THE Fiat 500 seems to have taken the motoring world by storm and the snazzy little cars can often be seem zipping in and out of busy queues of traffic and whizzing along motorways and country lanes.

Now Fiat has added a big brother to the line-up and the stylish 500L Trekking is guaranteed to stop onlookers in their tracks.

With its rugged, ready for action stance, the car is certain to turn heads thanks to its bright colour schemes - this one was Hip Hop Yellow with contrasting white roof, mirrors and dark black pillars.

It also had 17-inch Trekking alloys, tinted windows, flashes of brushed aluminium trim and extra Trekking body kit plus mud and snow all-season tyres as standard.

The interior is equally impressive with distinctive styling traits such as a beautiful black and brown colour combination with the part-leather seats featuring the 500 logo just below the headrests and even the sporty multi-function steering wheel boasts the same colour blends.

Techno treats are plentiful and include a five-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system with excellent DAB sound system and Bluetooth connectivity (£100 extra), automatic dual zone air con, HiFi by Beats (£600 option), cruise control, auto Start & Stop, rear parking sensors and plenty more besides.

So the Fiat 500L Trekking certainly looks the part and is packed with creature comforts, but how does it perform?

The answer is remarkably well. Despite its upright and high-sided design, it's very agile and easy to manoeuvre.

The high-seated driving position results in excellent all-round visibility and the spacious interior means there is ample room for four adults - five at a bit of a squeeze.

The car has a very solid feel to it and when you close the doors, they shut with quite a thud that is somewhat Audi-esque in sound.

And despite not being the fastest out of the starting blocks and taking 12.0 seconds to reach 62mph from a standing start, the 1.6-litre diesel engine does produce plenty of power and acceleration.

The six-speed manual gearbox is nice and smooth and the all-round handling is impressive.

In and around town, the good visibility is a bonus and the sensors make squeezing into a tight parking space much easier. Out on the faster roads, the car can certainly hold its own, although you can expect to hear a little road surface noise when pushed hard.

Storage options are also pretty respectable with a boot that can easily accommodate the weekly shopping and that capacity can easily be increased thanks to 60:40 split-folding rear seats.

There is also an adjustable load platform in the boot along with a number of handy storage compartments throughout the cabin, including a double glovebox (one chilled) and useful solid pockets in the back of the front seats.

The 500L Trekking also boasts a comprehensive list of safety features, such as anti-lock brakes, traction control, electronic brakeforce distribution, electronic stability control, hill holder and six airbags.

In addition, it featured Traction+ which is an advanced tracking system that resembles four-wheel drive. It is thanks to this system along with the addition of raised ground clearance that enables the Trekking to cope with a certain amount of rougher terrain, but it's no off-roader and doesn't claim to be.

All in all, the Trekking which is priced at £19,590 (£21,440 with optional extras) oozes class and elegance and is another key player in the Fiat line-up.