I had bought my new Palio Stile 1.1Slx three weeks back. My father advised me to go for Fiat as he still uses his Fiat Premier Padmini(1988) and it is running in a good condition. From the childhood only, I’ve started admiring Fiat and at last ended up buying a car from the same maker “FIAT”.
Even though I bought the car myself, it was my dad’s choice.
PERFORMANCE
I want to start off with the main part of the vehicle: engine, transmission …The car has a capacity of 1108 cc. The engine was borrowed from Fiat Panda (one of the prestigious vehicle from Fiat), but we can also say that Fiat Premier padmini also had the same engine of 1108cc capacity, never mind. The power has been installed with a 57bhp and the torque of 92Nm.
A fuel efficient car needs such type of engine. Though the power has been slightly reduced when compared to other car, but the car cleverly manages to run effortlessly. The vehicle delivers a mileage of 14kmpl in the city roads after the first servicing and 18-19kmpl on the highways. The car comprises of 5 speed manual. Shifting the gears is easy and it also offers reverse gear lock which avoids the driver to shift the reverse gear accidentally from 5th gear (improved technology).
Company offers tubeless tyres, which has a good grip on the road and its durability is excellent. This is the only car to offer such tyres from the base version. I took a test drive of approx 25kms and some of the roads were uneven, since the car has a good suspension you don’t feel any discomfort in it.
Even in patched roads, it has a better handling due to good suspension, tubeless tyres and its braking efficiency is excellent. I had driven the vehicle in the congested and busy areas, it was pretty easy to handle the car. The car can able to rea
ch 110kmph, but at that speed cabin tends to shake lightly. At 80kmph the car is smooth and easy to control. Overall it has a good ability to prove to be the best car in terms of performance.
EYE CANDY
The first thing you will notice on the exterior of the car is Double barreled halogen lamps. I was little disappointed by seeing the old blue Fiat badge. I thought the red and white Fiat logo will be setup. The logo has been nicely arranged in between the honeycomb grill.
The car looks dazzling in night than in the morning. The fog lamps are arranged for the 1.1slx. The tail lamps are been changed. You won’t find the exhaust tip, like the other cars do. The car is bigger than the old Palio. The body finishing work has been done greatly. Since the car is built by heavy steel, sometimes it is not possible to get neat curves. The company offers red, blue, green, white, black, grey.
I thought of buying the car in carbon black, but my wife rejected it since no newly owned things should be black(sentimental fool). So I took the red one. In red also it looks cool but in black it is “HOT & SEXY”.After looking at the exterior, I went inside. The first thing I had noticed is that the car looks very fresh unlike the other cars like Maruti, TATA, and Hyundai.
Totally bright interiors and when I had my seat, I felt very comfortable. The dashboard is same like the old Palio do. But there was something difference that I felt and it was the two tone plush beige interior. The interiors makes you fell like you are in a luxury car.
The good thing I found in the driving part is that indicator switch is placed at the right side of the steering and light leveling switch is placed at the left side of the steering, where the Japanese car will be quite opposite and found it difficulty while driving my friend’s car. The vehicle is very spacious, easily fit upto 5 persons and if we can adjust we can make it to 6persons also.
The AC is excellent, there is also an adjustment in the AC. Another interesting thing I’ve noticed that the car will be unlocked with the only key given by the Fiat dealer. If we tried to break the lock, this would rise to engine failure and the car refuses to start. The speedometer is very funky but you won’t find the digital meter. Doesn’t matter I like the odometer instead of digital ones.
The odometer view from the gap of the steering wheel is fine. The other thing that disappointed me was no alloy wheels, he has given you the full wheel caps. But he should have given alloys for the high version of 1.1. But doesn’t matter, There are a lot of luxury equipments that you won’t find in a car around 3.9.lacs.
Power windows, Fabrics, power steering, AC, remote fuel lid opener and tail gate opener, Tachometer, digital clock, body coloured upholstery…. It’s a long list, you can find it in the brochure of Palio Stile. SAFETY FEATURES Everything is great to say about the Palio stile when it comes to safety.
The body itself is made of perfect steel. Side impact beams, front structure with controlled deformation and reinforced struts, engine immobilizer, fire prevention system, double crank prevention system and still a lot more…..
When I asked the dealer about all the specification, he had answered everything except the double crank prevention system. I don’t know what is the purpose of this safety features. But I know only one thing that, I didn’t find this many safety features in other cars.
SPARES
The main reason for the flop of the earlier Fiat cars was the availability of spares.
By the time TATA took charged of the Fiat, there were no problems found. Fiat decided to launch this vehicle minimum for 2 years and TATA-Fiat had written a policy that they will manufacture the spares of Palio stile for at least 6 years. Availability of spares- Fiat has lengthen its productivity by introducing a new production facility in Ranjangoan.
Now the spares will be cheaper and the availability will be increased, nothing to worry about the spare parts.
OVERALL
The car has a good engine, exteriors and interiors are well made, Safety features are upto the mark and availability of spare and service backup is doing much better. It delivers a mileage of 14kmpl in city, 18kmpl in highways and overall 15.5kmpl. This car has satisfied me in every aspect. I’m very happy to have “FIAT PALIO STILE”