Palio to Palio NV to Palio Stile to Palio Stile Multijet
Palio story is more interesting. Fiat launched the palio way back in 2001 and attempted to make the Palio as a more acceptable small car. When palio was introduced in india it was seen as a turnaround car for Fiat in India. It actually did, Fiat sold 1100 cars in just two days and completed the year with an impressive sales figure of 33,000 cars. But the celebrations was soon over when frugal hatches like zen and Wagon R took the centre stage. Fiat attempted to redeem the situation by reworking the engine management system of its 1.2-litre FIRE engine and introduced it as Palio NV. Fiat positioned the palio NV as an economical car to lure the buyers but none went as per the Fiat’s wish. Poor service network and unavailability of spares tarnished the image of the palio and Fiat as a whole. Last year, Fiat made a tie-up with Tata Motors to improve its service network and started planning to comeback into the Indian market. In the meantime to qualify for the small car excise cop Fiat introduced a new variant of palio called palio stile with a 1.1L engine.
Now Fiat has come out with Palio Stile Multijet diesel. The 1.3L Multijet diesel in one of most successful smaller displacement engine in the world. From Maruti Suzuki swift to BMW Mini makes use of this engine. Fiat hopes the proven and familiar diesel engine will turn the tide again in Palio’s favour. But what about the service facility? Fiat claims the service quality has been improving. More than understanding the chracters of new palio, we are intrested in finding out the service quality and price of spares. We checked the availablity of spares in a Tata – Fiat showroom and we compared the prices of spares of Palio and swift. Our findings are at the end of this test drive report.
1) Fiat palio stile diesel: Palio was produced as part of Fiat’s world car project and FIat presented thr palio in 1996 in Brazil. Palio was designed by Giorgio Giugiaro – Designer of the 20th century and Fiat has made just two minor facelifts till 2007. Yet the fluid curves and the sloping windscreen pleases our eyes and even now Palio is one of the best looking in the segment. The diesel Palio resembles the current Stile petrol version except for the all new red logo and a ‘1.3 Multijet’ badge in the rear.
2) Fiat palio stile diesel: Palio Stile multijet comes with a 4 cylinder multijet diesel engine- from FPT- Fiat Powertrain Technologies providing a maximum power of 75 PS @ 4000rpm and peak torque of 184 Nm at a low rpm of 2000. It weighs 1065kg same as the Swift diesel. Fiat uses the same 5-speed synchromesh gearbox used in the 1.9l. The multijet mill returns 14kmpl in our combined city and highway drive. Though the mileage figure is decent it is well below the swift diesel which uses the same engine.
3) Fiat palio stile diesel: When Fiat decided to develop a world car for developing countries it wanted stronger body structure in order to suit the rougher roads found in some of the markets for which it was intended, as was the suspension. The basic chassis was a development of the Fiat Uno and it blends a ride with handling in good proportion. Suspension and brakes are carried over from 1.9 palio. The car remains stable even at higher speed and the brakes offers good bite.
4) Fiat palio stile diesel: The interiors are spruced up but they remain inattractive, the twin tone beige and poor quality plastics is in no way match the interiors of cars like Fabia. But getting behind the three spoke steering wheel is always a likeable one in Palio. The steering feels lovely and precise, the pedals are soft to touch and well-placed. The ergonomics are excellent and all the controls are easily accessible. You won’t develop fatigue even in longer drives. But parking this hatch is an issue, the poor turning circle hampers the palio’s manoeuvrability and we find it little tougher to park the palio.
5) Fiat palio stile diesel: It is a big roomy hatch. The dimensions are ample(3827*1620*1440mm) and the wheelbase is a generous 2373mm. In terms of spaciousness palio lies somewhere between Maruti’s swift and Skoda Fabia. Superb ride quality of the stile diesel ensures a comfortable ride for all passengers. Legroom and knee room is a tight fit for an average size adult. An over-sized may find it difficult to sit in the rear seat.
6) Fiat palio stile diesel: Features list is not so fantastic usable features like remote locking, height adjustable seats and adjustable steering wheel are absent even in the top end SDX variant. The case is no diffrent in terms of safety. ABS and airbags are not even offered as optional. Fiat has to understand the present condition and it s competetiors. Palio comes with only basic features such as power steering, power windows, central locking, fire prevention system (FPS), engine immobilizer and fog lamps.
7) Fiat palio stile diesel: is available in 5 exciting colors – Furnace red, Magnesium grey, Ozone blue, Mint White and Carbon black, across 3 versions – SD, SDE & SDX.
8) Fiat palio stile diesel: On the road price of Fiat palio stile varies between Rs4,87,059 to Rs5,30,590.
Survey on spare price soon