with the right level of equipment, with materials chosen specifically to create an ideal, comfortable ambience modelled to the customer's requirements; one example will suffice: the vast glazed surface of the double opening sunroof that is standard equipment on some versions. Each outfit is upholstered with a different fabric, in two shades (dark grey or beige), and there is also the option of leather, this too in a choice of two shades.

To guarantee the best price-content ratio, the combination of outfits that the new Croma customer can choose from are all excellent value for money and above all, they all reflect a concept of the car which Fiat has played a significant part in launching and developing: the generously sized but functionally elegant saloon. The new Croma sets off these winning features with numerous sophisticated devices and systems that make it a new benchmark for its segment. They include: ESP, Xenon headlights, large "aspherical" rear-view mirrors, and as many as nine airbags (in the field of safety); the advanced satellite navigation system (CONNECT Nav Plus) and the Hi-fi system with eight speakers and sub-woofer (in the field of entertainment and info-mobility), Cruise Control and a sequential automatic transmission (for stress-free driving), 4 special 16" and 18" alloy wheel designs which impart an individual stylistic personality to the car.

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