An eagle with sparrow wings!. Review on Fiat Linea

I just came back from a 20 minutes long test driving session with the Fiat Linea Emotion(top end) Diesel variant. I thought of writing a review because I am in the process of test driving 4-5 cars in this segment before purchasing my new car which is due this month

*Admiration guaranteed!

Well, they could not have come up with a better punch line because this car is a beauty - both from outside and inside. The very first thing you notice from the front is the prominent european grill, flanked by the twin parablolic clear headlamps. When you move over to the back, it's again pretty much european - solid looking boot which does not have any unwanted make up. And from the side, it looks the best with the **nicely tapered aero-dynamic design and stands that's emphasized by those big tires and alloys.

I open the driver-side door and I already get a feeling of safety with those heavy doors(They are really really heavy and women will find it a bit difficult to open/close) When you get inside, you are welcomed with a feature rich dashboard while you immerse in those big seats. The controls are well positioned and the plastic quality is quite good for a car of this price. It was homecoming for me because the orientation of the headlamp switches and wiper controls were exactly same as that of my Ford Ikon(i.e. Wiper levers on the right hand). Since I was not able to see the hood of the car, I used the driver seat height adjuster lever which is positioned at the right place as well. Next, I used the ORVM control switches(though not as good as those of Hondas and Toyotas) that are positioned well and do their job well. However, when I adjusted the inside rear view mirror, I noticed that the view area is not very'tall'(I got to see more of inside the car than what's behind the vehicle due to the over-tapered body shape - especially the rear). This has resulted in low head room for the rear passengers but more boot space. So, I am not sure if it is for good or bad.

*Starting the engine.

Now, coming on to the business. I started the car and noticed that the **diesel engine is surprisingly silent on idle. I engaged it to first gear and the gear shift is butter smooth(for the test driving vehicle that has done over 12K kms, it felt good). I found the gear height convenient because I have the habit of driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on the gear lever. The front side center arm rest was at the right height and of right support for this kind of driving. Now, I slowly take my leg off the clutch and accelerate. My right foot keeps going down and down but this beauty is still sleeping. There's a snoring sound but the car would not move. Boy, this one is really slow to take off. And my disapointment started there. While engaging the gear, I noticed that the clutch pedal actually needs to go so deep down(not very sporty that way) before you can engage the gear. I am talking about something like 6-7 inches deep push on the clutch pedal which was quite a surprise for me. I am not sure if it was the issue with the test car. However, the hydraulic power steering really felt great and firm. It was not like those loose wheels of Maruti's that don't give you a feeling of safety at high speeds.

*The drive

My disappointment continued till I am in the third gear. The car's grunt slowly came down and it accelerated well now. But it takes really a while before you can reach the third gear. I had the third to fourth and overdrive shifts pretty quickly and took the car to 80-85Km/hr. The car was pretty smooth and **not much engine/road sound was audible inside. The ride is extremely smooth like those in Toyotas. In fact, I intentionally drove it through a few successive potholes(pretty easy to find on Bangalore roads) and it actually absorbed all those'thuds' pretty well. Next, I wanted to test the brakes from around 80K I jammed the brake - and boy this beauty came to a standstill in pretty reasonable time and without cribbing much. The brakes are excellent! I moved forward with A/C on and found that running the A/C does not impact the power much(I mean, it didn't reduce it further). Now I wanted to test the ground clearance. I took it through three speedbreakers and it rubbed two of them with two more people in the car other than me. The pre-sales person told me that the petrol version rubs the road a lot lesser because it has 0.5 cm more ground clearance(I will be test driving the petrol variant soon). However, the ground clearance may not be as disappointing as that of the new Honda City. Next, I tried a U'turn on the reasonably busy road to ITPL and I was fortunate not to see a few fingers from other drivers. I had to actually take the vehicle back once in those U'turn areas where my Ikon would have spun around smoothly. The turning radius is really big - much more than that of a Honda Civic.

The verdict

I pulled over the car and got out of it with mixed feelings. The low powered engine was the biggest dissapointment. And I got a feeling that the low torque, high turning radius and the deep clutch pedal will make ita bad car for city driving - and that's my verdict. Probably, I am used to driving those nice drivers' cars and felt very dissapointed with driving it within the city. However, with the kind of safety feeling it offers, and better ride on higher gears and the brake quality it may be highly suitable for highway driving. I must add that, as a package, the Fiat Linea offers a great deal with all those great features that even many above 10L cars don't have.

The pre-sales person was very nice to usand I can't really complain about their service quality(pre and post sales) unless I experience them more.

[Update: I got a couple of messages on why I recommend it if I did not completely like it. Please note that, as mentioned in the review, I would not recommend it for daily city commuting but it may be a very good option for highways]