Uno — a little thoroughbred

Press, 16 February 1984, Page 23

Uno — a little thoroughbred

BEHIND the WHEEL with

Peter Greenslade

The Italian Fiat Group, which was founded in 1899 and is now the eighth largest car and commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world, has produced a string of world famous cars over the last 80 or so years, but perhaps none that has had a greater impact than the Fiat 127, which appeared in 1971 and was Europe’s best selling car from 1973 to 1978.

The 127 was billed by the automotive world as the

epitome of the supermini class. Now it has been replaced by the Fjat Uno. a car that was launched in January last year and has been selling in this country since September. Fiat is producing 2100 Unos each day at its two Turin, factories. There are seven versions, two and four-door hatchbacks, four engines and a choice of four or five-speed gearboxes. The only model available in New Zealand is the 70S

— a 1.3-litre top-of-the-range version, with laminated windscreen, tinted glass, central door locking, electrically operated front windows, 24-hour digital clock, tachometer and a check panel which monitors the car’s vital functions. This four-door hatchback, with a split rear seat, is 3.644 metres long, 1.548 metres wide and 1.43 metres high. Its 1301 cu cm single overhead camshaft engine develops 52.2 kW (70bhp) at

5700 rpm. In performance terms, that means this car is capable of more than 160km/h (lOOmph) and will accelerate from rest to lOOkm/h in 11.55. The manufacturer claims that the Uno 70S has an average petrol consumption of 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres, or 42.8 mpg. Those figures look pretty impressive on paper and I dare say that there are not very many Uno-class contemporaries around that could comfortably emulate them. But, impressive though the figures are, they really do not tell half of the Uno story. This is unquestionably the most impressive 1.3-litre car I have

driven over my regular test course and I would classify it as the one and only real supermini available in New Zealand today. Let me explain. The Uno has been designed specifically to carry four full-sized adults with a reasonable amount of luggage as comfortably, economically and expeditiously as possible. It has been designed uncompromisingly within those parameters and that is why in silhouette it is reminiscent of a delivery van, having a high roofline and a squared-off rear end. But that high roofline makes getting in and out of the car much easier than in most other superminis and the interior spaciousness has enabled the fitting of quite large and very comfortable cloth-trimmed seats.

These days, by far the greater proportion of cars marketed in New Zealand are of Japanese origin and whether Japanese design teams intend it or not, most of their smaller cars, those up to about 1500 cu cm engine capacity, are either miniaturised versions of the 2-litre models or else cars sharing the 2-litre bodyshells. While the miniaturised versions are almost inevitably somewhat cramped, the smaller-engined cars in 2-litre bodyshells tend to fall short on performance, because of the weight the engines are called upon to haul. To illustrate the point, the newly-launched 1.3-litre Toyota Corolla has a kerb weight of 885 kg, only 15kg less than its 1.6-litre counterpart, while the Uno 70S weighs in at 750 kg. Both figures are contained in the manufacturers’ specifications. The 1.3-litre Corolla shares its bodyshell with the more powerful 1.6-litre version, whereas the Uno 70S shares its shell with the 1.1litre versions, the 903 cu cm cars sharing the bigger-en-gined models’ dimensions but being only two-door cars.

Mechanically, the Uno 70S conforms to the usual formula, its transverse engine driving the front wheels through a five-speed gearbox.

Front suspension is by MacPherson struts, with lower wishbones and coil springs, while that at the rear is of the semi-inde-pendent torsion beam design. Used in conjunction with coil springs, this consists of two trailing arms linked behind their pivot points by a transverse beam that acts as an anti-roll bar and increases roll resistance. A similar system is used on the Holden Camira, among others, to very good effect.

Braking is by a conventional front disc/rear drum system with dual circuits split front and rear. The steering is by rack and pinion, the turning circle being 9.4 metres. On entering the car the feature one immediately notices is the upright seating position. The extra inches in height enabled the designers to achieve this and so provide more legroom in a car that is only 12ft long. The seating position, combined with the very extensive window area, provides exemplary all-round vision which generates a great deal of driver confidence, although I thought the inter-nally-adjustable exterior rear vision mirror a mite small. Nevertheless, it is effective and I suppose any manufacturer who is turning out more than 2000 of the particular model each day has got to do his calculations just right. After all an additional five square

centimetres of mirror on each car could amount to a tidy sum on a production run of such magnitude.

The instrument and control panel could be described as non-conformist by New Zealand standards. The instruments, white numerals on a black background, are clearly visible through the two-spoke steering wheel. The speedometer and trip recorder has petrol level and temperature gauges below it. The other matching instrument is the tachometer, red-lined at 6200 rpm, with an electronic check control system for the brakes, brake pad wear, lighting, lubrication, engine cooling and central doorlocking. Between speedometer and tachometer is a luminous check panel that monitors twelve functions under the control of the driver.

