Experience with Linea 1.3. Review on Fiat Linea

First of all, I wish to inform that I had written the first review on 20 Apr 2008 about Fiat Linea on Mouthshut.com and I had predicted this car to get the ‘Car of the Year 2009’ awards and Linea has been

awarded the same.

Since last 2 years I was surfing through different websites and almost read through 100 user reviews on Fiat Linea and every one had a good opinion. We booked a Diesel, Flamenco Red, Emotion Pk. While booking they informed a 20 days booking period. But as they didn’t have Flamenco red in stock we opted for Vocal white. It looked very majestic and like a beautiful White Stallion in a stable.

We arrived by noon on 23rd April and took the delivery of this beauty that was all ready and waiting for me to take her home. The showroom staff was courteous and very helpful. I waited long enough to own this beauty and now I was driving one. I had a chance to drive this car back home 75 kms and so could make a good study on the car while driving. Now for the features about the car:

Looks: Admiration Guaranteed: - The slogan ‘Admiration Guaranteed’ is very rightly put for the looks of this beauty machine. In my home town, nobody had even heard of Fiat Linea and they were all dumb struck to see Linea first time. Some said that the front looks like the Ambassador/ Fiat grill and there were some nonsense remarks like that from different quarters. I didn’t heed much to it as I knew had attracted a lot of envy. The interior is exotic and very lively. You don’t feel like coming out once you are inside. My 5 year old son is all the time inside the car and now knows almost as much as me about the car. The front seat passengers have enough leg & seating space even if the seats are pulled well in front. The front arm rest in the centre is very useful for the driver. Only negative part is the hand brake is just beneath the arm rest. But again you don’t use the hand brake all the time. The dials and the dashboard are beautiful and assembled neatly. It looks like the old Fiat type dials. The digital display provides a lot of information including time, date, outside temperature, and also the kms run. The plastic doesn’t look that cheap compared to the other cars in this segment including NH City. The finishing inside is very neat and done very well. The dual colour interiors gives it a rich look. The door handles dont seem to be very strong. Also the door lock doesnt open once the car engine is stopped.

Engine performance: 1.3 Multijet engines would be a small engine for a car of this size, but it has enough power to drive this car efficiently. In the first gear you have to pass 2500 rpm to get a steady start, but once you are moving the gears constantly the speed picks up and the drive is also extremely smooth. The pick up may be lesser compared to other cars, but this is a family car and I am not in for any race too. This gives out a steady pick up and I personally feel that’s what is needed in a family car. The best thing I loved while driving this in slow traffic places is that you can drive even in the 5th gear at the speed of 30-35 kms and still the car wouldn’t jerk. When you need to get speed after clearing the traffic, you need to push the pedal slowly and it will gain speed steadily, the good thing is you don’t have to change any gears, its like driving an auto-transmission car.

Fuel Efficiency: As I have driven only 400 kms I have not yet really checked the mileage but my display showed 17km /l while on highways. When I checked with the sales executive he said it would increase after the 1st service.

The driving control is excellent and even on sharp bends you don’t feel the car swirling even a bit. I tried out some sharp ‘S’ curves on some Trichur roads at 90 kms speed and it was taken very smoothly by the car. There was no skidding or screeching sound and the tires gripped the road very well.

The ride is very smooth and even on uneven roads you don’t feel the jerks as the Linea suspension bears it all. We had gone for a long trip 150 kms with my aparents at the back and after returning they were as fresh as when we left from here. My father remarked that he felt as if we were sailing in a boat and with the continuous air condition from the rear a/c vents, it felt as if the cool sea breeze was flowing into them.

Technology: The technology installed in this car is the best among any other cars. The ‘Blue&me’ system is very useful for people who are constantly over phone all the time. This system is very user friendly and you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out how it functions. Once you pair your Mobile with the ‘Blue&me’ everytime you get in the car with your mobile’s Bluetooth ‘ON’, it will automatically connect to the car’s system. You have first to download your phonebook to make any calls by name if not, you can also tell the car to ‘DIAL’ and then read out the telephone number . Another feature is if you receive an SMS from any of your phone book contacts, then car will ask you if you need the SMS to be read out, say ‘YES’ and it will read out the SMS irrespective of the language. I tried out a couple of Malayalam ‘SMS’ and it read out these SMS very clearly with an English accent.

Finally the maintenance. As the service has to be done only in 15000 kms the maintenance schedule is very long and hence I feel till that time it would be a ‘ Fill it, Shut it and Forget it’ sort of an affair.

Fiat cars were always known for their reliability but it is the looks and the service that let them down in India. But this car is ‘Bold & Beautiful’ and the I believe Tata service would also cater to all the needs in future. I learnt from the dealers that many people who had booked for SX4, Dzire, NHonda City already cancelled their bookings and booked for Fiat Linea and most of them already taken delivery of their cars compared to the 6-8 months waiting period of DZire & SX4’s….

I would advise anyone who is looking forward to buy a car to opt for this car as you are getting a ‘D’ segment car at the price of a ‘C’ segment car. I wouldn’t have any easier way to explain why to buy this car. You will definitely understand what I meant when you drive it around your neighborhood.