EMOTION

When inside a car, you feel emotionally gratified by a light, bright environment with oceans of glass to ensure great dominion of the road for people in the front and a good view for those in the back. Full immersion in the natural surroundings in other words. The new compact MPV offers this by the bucket load and even goes one better with its Skydome roof. Emotional gratification also means being able to sit in a comfortable, noiseless place with plenty of room all around. The Fiat Idea was created for and around the human form. The car allows you to experience relaxing moments and comfortable journeys while enjoying the all-encompassing in-car wellbeing it offers driver and passengers alike.

The Fiat Idea is a revolutionary model that allows you to share these positive feelings with your friends or family: a car to experience in company. At heart, it is a sociable city-dweller that sets great store by interpersonal relations. No wonder the Fiat Idea assures the maximum individual and collective comfort.

To achieve this end, our engineers and designers worked together - right from the new model development stage - and applied the most up-to-date ergonomic criteria when establishing the car's wellbeing and comfort parameters. The outcome is the outstanding result obtained for the Fiat Idea's five basic ergonomic functions: roominess, driving posture, accessibility and visibility.

In-car wellbeing means having plenty of space - and more space particularly just where you want it. It means being able to get into and out of the car easily and conveniently and, once you are seated, being surrounded by an airy, well-lit environment lit by oceans of glass. These have always been winning qualities but are all the more important nowadays, as we spend more and more time in our cars, as the habit spreads to higher segments (i.e. more roomy) cars and as average population height increases.

It will come as no surprise to learn that the new model offers comfortable accommodation for people of all sizes. In the front seats, for example, a driver's seat with lift device and adjustable steering wheel (height and depth) ensures outstanding roominess and an ideal driving configuration (drivers from 1.50 to 2 metres in height are seated in comfort). If the driver is very tall, the back seat passenger can be equally tall and enjoy just as much comfort. The shoulder room in the front amounts to 1,402 mm, while the rear shoulder room is 1,365 mm (both measurements are among the best in the category). Passenger room coefficient is also 99.5%, one of the best percentages in the segment.

The Fiat Idea offers a different driving configuration because the height of the driver's seat level in relation to the road (H point) is higher for that greater ease of access, roominess and mastery of the road one expects from a car of unique personality.

The model is five centimetres higher than the New Punto. This structural value is crucial because it means that the interior space may be modulated and adapted to current personal needs. The required flexibility comes from the fact that one front seat folds forward and the two rear seats slide and recline independently.

Innovative design, material quality and a wealth of content are all aspects that help make the interior welcoming and comfortable while considerably improving the quality of life on board.

The passenger compartment interior lines are harmonious and well-balanced with the exterior shape. Together with the oceans of glass, they create a bright environment and a perception of outstanding interior roominess. Everything is made still more comfortable and practical by the presence of numerous compartments distributed throughout the facia, console and door panels.

The Fiat Idea's reconfigurable interior, a concept allowing an unprecedented level of flexibility and modularity, deserves a section of its own. The two rear seats slide forward and backward, recline and fold down independently. This makes the luggage compartment hugely versatile because it can offer a different load capacity and even a different shape as and when required.

The rear of the passenger compartment can be adapted by altering leg-room and backrest position for maximum occupant comfort. These assets are complemented by various closed storage compartments and a front seat that folds down to form a table to accommodate long loads or act as a work surface.

All things considered, the Fiat Idea offers an entirely new approach to interior appointments and making the most of passenger and luggage space: all the practicality and flexibility of an MPV in a car of compact size that allows you to overcome any urban situation with élan. Here are a few examples to help you appreciate how you could use a car of this type in everyday situations.

We have all had to carry very long items that are not particularly heavy. And we can all remember how much time we wasted trying (ineffectually) to load them into our car. With the Fiat Idea, all you have to do is fold down one of the back seats and the front seat and the job is done: items can be stowed safely in a few minutes while leaving plenty of room for the driver and passengers.

How many times have you said that the ideal solution would be to have two cars: one for everyday use and the other for long trips when the family is all together and suddenly you have to pack an improbable amount of luggage? Well, the Fiat Idea is two cars in one. When the back seats are pushed right back, the resulting luggage compartment is one of the roomiest in its category (320 litres).

If you still do not have enough space, simply fold the rear seat right back for an outstanding load capacity. 1,420 litres measured at the roof.
When you return to everyday life, simply push the rear seats fully back and recline the backrest. Four people can now ride stretched out in the greatest comfort as though they were aboard a bigger car with all the attendant creature comforts: armrest, glass-holder and holders for wallets, mobile phones or spectacles. If you want to take some time out, all you have to do is sit in the back, recline your backrest and fold the front seat down to stretch out and relax as though you were on a sofa.

