After driving d car for more than 30’000kms&2yr here is my review on FIAT Uno 1.2 EL.May sound like a comparo but here it is.
On The Outside-dated?Yes indeed.There is a facelifted version uno mille firein brazil.It’s been faced out in India.d design is same as our maruti 800.But with a bigger than Hyundai accent wheelbase&long bonnet make it just short of d GETZ.The car doesnt look ugly as d old Santro&WagnR.It looks gud frm the front.d wheels r 145R/13 which I think make d car feels undertyred.
Most boring part is d rear which seems amputated.d car actualy feels&looks lower than what it is.But d seats aint low.U sit higher as compared to Zen&Esteem.
Doors r uncomfortably heavy, we had2get them excessively lubed4a smooth play&U must hav muscle power2shut them.Door handles’ve d decades old thumb press style.1interestin featre is dat d glass of d rear windows don open fuly, this safety feature is gr8 considering d huge windows.another is that d front door sills don shut when d door is open, so u cant lock it without d key.
Shut lines aint tight, but they’ve an even gap all over so it don feel bad(unlike Fiesta).Paint job is good& d position of d bumper is excellent(we learned it d hard way) there was never an occasion that we broke any tail or head lights.Even after serious mud plugging on true U P roads, there isnt a single squeak anywhere.
On The Inside-d car’s front&rear leg space is gr8.I’m 5ft 10.Infact it were d upright seats dat caught my dad’s attention.d steering is well positioned&U don get fatigued even after hrs of driving unlike Indica whose steering is on 2nd floor.
Gear lever is short, well placed&don vibrate.Gears r positioned close unlike long throws of maruti.(though it did confuse my sis in the beginning, she always ended up with d 5th instead of 3rd &4th instead of 2nd).Gearshift is gud&I feel only Fords&Hyundai’ve a gearshift as gud in this class.Position of pedals is gud despite d absence of a dead pedal U’ve enough space on side of d clutch pedal2restUr feet, unlike d Santro where d central panel keeps rubinUr left leg.
d bonet is too long but d boxy shape provides good visibility all over(unlike indica).Yes U can c both ends of d bonet even wid a ful stretch of seat.Steering has gud power asistant&don feel feathry like of Santro.Only problm is d 10m turning circle.
Seats r big&supportive, but foam is firm.Front seats lack lower back support but underthigh&shoulder support is gr8 wid c-thru headrests.Front leg space is more than d Hyundai Accent.Rear bench can b flipped down(no 60:40).I drive wid my seat fully stretched, but Mom, Dad never complain.Rear seats r comfortable for3, except 4d firm foam, but r stil beter than d Hyundais&Marutis.D head space is gr8(ask my sardar friends)&U don sit crouched.d width of d car makes it uncomfortable2shut d door on d other side.Thanks2d huge gap b/w d front seats, its a problem 4my gf2rest her head on my shoulders while I drive.
Dashboard is too boring part.d whole green house is ful of dullgrey upholstery&d dash is grey&way too square.But its very practical.d glove compartment is as big as a drawer, &d ashtray is enough4us2store our change&toll tickets.Door pockets are big enough to swallow bottls.I once 4got a beer bottle in it(don tell dad)
There is only 1big viper which is adequate enough&pressing the horn is hard.U’ve2 press d central rectangle on steering really hard, just like d ChevyOptra(te..he..he)but I think this shud b a norm in India, at least I don’ve a habit of honking thanks2d pains in pressing d horn.
d boot of dis car is bigger than Palio, infact only d Getz’s&Fusion’s boot feel bigger than Uno’s.Till 2day this has swallowed petis of mangoes, tons of shopping bags, a20inch TV, my desktop, 4months old newspapers, 5 suitcases at a time, &several children below 3ft.It’ll also come in handy 4dCNGkit
A/C of this car is considered d best in its class, &d’’un-intimate’’gap b/w front seats helps in d dissipation of cold air better.Passengers in d rear&front can be frozen at d same time.YES!! Its that chillin.d position of d music system is too low, &U’ve2takeUr eyesoff d road2operate it.
A neat but boring dial has d fuel gauge on left, speedo-odo in centre&d temp.gauge on d right(No tacho)d temp.gauge was pretty confusing, instead of d normal needle&dial display it has a red colord square(again)light&d temp is displayed in accordance2 d intensity of light.Now u just need2learn how2estimate it.It is relieble but took me months2figure it out.d side view mirror is also dangerously long.
On The Move- d 1242cc engine on d Uno is d same as in d Palio but its a CFI(centrally fuel injection) instead of d mpfi(multi-point fuel injection) unit of Palio.So d result is less power output from it.But in d current crop of small cars its good.62 bhp of max power is equal to Santro&WagonR’s1100cc units, But d extra 142cc paves d way& d engine churns out 92Nm of torque, which gives it more pulling power(in my case plugging power)than both of them.d bigger engine don feel bounded when d A/C is ON.I ‘ve driven this car thru running water&standing mud with an A/C ON.d frugal engine has enough2run d wheels from a standstill even in d2nd gear
d performance of this engine is good.I never calculated the 0-60 kmph timings, but I mostly win at traffic signal GP’s.On d Gr.Noida expressway&d Agara highway I’ve seen d speedo 160.Sum vibes do creep in at 120, but they are not so uncomfortable as those u get in d WAgonR.After 130 d vibes are gone, but it takes som effort2go beyond 140.
Str8t line stability is awesome&I felt in ful control even at 140kmph.d heavy steering helps.d best thing is that u don feel d speed in this car&dats why I can take this car on a clean strecth at 110 with my mom in it.But the engine lacks any kind of urgency & moves around in a mature manner.
Mileage in d city is a bit low as compared2other cars about 11kmpl with A/C, if I drive, &when my sis drives it gives slightly better.Mileage on d highway is good, 19 kmpl with A/C on, abt 22 without A/C
Ride quality is good&d huge McPherson coils in d front swallow potholes easily.d front suspensions has track control arms, & I found that d huge coils actually touch d wheels.d rear suspension is also gud&d whole set up has gas filled shockers.
Low ground clearance has never been a problem&d suspension is tough but I don find it stiff.&d rear passengers r not thrown around at low speeds like in santro&fusion.
Handling is good as far as str8t line stability goes but huge turning circle is a pain in city .Good visibility from d boxy design helps, but U turns r tricky.there is hardly any body roll, thanks2d suspension.I learned driving in open grounds and no matter how much u twist it around bends u cant get a sports car feel.Well its way too stable2show any Ikon like cornering but hey I aint d only one who drives it but breaks r gr8& they never lock
Living With ItUno’s body is designed in such a way that spare requirement is low.d tail light assembly has separate cover&base, so u can simply change d cover&need not replace d whole thing, which is cheaper.but since this car didnt shot sales(thanks 2d problems in FIAT)as been facing, we often feel that d service aint that good.Best we found was the SAMYAK MOTORS in east delhi which is just comparatively better.There are hardly any breaks & faults in bodywork&electricals.Prices of spares is more than maruti&Hyundai but still cheaper than of indica & Honda.
final words-well even if Uno got phased out, I seriously don feel any regression when I see people cramped in their jap & korean cars, loosing at traffic light GP.I wish I could get the 1700 cc diesel version but it was euro-1 specked so we cudnt get it in Ghaziabad