Aug 27, 2008 12:54 AM
12355 Views
(Updated Nov 02, 2009 08:28 PM)
Was planning to get a car at around 4 lakhs. Did an exhaustive research on various cars and came to a conclusion that I am going for the stylish Stile. It might not be the right choice but my heart made the decision rather than my mind.
The cars in the Indian market that around 4 lakhs Rupees can buy are
Wagon R
Santro or i10 - base model
Chevrolet Spark
Tata Indica Xeta and Diesel (DLS)
Zen Estilo
Well I have driven all these cars. WagonR, Zen Estilo, Santro and I10 seem to have excellent resale value and maruti and hyundai are known for after sales service. Thisis the general opinion as per my knowledge. Indica Xeta especially with its 1.2 litre engine is good, but somehow is not known for good resale value, not even moderate or reasonable resale value. I had planned, if I would ever buy Indica it would be the DICOR version.
Now at the same tata showroom I got chance to test drive the palio stile 1.1.
It was a furnace red colour car. The sales person who accompanied was new to the business and he knew little about the car. Well the car was solid, u can feel this when you close the doors. The solid thud u hear is impressive. The car from the front looks excellent, courtesy the double barrel headlights and the cute and nice foglamps placed in the bumper. The car is designed very nicely by the Italians.
Test drove the car in Bangalore traffic. The car is 990kg heavy and comes with a 8 valve 57 bhp engine with peak torque pumped out at 2750 rpm.
As per paper this car is of less power than a wagon r or Santro or Chevy spark which make around 63 bhp plus. I personally do not believe in on the paper values. when driven the palio cruised comfortably in 3rd and 4th gear at. The gear ratios are very tall when compared to other cars in the category. So you will need to drive the car on 4th gear upto 50 kmph before engaging the 5th gear. The main thing that should be understood is that palio offers over drive on 4th and 5th gear, these suit excellent highway cruising at around 100 kmph speeds with the engine running in a relaxed manner unlike the marutis and hyundai hatch backs.
the braking was solid, so this car would suit you if you are a patient and sedate driver and do not belong to the breed of drag racers. This car is for those who love cruising and nice and smooth driving.
I have heard that mileage incity without A/c would be 15+kmpl. The car has completed first service and is now 1800 kilometers old. I checked the efficiency. From topup to topup of fuel tank I could calculate the mileage came to 15.8 kmpl when run with around 40% A/C on in Bangalore city traffic and occasional cruise on outer ring road which to has heavy traffic.
Interiours are dual tone with beige colour dominating. The interior design looks like its morethan a decade old, but solid.
Very important features include
Reverse gear lock
Engine immobilizer
Over drive on 4th and 5th gears.
Tubeless tyres
double barallelhalogen headlamps
Engine double crank prevention system
Class leading rear seat space and comfort.
Superb suspension and braking.
Lotof thoughtfully designed features can be found.
With discounts on offer by fiat the Palio Stile is available on road ataround 4 lakhs (SLE MODEL). Thebase model wouldbe around 3.8 lakhs and the top end around 4.2 lakhs.
Update - 29th September 2008
Just got the car after First service.
Engine oil was topped up and car cleaned up.
Issues - A/C motor had a defect and will be covered under guarantee. Waiting for spares to arrive.
Mileage test- Did a tank fill to fill mileage check
Car consumed 39.65 litres of petrol (Normal HP petrol) and covered 557 kms which turns out to be 14.04 kms / litre. The car was run with around 30 percent AC on and in Bangalore traffic. And I did two trips the new Bangalore International airport which amounts to around 200 kms of mixed (city + highway driving).
I am very happy with the car. Smoothest and rock solid
Updated - 25th Feb 2009
The car is now 5000 kms old. last week had a trip to Mysore with car fully packed with 5 people. With AC in the Bangalore to Mysore road under full accelarator I could touch 130 kmph speed. The car refused to cross this speed. But the car felt solid and so smooth even at this speed. I could feel the need for a few more power from the engine which would have made this car the best.
UPDATES - 10th Oct 2009
The car is now 10000 kms old. Felt that I need to try some changes. Went to Bosch service center. The service center (Om Sai motors, Whitefield, Bangalore) suggested some changes to be done to improve efficiency and performance. So went in for Synthetic Oil, NGK Irridium plugs, Green Cotton dual cone air filter (cold air intake). Now its around 500 kms since I made these changes. I get better torque especially in low rpms, Havent really tested the mileage. And I am able to move to higher gears faster than I could, after this modification. The engine is more responsive
