I had heard about this Palio user group on yahoo and I checked them out for quite some time. It was unnerving to see so many Palio users going ga-ga over the car but I did get a chance to test ride one when I was planning to buy a mid-sized compact car. My requirement was for a Comfortable, large interiors, smooth ride and economy. I am almost 6 ft so Zen was definitely out. Ultimately the cars that remained were the Getz, Swift, Corsa Sail and Palio. It is to note that my other car is an Ford Ikon.
Well the Getz was the worst of the lot with a feel like I was sitting in a toy car with actually not enough head room and such low ground clearace that I thought I am going to hit somethng invariably howsoever careful I am to be. It did have a revv and did speed up but it wouldnt go beyond 100 (atleast in my test drive). I must give credit to Hyundai for a small car thats definitely better than Santro but then I was already biased.
The Swift was nice and roomier but made me feel 10 years younger and kind of unsafe in it for some odd reason, I am not being able to put a finger on why was it so unsafe in my mind. Then there was the posterior of this car, Goodness, I am not a young girl to drive that car, I am actually a grown man who wants to take pride and enjoy his ride.
Next was Corsa Sail and I must recommend it anyone who is not bothered by room in the car, its actually a neat car. No bias against it just that it didnt fit my bill for luxury or head room, and it was a little low for me.
Then came Palio, yes I was bowled by the way it looked.
Great head room
Great looks
Sturdy like a tank
Such little noise inside the car
Swanky Beige interiors
Smooth ride
really tall sitting
It stole my heart and even when the world cried over pathetic FIAT experience the superior engineering was just too evident to ignore.
I bought myself the Palio 1.2 NV ELX this month and MAN am I glad. Its fully loaded (I mean fulllllly), well no rail bars, fog lamps and ski rails since I didnt go for the Sports variant. And the colours are nea - really cool.
I think I am happy so far and I will definitely update you guys once I have driven it long enough.
Till then, I sing along in my FIAT and drive on like no other car exists.