It's a signal that Fiat wants to be taken seriously in a sector of the market that it has found hard to crack. The acclaimed Tipo was only a moderate success in the UK, and the same goes for the Bravo/a, which sold 22,000 in its best year compared with 110,000 Focuses. With the Stilo, UK bosses hope to close the gap to Renault's Megane, which sells around 30,000 units a year.

The most powerful version shows just how ambitious Fiat is with the Stilo; it has a 2.4-litre 170bhp five-cylinder engine hooked up to a five-speed Selespeed gearbox. Stilo is the first Fiat to use Selespeed and also comes fully-loaded with sat nav, cruise, electric/ heated seats, parking distance control and every other bit of equipment you've ever heard of.

No question, the Stilo makes a good first impression. Inside it's clear that Fiat has learnt a great deal from Alfa's growth into a premium brand. The leather-rimmed wheel feels good and beyond it is clear instrumentation and a facia made from quality materials. The soft-touch switches have a positive action and everything feels pretty well screwed together, creating a driving environment that's a great improvement on recent Fiat products.

Unfortunately it soon becomes clear that the quest for Golf-like qualities has inflicted soft dynamics on the Stilo. Ride quality is its major strength, a surprise if you've ever pogoed a Punto at any meaningful speed. Stilo excels through really fast corners, settling quickly into a stable drift with just a hint of understeer.

Unfortunately, in some other scenarios it is found wanting. A series of tightening bends quickly unsettles the car, and an uncomfortable lurch, accompanied by the shriek of tortured rubber, suggests that a more relaxed pace would be more its style. Another problem is the Stilo's inability to deal with mid-corner bumps. With the chassis heavily loaded, they hammer back through the steering with an almighty thud. Meanwhile the lack of feedback from the major controls also undermines your enthusiasm for really exercising the chassis. The steering is the main culprit: although nicely weighted when settled on lock, feel and weight desert it when more arm-twirling is required.

That said, basically the Stilo is very safe and corners pretty hard, the tail remaining planted no matter how dramatic your attempts to unsettle it. It's never going to bite in a moment of lift-off dithering but it won't satisfy you with controllable slip-angles, either. Competent, yes. Fun, er... not really.

Fiat has ignored the burgeoning hot-hatch market and concentrated on making the Stilo a comfortable cruiser, an altogether more grown-up experience. The wonderful five-cylinder engine ensures that it's a relaxing drive. In fact it's a belter; torquey, smooth and melodic, it distances the Stilo from common four-pot rivals. Pick-up is strong anywhere above 1500rpm and it revs enthusiastically all the way to 6500rpm, though most of the time you find yourself short-shifting to take advantage of its generous torque.

Unfortunately the Selespeed transmission fails to add to the general serenity of the Stilo package. Shifts are jerky, inconsistent and lethargic, whether using the stick or the steering- wheel-mounted paddles. You can learn to smother the system's inefficiencies but they never totally evaporate. When driving briskly the shift often unsettles the car's balance. A regular manual will be made available soon after launch, we're told.

As it stands, we can't really recommend the Stilo: solid, well-specified and quick but never exciting or involving. In five-cylinder guise it feels heavy and unresponsive to inputs, while the cheaper 1.8 litre 'four' was certainly keener to attack twisty roads but wouldn't worry a Focus driver. And the five-door? Well, a less evo car I can't imagine. If you want an Italian mid-size hatch, stick with the 147.