Facelift

Fiat Croma (after the facelift of 1991).

Rear view.

The Croma received a light facelift for 1988, first shown in Frankfurt in September 1987. The black plastic between the rear lamps was now ridged rather than smooth, the lower portion of the bumpers were body coloured, and the turn signals received clear glass rather than amber.^[4]

The front appearance received some other light modifications to bring appearance in line with that of the recently introduced Tipo.^[5]

A more significant facelift was released in January 1991, with a new front design, including changes to the lights, bumpers grille and sheet metal changes to wings and bonnet. Also in 1991, the direct injected diesel engine was equipped with a variable geometry turbocharger ("VNT").^[6] Another facelift was released in June 1993.

Production ended in December 1996, and Fiat left the large family car segment. The Bravo/Brava based Fiat Marea small family car debuted at the same time as the Croma's cancellation.

Engines

The Croma was available with a variety of petrol and diesel engines, most of the petrol units coming from Fiat's Twin Cam engine family.

Base models had a single cam 1585 cc four with 83 hp (61 kW) and the 1995 cc, 90 hp (66 kW) "Controlled High Turbulence" (CHT) engine, followed by two fuel injected 2.0 litre twin cam powerplants, one with 120 hp (88 kW) and the other a turbocharged and intercooled version giving 155 hp (114 kW).

The later 2.5 L V6 petrol unit was from Alfa Romeo, but as with the 1.6 L engine it was not available in all markets. The 2.0 CHT was designed specifically to provide low fuel consumption under light and medium loads thanks to two separate inlet manifolds of different diameters.^[7]

The Fiat Croma was the first passenger car in the world to have a direct injection Diesel (Turbo D i.d.) engine, going on sale in 1988.^[5][8] The 1.9 L fitted with a turbocharger with direct injection produces 92 hp (68 kW). It was joined by the 2499 cc unit supplied by Iveco, with a normally aspirated version giving 75 hp (55 kW) and a turbocharged one with 115 hp (85 kW). The latter version replaced the original 2446 cc with 100 hp (74 kW).

Diesel engined variants of this car were not marketed in the United Kingdom.

Safety

The Croma has seven airbags as standard, including one knee bag for the driver. As standard, the Croma is equipped with anti-lock braking system and electronic brakeforce distribution. It has a five star Euro NCAP crash rating for adult occupant protection:

Euro NCAP test results
Fiat Croma (2008)

Test	Score	Rating
Adult occupant:	34
Child occupant:	39
Pedestrian:	6

Facelift

Facelifted Fiat Croma

The Croma got a major facelift in November 2007, and was termed the Nuova Croma. A new grille (Bravo look) and rear bumper, as well as some material changes inside are the main differences. Fiat now designates the revised model as "Station Wagon" instead of the previously used term "Comfort Wagon".^[11] The Nuova Croma was only sold in mainland Europe, excluding the United Kingdom.

Engines

The Croma, built at Fiat's Cassino factory, had three trim levels and five engine options. Like the chassis, petrol engines were supplied by Opel, beginning with the brand new evolution of the Family 1 Ecotec 1.8 L with 140 hp (103 kW), followed by the torquier L850 Ecotec 2.2 L with 147 hp (108 kW).

However, the bulk of the sales is represented by Fiat's own Multijet engine, available in three variants 1.9 L with 8 valves and 120 hp (88 kW), 1.9 L with 16 valves and 150 hp (110 kW), and the range topping, five-cylinder 2.4 L 20V with 200 hp (147 kW). The diesel engines were fitted with a standard six-speed manual gearbox, a six-speed automatic was also available and was standard fitment on the 2.4 engines.