The clearly marked secondary switchgear is mounted in two modules, one on either side of the steering wheel. All the lighting functions are controlled from the left-hand module, while that to the right contains the switches for front and rear wash/wipe functions and the heated rear window. To most of us, now accustomed to using steering column-mounted stalks, this rather futuristic system will seem strange. However, one soon becomes familiar with it, although it can be confusing at night because of lack of illumination. The direction indicators and horn are controlled from a stalk on the left of the steering column.

The other unconventional feature is a centrally pivoted single windscreen wiper which would probably annoy the tallest of drivers because it leaves unswept areas in the upper corners, but should not irritate the average driver. Compared with the average contemporary car, the Uno seems to take rather longer to start and the procedure is accompanied by a distinctive although not unpleasant sound. Like so many of the mass-produced European cars, this is one that feels and sounds mechanical whereas in so many of the contemporary Japanese cars and larger and more expensive ones from other parts of the world, one gets the feeling of being detached from the whole procedure from the moment a control switch has been activated.

People who have never experienced other than what, for lack of. a better term, I have described as “detached” driving controls and, to carry the proposition a stage further, driving by remote control, may find this inherently European mode somewhat unsettling initially, but once one becomes familiar with it, driving becomes eminently sat-

isfying and in many cases pleasurable, and almost sensual, rather than a routine activity. Maybe that is why the majority of motoring enthusiasts tend to favour European rather than American or Japanese cars. Let me hasten to add that this is not intended to denigrate American and Japanese cars, because by far the greatest number of people who buy and drive motor cars do so because they find them the most agreeable and convenient means of moving themselves, and, maybe, their families, from place to place. Having said all that, I must confess that although there are times in my life when I become envious of other people and their jobs and their lifestyles, there are other times when one is overcome by a wonderful sense of well-being and, for a few hours at least, there is nothing better in this world than being a motoring reporter. That was the feeling I experienced after the Uno 70S and I became acquainted. Although it looks a bit of an ugly duckling, with its commendably low coefficient of drag of 0.34 and quite remarkable absence of noise, apart from a subdued but reassuring hum, it is a most delightful little car on the road.

The steering and suspension set-up makes it most forgiving and it inspires tremendous driver confidence under all road conditions. For me the enjoyable feature was the seat-of-the-pants feel there is about it. To my mind that completely justifies at least $l5OO of the price tag, which is in the vicinity of $16,300.

The Uno’s excellent roadholding in the dry, is just about as good in the wet. On the fastish uphill section of the test route, which was just moistened by a suspicion of drizzle, one could feel the front wheels spinning under hard acceleration through the open bends, but the amount of understeer was negligible.

Mid-bend throttle lift-off induces easily controlled tightening of the line, but none of the vicious turnabout that is so often symptomatic of a front-drive mass-produced car.

The brakes seemed to take an inordinate amount of time to react to pedal pressure until I realised I could stamp on the pedal vigorously and they would arrest the car without a hint of drama. On the debit side, this is a car that tends to be a niggly rider at low speeds on city and suburban streets and the quality of the gear change leaves a little to be desired until one becomes patient and a little tolerant of it. All the same, this is one of the very few five-speed

gearbox cars I have encountered that is perfectly happy to potter along in the uppermost ratio without complaint. That says a tremendous amount for the torque of the 1301 cu cm, belt-driven overhead cam engine and, I would imagine, its Marelli Digiplex ignition system which not only improves petrol consumption but also boosts performance by establishing the ideal moment for ignition to take place. This is the system that Ferrari employs on its turbocharged Formula 1 Grand Prix racers, so it is obviously not built into the Uno merely for advertising reasons.

For sheer tractability, this is a car that takes a power of beating. Its excellent road-holding and handling capabilities, coupled with its extremely strong engine, make it a delightful saloon to drive on tight, twisty and hilly roads. It is so responsive and compact that it can be taken past the plodders in places where it would be hazardous to at-

tempt such a manoeuvre in many another car. In a nutshell, the Fiat Uno 70S is a little thoroughbred, but seemingly without the temperament that sometimes accompanys fine pedigrees. Italians tend to be exuberant and aggressive motorists and one can safely say that this little Uno blends admirably with that national characteristic.

New Zealanders, whose approach to motoring is, perhaps, more temperate, will find this an extremely attractive motoring proposition.

Now, having spent some time with the Uno, I have a feeling that if it and similar cars were available in New Zealand at rather more modest prices more motorists would live happier and longer. In fact, even at its current price, the Fiat Uno should prove to be a very rewarding little saloon for folk who derive pleasure from motoring and have a genuine regard for their own safety and that of others who use the roads.