FIAT'S Stilo supermini which goes on sale next week is packed with surprises. And this crucial new challenger in an ever-growing, ever-popular sector marks a radical departure for the Italian manufacturer.

Not only does the car come in two sizes, a fairly tall five-door practical model with multi-purpose vehicle looks for the family, and a three-door compact sporting job built for the young and thrusting, but with a technology package that does a lot of the thinking for the driver.

The most intriguing is that called My Car, a standard feature which allows the driver to personalise and operate automatically various settings, such as ... opening or locking the driver's door, providing an independent tailgate opening, setting the car's speed at which all the doors lock, adjusting the audio sound system to the speed of the car, and deciding on a specific speed limit with a buzzer warning when broken.

And that is just for starters.

There is also Dualdrive, which allows the driver to vary the amount of power steering assistance, particular useful in busy city driving when negotiating traffic and narrow lanes, multifunction information display and an electronic air recirculation facility.

Not satisfied?

Then go for a few add-on optional extras, including special sensors to help with reversing, other sensors that switch on the headlamps when it gets dark and even more sensors that tell the windscreen wipers to start work when there is rain in the air; cruise control, and adaptive cruise control which can maintain the Stilo's speed to maintain a driver determined distance from the car in front and sound a warning if the distance closes.

You want more?

Also available is an Easy Go door entry and engine start system. This operates automatically via a transponder that can be carried in the pocket or handbag. All the driver has to do to unlock the car is to pull the door handle, the system already having recognised the signal from the transponder signal. Similarly, when the starter button is pressed, along with the clutch pedal, the system recognises the transponder signal, releases the engine immobiliser and the steering lock, and the engine starts. When leaving the vehicle, the driver presses a button on the door handle and the car locks itself and sets the security alarms.

And believe it or not the options continue, because in addition to all the technical wizardry already listed, there is also Fiat's fantastic and innovative on-line "infotelematic" system called Connect that comes in three different packages, but together features voice-command phone, internet, e-mail, pin-point navigation system, and a CD sound system that can play MP3 music files.

Stilo is available in the United Kingdom with a choice of three trim levels, Active, Dynamic and Abarth, with a choice of four petrol engines offering between 80bhp and 170bhp, and a powerful 115bhp direct injection common rail (economic and clean) diesel.

Altogether there will be 13 versions, with prices starting at £10,835 on the road for the entry-level 1.2-litre 16v 80bhp Active three-door to the £16,135 2.4-litre 20v 170bhp Selespeed Abarth. The Abarth models, in both three or five-door, are the most comprehensively packaged. The pricing rationale is based on engine capacity, so to move from a 1.2-litre 16V to 1.6-litre 16V, a customer will pay an extra £500; for a trim level upgrade another £1,000 and to go from a three-door to a five-door version will cost £500. Selespeed transmission costs £800.

Overall it seems to be a car more geared to driver and passenger interior comfort than to ride and drive performance.

So what are the cars like on the road? Pretty good all round. Competent and comfortable about sums it up. Good seating, a dashboard easy to read and use, and overall dead easy to drive. Performance levels are so-so, lots of gear change needed on some of the not-so-steep climbs (more than 13-seconds to reach 62mph using the 1.2-litre engine) but just over eight seconds for the 2.4-litre 170bhp unit Abarth which is certainly the most exciting of all the models tested.

The MPV attraction using the five-door model is answered by Stilo's flexible seating. The individual rear seats can slide backwards and forwards, recline and fold down. In the five-door when the back seats are pushed right back, the luggage area is still one of the roomiest around.

Interior stowage areas include cupholders and compartments for wallets, and mobile phones and sunglasses. The facia has three "gloveboxes", including one that can be heated or cooled if the air-conditioning option is added, while there are drawers handily available under both front seats, and the armrests also have stowage areas.

Safety on all models is high. Both three- and five-door models share safety equipment that includes eight airbags, six of which are standard, disc brakes on all four wheels, and ABS anti-lock braking.

Updated: 11:36 Friday, February 08, 2002