What car one buys is a personal choice—even in China, let alone democratic India. However, knowing what a car is really up to can be a matter of public exchange. Having put that view out, I would claim Palio 1.9D is a safe, reliable workhorse. In more ways than one, this car outsmarts many others. A quick summary covering the key aspects:-
Engine and Gearbox: Even on top-gear, the engine bubbles with high torque—something that you’d appreciate while motoring in congestion or driving through gradients over long-hauls. Either ways, you will get to change gears only occasionally, and this not only spares you from at least 80% of the pain experienced in driving geared cars, but also boosts fuel-efficiency and aids reduced engine-wear. This characteristics of the engine combines with a gearbox with well-set ratios to ensure a relaxed driving experience. Furthermore, since all of this is achieved without a ’’turbo’’, Palio diesels boast a long usable life before the engine must be overhauled. Doing 250, 000 kms—perhaps even 300, 000 kms if driven and looked after properly, isn’t uncommon for this diesel engine. This goes well with the fact that Fiat is globally among the top 3 finest makers of diesel engines: a distinction that doesn’t come for nothing. (FIAT enjoys an unassailable position in diesels with numerous path-breaking inventions. For example: world’s first common rail featured in Fiat’s Alfa Romeo in 1998 to the latest 3rd generation common rails to all the advancements in Iveco series diesel engines.) In sum, on diesel engines, FIAT can be safely relied upon--and the Palio D’s engine exudes all of these elements in striking an excellent balance between power, initial cost, performance, cost of maintenance, and being helpfully contemporaneous in technology. (note, with all that loud talk about naturally aspirated diesels being things of the past and inefficient, Toyota’s Innova sporting a common rail engine doesn’t better its predecessor on fuel-efficiency and noise levels; likewise with Accent CRDI)
Car construction: Very few other cars in India in this class will offer you to speed-up to 150 kmph and yet retain a steady composure. The car’s dynamic response is designed for excellent road grip, ride, and straight-line handling at high speeds. All the parts are put together to behave steady as a stationary rock--with low Center of gravity, with rugged and proven 178 chassis platform (to survive the highest extent of impact) and with excellent balancing characteristics to keep you from that awkward, scary feeling of rolling-over at high speeds and sharp turns. Yet more importantly, the suspension is as good as it gets—something that you’d be very thankful to your back for, long after you’re bored and tired from decades of driving through India’s emergence from auto-stone age.
Value for money: Cherishing the quintessential Indian dream of seeking value, even after driving for several years under adverse conditions, it’s more likely that Palio D—unlike the Japanese or Korean cars—would sill remain in a single piece.
The ghost of Service: If you lived in the South, the story here isn’t great but neither is it as scary as it’s made to be. Elsewhere, within the country, I don’t really know and can’t comment. But yet FIAT services can improve to free its clients from the hassle of worries that come with ‘maintenance’. Nevertheless, the key thing to note here is that the dismay of having to live with a junked product, that many including myself at one time had feared, is more drama and less fact. Most consumable parts are made in India and/ or available in the market, which means the chances of being stranded because of consumables isn’t realistic. The mechanicals, including the gear box, engine, chassis, shock-absorbers etc will seldom show-up for repair or replacement any time soon. In effect, even if FIAT went bankrupt—the chances for which seem remote given the steady progress that firm is making world-over (watch FIAT results for last quarter that pleasantly surprised most analysts)—the risks involved, after all, do not amount to being left with a non-usable product.
Image: Palio D is an oxymoron: a GREAT product with a BAD image. Put differently, give Maruti or Hyundai this product, they would rip apart all their previous sales records. In short, don’t expect many people to endorse your decision to buy a FIAT product.
If you want to buy a car for what it is and not for what many others think it is, then buying the Palio D should not cause you any concern. Go ahead, you’d not regret--indeed, I haven’t after I bet with my hard earned money on Palio D.
M.A.Venkat
Chennai
ma_venkat@yahoo.com
Aug’ 2005