Few more words about this 'Elegant Lady' . Review on Fiat Linea

Guys and Ladies....From the reviews and comments I have been reading so far I feel that Linea is for a different set of Indian mass who would like to own a vehicle which is apart in class and style from the usual Hondas and Suzuki's around.

When a test drive is requested, you should know what you are driving , what to expect  and its features coupled by reviews of the car. I have seen people jumping into conclusions quickly and provide reviews just on engine power. Let me tell you that to own a Linea you first need guts to take the decision to buy this classic car which is way beyond comparison with many Hondas , Vernas and SX4s on the road today. These vehicles are good , but I doubt whether they are built to last.

I am owning a Flamenco Red MJD Emotion PK for more than a year now and have clocked close to 13, 000 kms and believe me people still come to me and ask me about the Linea's performance , overall experience and its features, handling and drivability and somehow it makes me feel to be an exception and I enjoy this attention. They will not ask this to someone who is owning a Honda city because these cars are all over the place now and have become kinda old 'school boys' . So what is new in Linea and why I get people to look at the vehicle and admire. Well they all like the car indeed but are skeptical to own it doubting its engine performance.  All I can say is all their concerns are all frivolous.

I have test driven almost all cars in this 10 lakh segments Honda City ( i-VTEC ), Verna, SX4 and to some extent Toyota Corolla and none of the seem to appeal. Just two days back I decided to push my Linea to 170 KM on NH4 ( great highway to enjoy driving ) which I had not till now and I was completely blown away by the rigidness, sturdiness and handling . Linea doesn't seem to like to leave its path even at such high speeds which is indeed commendable . I had locked the car at this speed for almost 15 - 20 mins  and feeling absolutely safe driving at such high speeds. Due to its heavy body, it just doesn't leave the road grip. I got an amazing average of 23 kmpl which is indeed brilliant .

At that point, I was thinking where the hell is the sluggishness, turbo lag, under powered and all that kinda nonsense that people are talking about  in this car.

Now do we need any more power after all this experience ? and that too on Indian roads ??

I would not dare to drive at such speeds in a Honda or SX4. Linea is just great for city driving as well and is perfect family sedan with all rich features and 'cockpit 'controls. It is a talking car .. I was playing with its Blue&Me feature and all phone features are operated by sound . Just say what you want and this Elegant Lady executes your command.  The same is for entertainment ..just 'tell' the car to play the media without taking hands of the wheel and there your are ...Fantastic innovation and note that these features were launched almost two years ago when Linea was launched in India and the same is being replicated by VW Vento now.

Driving on rough patches and roads is not a problem at all and I have stopped driving slowly being fed up with driving slowly due to potholes all around in Mumbai due to heavy monsoon. I have given up on my patience. However you need to be careful over deep ones as the car's GC is a bit low. Other wise the car just glides over rough roads.

The Multijet Engine is almost noiseless and with my second service , I feel the car has become peppier and the overall pickup has improved . The car is a zippy now and doesn't feel that you are driving a diesel vehicle. FIAT has completely changed the perception if diesel cars with this technology innovation and I am not surprised if Tata and Marutis have bought these engines to run their cars.

At the end of the day  , somehow I feel proud to be a FIAT owner specially after owning Linea and I don't think I would ever think of buying any other cars. I am not worried about its resale value and I don't think I will ever sell it . Fiat Abarth is one car though which I would be interested to find out more when it will be launched in India.

Linea is not meant to be sold and somehow as other Linea owners have stated elsewhere to which I fully agree is you indeed get emotionally attached to this 'Lady with Brians' and parting her with someone is far away from my distant thoughts.