A Solid and Spacios Car !. Review on Fiat Palio Stile

Hi MS Readers,

Got my Italian Beauty delivered in the last month and the odometer reads around 2000KMS.

Now I am in position to reveal some +ves and -ves of this car.

My requirements were:

Spacious car (Not an SUV)

Under 4.50 Lakhs

Good Solid body

Good Looks and reliability.

Safety.

I took test drives on almost all the hatchbacks in the segment like Wagon R, Zen Estillo, Xeta, Santro,Getz etc and finally did Fiat Palio Stile.

After the test drive I just fell in Love with this heavy car and booked one immediately.

Positives:

A true spacious car for 5 people. All the 3 rear passengers can sit comfortably without rubbing their shoulders when on a drive. On a long drive this is a big advantage! (Estillo, Wagon R, Xeta fails on this part)

Suspension is a real good feature of this car. The big tubeless tyres eats all the potholes with ease and you feel a slight THUP - THUP and the pothole is gone without even getting noticed by the rear passengers. It behaves like a Sedan! atleast to some extent.

Ride Quality is good and sturdy. I tried 110 KM/Hr on Mumbai - Pune Expressway and came to know the sheer stability of the car at cruising speed of more than 100 KM/hr. (Indica is also very stable but makes too much noise of the tyres and the engine).The control was good and I never felt that I am not in control of the beast.

Braking is fine since it is fitted with Disc brakes in the front tyres and Drums in the rear. Braking response is quick and the tyres never skid. (Since the weight is more than 1000 Kg, this might help the car to stop even quicker by 10/15 metres and this distance is very important to avoid a collission).

A/c is really chilling. Put it to 4 speed and within 5 minutes you will be left shivering in the cabinet. I tried this in Mumbai’s humid climate and noticed the immense power of the A/C -  that chills in no time.

Headlights are good and the focus is fine in night drives. (I am planning to upgrade it to better lights - May be Philips Extreme/ Osram - Nightbreaker)

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Gear shifting is slick, effortless and smooth. (Zen Estillo's gear shifting is a bit sluggish)

Ground clearance is adaquate (May be the highest in the segment - But not very sure ) and eats all speed breakers and potholes with ease.

I went with the SLX version, which has some good features, like rear wiper, defogger, heater, fog lamps, power glasses and power steering.

Negatives: (Some reasons why the car is not better than its competitors)

The engine is 1000+ CC with a 57 BHP and has to carry  more than 1000 Kg of the weight of the car + the weight of its passengers + the lugguage (if any). The result is sluggishness while driving. Yes the car is underpowered. And with the A/C on, it begs for more power to move on! So it’s not a car for those who like to ZIP - ZAP - ZOOOOO. (For them Fiat has Sports version with 102 BHP -and trust me this 100 BHP+  car is a rocket!) however, the sluggishness goes away when you shift for the upper gear. Once the car is on the move you can see other cars in your rear mirror.

Spare parts are not that easily available. But this problem is getting eliminated since Fiat is setting up its own manufacturing plants accross the country  + Tata is Fiat's partner to sell the car. I hope Tata does a good job in the marketing of Stile.

Resale wouldn’t be that good. So it is a car for those who are going to keep the car for 5+ years or may be more.

There are not many negatives for this car but Fiat's marketing is a bit faulty. They don’t put that much effort for their products in our country and this is why Stile is not in the limelight.

About the Fuel efficiency - It gives me around 14 KMPL (In City) with A/C on 99% of the time and on highways - around 16/17 + - I bet it and have tested it myself. (Depends on the driving habits!)

This is the best car in its class and a real value for money. It is better than the Tins that we get  who give us a high pick up but lack on safety.

Accessories:

Audio - Alpine - Get this from the outsider - Always

Sunscreen on the windshield - Llumar (It is very important and extremely effective during driving in the days  since it reduces the heating of car due to direct sunlight and helpful in the nights sine it negates the glare of the headlights of the oncoming traffic) - Get it done from Outside.

Taflon Coating - Get this done from the dealer - Dealer is the best.

Central Locking - Auto Cop  - From the dealer always. (The Car comes with the Central Locking provision. You just have to install the accessory to activate this feature)

Crush Coaching - Got this done from Outside. Dealer shall force you to get this done from them but they charge huge sum and give you SAKA leather - which is not durable atall. So get the coaching from Outside.

Got a huge discount of Rs. 22000 + Rs 10000 for Loyalty with Fiat (I had one Fiat Padmini some years back - You shoulda sk the dealer about this and get a flat discount of Rs.10000 if in case you own a Fiat already or used to have one. )

To sum it up this car is a real value for money and I am happy to have it. My advise for those who are planning to go for a new car -  Please have a test drive of this car and only then decide which car to go for!

Thanks for reading such a long review and I am waiting for your comments on the same.

Take care.