I bought Fiat Palio when I was in US. i.e. my parents bought it & my decision was based in the reviews on internet & my parent’s test drive experience. We were considering Indica v2 & Palio but Palio won out due to better/upscale interiors much better exterior styling, Paint Quality, Perceived quality & specially the ride quality. (big tires & better suspension). There was issue of ’’mileage’’ but our driving wasn’t that much to make it a big issue for us. The specious interior was also a factor.
It is more than 2 years now we had our Silver Palio 1.2 ELX with power windows, central locking, AC etc & we couldn’t be happier. We have used it for multiple inter-city drives & found the seats/overall Comfort Level & the ride quality make the long drives a short-work! The AC is good enough for Indian summer. The big tires & the tough suspension have saved use several times on unknown roads where other cars ’’bottom-out’’.
The Gear-shift is a joy..almost butter-smooth, even though the gear-throws are a bit longer it is smoooooth. The clutch is also light & spot-on & easy to locate the point of engagement. This is more obvious in the inclines & bumper to bumper traffic when you struggle to keep the rolling & not touch either the one ahead & the one behind you! :)
The Seat is on a higher level even than the old City & makes it easy to see the road & the objects in front of the car. The seat-adjusts in snap & almost everyone can find a suitable driving position.It does support the back (& lower back) very well. It may not be comfortable like my Accord I had in USA but certainly is one of the best in India. I am 6’ 1’’ & find a very comfortable driving position in it.
The Ride Quality is class leading. Small bumps or even big bumps are not felt the way in some other cars, for example any Maruti car just shakes & shivers on any kind of bumps. The minor road-irregularity are just bypassed.
A few months back my Mother had slip-disc & was advised not to travel in Rikshwa-public transport. If you ask her what she thinks about Palio: You will look no further & run to the nearest Fiat dealer! I carried her in Palio for two months without any issues...now try to picture Indian rural roads. (Specially Nasik to Panwel: There was a 20 km rough patch & I was thinking that the Doctor who advised not to travel for next 6 month is going to kill me!)
The 5th gear is so tall that sometimes I feel that the car is in neutral! It is advisable to downshift to 4th instead of controlling/reducing the speed by just braking in the 5th gear. On the Mumbai-Pune expressway the 5th gear comes in picture & helps the mileage.
Fuel Economy: We get 10 in City driving & 14/15 on the highways at the speeds consistently 70+. The Car Weighs more than the others & a big reason for the fuel consumption. The positive part of the weight is the heft & Stability at the higher speeds & also above average crash test scores tested in UK. Something can’t be said of Wagon R & Alto(?). The drop in fuel efficiency does pay-off in the increased space & crash-worthiness of the car. I have also observed that the fuel economy changes by at least 2 Kmpl with & without AC specially in the city traffic. The powerful AC just sucks a lot of power & you would do a lot well if you used the AC intelligently.
There were a few concerns raised by friends about Reliability & Service from Fiat. We have had ZERO problem with respect to reliability. The car NEVER suffered any unscheduled visit to the dealer. The car has been rock-solid so far (touch wood).
Size: Palio is a bit bigger on outside than the competitors & the outside mirrors are further big even after folding them down! This makes them scrape at the first opportunity either by the oncoming traffic or the bikers that want to take over in a crowded place. No solution to this problem! They don’t fold that well too. The postive is the kind of rear-view they give. It is very useful for intercity travels.
The 1256 cc (1.2) Engine is a gem & is torque reach. I have loaded it with 4 Six-footers weighing 70+ kg & with 2 bags for international travel but the car was pulling in lower range just fine. The engine also makes very good power in the upper rpm range. 15kmph in first gear, upto 40kmph in 2nd, 60/65 in 3rd & 80 in the 4th are the gear shifts I find comfortable with average load (4 adults).
The Trunk is really BIG for this segment & swallows the stuff that makes me surprise sometimes.
Overall I would recommend this car to anyone who is not too afraid of the mileage of 9-10 in the city & 13/14 on the highways. The car is ultra-comfortable compared to others in the segment. Has a certain ’’premium-feel’’ that is hard to quantify & serves very well on the long drives.
Go ahead with this car if fuel economy is not a major concern. I couldn’t be happier with my purchase.
Update 15 July 2004
In the recent issue of Autocar it tested Wagon-R, Zen, Indica, Corsa Hatchback, Santro Xing & Palio. They declared Palio the winner & gave very good comments in their conlusion section too.