Cutting-edge sound and infotelematic systems

Radio and Hi-Fi system

The very attractive audio package offered by the new model includes two sound system levels (standards and Hi-Fi) and two levels of radio by Blaupunkt.

The sound systems come with 6 or 9 speakers and both feature painstaking adjustment of system specification and speaker arrangements to fit the passenger compartment.

The first level includes two tweeters on the windscreen pillar, two woofers on the front doors and two full-range speakers on the rear door. Unlike the previous version, the new Hi-Fi system offers two tweeters and two woofers on the rear doors as well and a subwoofer in the luggage compartment for a total of 9 speakers for a warmer sound and improved listening pleasure.

The radios were designed in conjunction with the German company, a world leader in the sector and all share the feature that the sound system has been thoroughly developed and adjusted to the specific passenger compartment. They are integrated within the design of the dashboard and laid out in user-friendly fashion. The radios are located on the upper part of the facia (the correct arrangement for the driver) and are also within easy reach of the passenger.

The radios offer a power output of 4x30 Watt and come with RDS (Radio Data System), TA (traffic news), PTY (a code used by radio stations to indicate the type of music they play so that the set can automatically select the type of music preferred by the listener). Every time the radio is turned on, the volume settings are the same as when it was turned off while another device automatically corrects equalisation on the basis of car speed. The motorist can also choose special effects or adjust and save personal sound settings. Radios can also come with an audio CD player or a CD-ROM drive with MP3 files. As an option, you can also choose a CD-changer (10 CDs) that is installed in the luggage compartment and controlled via the radio switches.

When connected to a handsfree kit, the radio deactivates automatically (mute position) when the GSM phone rings. In this case, a Phone-in function also allows calls to be transferred from a mobile phone (with a handsfree control unit) to the speakers via the radio.

The entire system is protected against theft due to a communication link with the electronic unit that manages the electrical system (body computer). This is how it works. When the radio is turned on, the body computer reads the radio safety code (four-figure) and activates it only if the numerical sequence is recognised. This makes the device unusable on any other car (unless fitted with the same device).

CONNECT

Fiat Auto, a leader in the field of information technology for automotive applications, is now pursuing a policy of bringing GSM phones, navigation systems and devices such as handsfree sets and voice memos on board its cars. All these devices are concentrated in CONNECT, the most advanced integrated tool of this type and the one that currently offers the highest number of functions and services.

The CONNECT system, located in the centre of the facia, acts as an on-board assistant that can be asked to make a phone call, consult a road map, put on some music or take a memo. All this is done by means of the keys that surround the unit or voice commands that may be issued while the screen relays a detailed report on requirements. The resulting device is full of functions, comes at an advantageous price and is, above all, as easy to use as one would expect of latest-generation technology.

Apart from all this, CONNECT offers something more than its competitors. All the 'CONNECT' services provided by Targa Infomobility represent a true revolution in the field of in-car telematics. And all at the press of a single key. Sophisticated technology that is easy to use and always ready to serve the driver. More than twenty thousand subscribers throughout Europe cannot be wrong. They can call on our operators at the Arese Contact Centre who are always ready to provide information and resolve problems, 365 days a year. Motorists are just a phone call away from personal assistants who speak their language (14 are already active), can help them find their way and give them information on traffic conditions and the weather en route to their destination. They can even recommend a restaurant, book a hotel or buy airline ticket for motorists. The service can guide you step by step to your destination and even notify you of traffic changes (follow me service). While still remembering to give the result of a match played by your favourite team.

CONNECT is destined to make the idea of a car journey as a period of detachment from everyday activities and habits a thing of the past. Instead a car journey will become a time in our day that allows us to maintain contact with the outside world and even offer a few extra opportunities.

Fiat Idea customers will be able to use the most advanced level of CONNECT: CONNECT NAV+, including RDS with CD-ROM drive for MP3 files; trip computer; dual band GSM phone with handsfree set and WAP technology; GPS module and SOS key for logging onto the Contact Centre to receive assistance and information; active matrix 7" colour display; map navigation system; Atlas function; voice commands for the phone and a voice memo. The system can also incorporate a Blaupunkt external CD-changer.

The Fiat Idea therefore offers a lot of technology you can touch and feel and also a lot - perhaps the more sophisticated part - that goes on under the surface. To allow the many electronic control units on board to work properly, exchange data and information in real time and act in harmony, the new model required a complex state-of-the-art connection system that could be seen as the car's nervous system. This system takes the form of a CAN network, or rather two CAN networks. One is high-speed and connects the engine and drive control units (ABS, ESP etc.). The other is low-speed and links the control units inside the passenger compartment.

The two CAN networks talk to one another via the body computer. This may be considered a type of supervisor that acts as a connection port between the low speed network and the high speed network while governing the work of both.