Fiat Ulysse 2.2 JTD Prestigio review
by Ross Finlay (10 April 2003)
You can tell the people who own Fiat's full-scale MPV. They're the ones who call it the ooo-LEE-say, with the stress on the middle of the three syllables which the great unwashed (like myself until a short while ago) think number only two.
And if the Prestigio we've been trying is anything to go by, you can also tell owners by their furrowed brows. That's because they're wondering whether to open the sliding rear doors by using the key fob buttons, the buttons in the front cabin or the buttons in the rear cabin, or just to haul on the interior handles or the exterior handles.
As with its PSA sisters - they're a lot closer than cousins - I wonder if the Ulysse has rather too many electric relays to open and close these doors, very sensible, especially in confined spaces, though they certainly are. Our test car did get to the point, once or twice, where it didn't want to open the offside door via the exterior handle, although whatever gremlin caused that problem soon surrendered and let the system work properly. I have a habit of pressing buttons too quickly, and entirely at random, and that may not have helped.
But sliding rear doors are definitely a good idea on a large MPV, and not just because they make it easier for passengers entering or leaving in situations where there might not be enough room to swing open a wide front-hinged door, or where there's traffic whizzing by, very close at hand.
There's something rather civilised, at picnic time on a bright but windy day, about sitting in one of the mid-row seats enjoying the fresh air without having to leave a door ajar. This aspect of the Ulysse design was thoroughly tested.
Some MPV users will obviously have a need, even if occasionally, to make use of versions with seven or eight seats. But the six-seat layout in the Prestigio is almost certainly enough for most people, and it has the advantage of giving everybody on board an individual seat, with fold-down armrests well to the fore.
This also allows for a walk-though or crouch-down-through space along the centre of the car, which is kept clear at the front because the gear lever is on the centre console and the handbrake is down by the driver's right.
As the top of the Ulysse range, the Prestigio is absolutely loaded for bear. Its lavish specification includes leather upholstery with Alcantara trim on the flat fascia top and front door panels - which, it's worth noting, curve outwards to provide maximum leg space for the front passengers.
There are plenty of stowage spaces, fold-up tables and so on. The Prestigio comes with features like drawers under the front seats to add to the standard Ulysse provision of hidden compartments in the luggage area, and an umbrella holder built into the rear parcel shelf.
It also has cruise control plus the combination of Leather Pack and Electric Pack which isn't available on the entry-level Dynamic, and comes as an extra-cost option on the Eleganza. That provides swivel-round front seats with electric adjustment and variable heating elements, as well as fold-in door mirrors and pull-up sunblinds for the third-row seats and the tailgate.
Rain sensor wipers and light sensitive wiper operation are standard on this model. There are front and rear 12-volt power sockets, too. And this is another MPV with a second interior mirror which can be trained on the junior mayhem brigade in the rear seats.
Naturally, the Ulysse shares the fascia and centre console design of its sister MPVs. The console is where the gear lever and climate control gadgetry are placed (although there are separate rear-cabin controls on the B pillars), with a cooled storage bin for drinks or whatever underneath.
Above the alcantara-trimmed flat area of the fascia (again, handy for picnics), there's a "bridge" between the A-pillars which supports the speedometer, revcounter and navigation/information screen with its full-colour variable-scale mapping. In contrast, the speedometer and revcounter have peculiarly watery-coloured dials. One snag is that the bridge reflects very prominently, as an arc across the windscreen glass, when the Ulysse is heading into the sun. The central display screen is also linked with the CONNECT Nav+ system which, among the Valenciennes MPVs, is available only on the Ulysse.
For some odd reason, the separately placed fuel and temperature bar graphs use a completely different and difficult to read colouring, which also applies to yet another information pod, seen through the steering wheel, where the distance recorder and warning lights are located.
In a vehicle like this, I'd be reluctant to go below the top turbo diesel engine. I just don't see the 134bhp two-litre petrol model having anything like the mid-range pull needed for a well-laden MPV, and there's quite a performance gap between the 107bhp two-litre turbo diesel and the 126bhp 2.2-litre. This is the PSA particulate filter engine, and not a Fiat unit, despite the familiar JTD tag applied to it.
A peak torque figure of 231lb/ft at 2000rpm shows just how strongly the 2.2-litre engine pulls, and the Prestigio is also a relaxed main road and motorway cruiser. On that kind of duty it's also much more economical than many people would suppose, looking at its overall bulk.
Of course, it doesn't want to know about being thrown around in corners, any more than it appreciates getting halfway round and finding that the driver has gone in at an over-optimistic entry speed. We are, after all, talking Multi Purpose Vehicle here - a people carrier - and not a Grand Tourer or a sports saloon.
Ride quality is fine on main roads and properly surfaced minor roads, but it deteriorates in concert with the ill-maintained tarmac in areas where the councils don't bother much about that kind of thing.
The Prestigio is a handsome looking vehicle from the front, if a typically uncompromising MPV from other angles. And it's well provided with active and passive safety features, from ESP, traction control and brake assist to full provision of front-to-rear side window airbags.
Second Opinion: "Closer than cousins" is right; apart from the badging and the CONNECT system there was nothing about the Ulysse that was in any way different from the Peugeot 807 I drove a few weeks ago. The main criticism is the same in each case - these cars are not at all good on sharply undulating roads, inducing faint nausea even in the driver, never mind the passengers. Ride quality is otherwise very good indeed, and on long motorway trips the Ulysse is very relaxing to drive. Huge amounts of space, plus useful performance, though as suggested above a less powerful version might become rather a chore. David Finlay.
Add new comment