Fiat Palio S10

[amit]

Hi all...
I was going thru one of the threads on which car the members own and GTO asked me how the car was doing as it was much abused. The palio range from Fiat has been un necesaarily abused in our country , thanx to Overdrive to a very very large extent. Anywaz, here is my take on my palio S10.

I bought the car on October 23,2003 and till date i have covered 10,500 kms approx. Read that as 10,500 blissfull and pleasurefilled kms! Right from day one the engine has amazed me with it's refinement, it's power range, it's ability to rev and it's ability to keep the driver grinning! . After driving this car i have realised why FIat and italians are renowned world over for making cars that give u unlimited ,unending pleasure. Till date nothing has gone wrong with the car. What i have done for maintianence is as follows:
1. saw moisture condensation in the Right Front headlight. Replaced it twice and the problem went away.
2. DId first service at 1500kms and spent Rs. 0.
3. Did second service at 7500kms and spent Rs.617.
Palio is a car that ppl either love or hate. It's happened so many times that i pull aside some car at a signal and the passengers in that car keeep looking at my s10. I notice one of them pointing out the Sachin signature to the others. This is when the signal turns green, i drive off and the ogling car remains in it's position!
Once when my car was parked at Center one shopping mall, someone walked to me and congratulated me on buying the car!
Once i was leaving from my friends house and someone from the building next to her's came to me saying, " hey ur too young to have that car! Beautiful car man! ur lucky". I have owned a maruti 800, Daewoo Matiz and a Hyundai Santro and NEVER had ppl reacting like this to my car! I dunno if it's the palio that does it or the S10 edition as after all this model is loaded with spoiler, side skirts and that lovely yellow car with those great looking alloys.
Coming to the part that has given the palio a bad name- Fuel Efficiency. I drive mostly from Chembur to Vashi and back daily and i get about 11 kmpl. I dunno if this is good or bad. It's good for me cuz i don't drive to extract good mileage, my A/C works all the time and u need to understand that the engine is made for performance not mileage. DOHC, 16 valves are inversely related to mileage. This car was made to give u driving pleasure. Also it weighs 1080kgs for God's sake! Compare that to the santro thats about 800kgs the wagon R at 840kgs. Forget hatchbacks, the ikon weighs 979kgs - which is 101kgs less than palio!
The road grip is awesome. U can zoom over potholes at 70kmph and not feel a thing. And remember i have a S10 and the suspension is shamelessy biased towrads handling and not ride quality. nothing and i mean NOTHING unfazes the car. Potholes, bad roads, heavy winds , throw anything at it and it just tracks arrow straight! For those who have any doubts on the palio's ability just take it on the expressway and u would be willing to trade ur car for a palio immediately!
Fuel efficiency is much misunderstood. In India mileage depends on the size of the car! So ppl expect a hatchback to give 12kmpl in city. I never understood why a mileage of 9.5 to 10kmpl in city is considered good for a ikon which has a 1.6 ltr engine and bad for the palio with the same 1.6 ltr engine????????

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (amit @ May 01 2004,23:28)]I drive mostly from Chembur to Vashi and back daily and i get about 11 kmpl. I dunno if this is good or bad.

Thats darn good for a 1.6 in my opinion!!!

Man...after reading the price for which 1.6GTXs were selling for and owners opinions of the car (like yours) i REALLY REALLY wanted to try and convince my dad to buy one....maybe if i was in bombay at the time things wld have been different!!@

cya
R

[Kinetik]

hi amit.. i was with with *Fiat India ,at their manufactoring plant for a college project ..learned *a lot of stuff


the 1.6 has a completely imported engine i mean the enigine comes "BOX PACKED" *from Italy.. looks cool all those Magneti Marelli and Lancia inscriptions * .. while the other engines have localised parts..

the S10 has *sportier gear ratio .. than the other 1.6 variants.... also the exhaust is a semi-sport one.. the one thing i learnt there is the passion the Italians have for the car.. i mean its just a family car..but they made one hella of a ride

[vishnugnair]

hey i think the s10 is a great car not just because i like sachin but the fact that the car has a great power to weight ratio tahn its competation. the only downside is the inscrptions of sachin all over the car making it look as if u had won it in the fair. and the color too...too bright was indian roads. may be a balck s10 with some skirts and low profile rims would be just the thing. by the u r mielage isgreat ,y friend has alower capacity engine one and he gets like 8-10 maybe its due ti driving.
fait is a learinig company and looks like its ins a better position than it was before. by the way heard bat the lock out in their factory. still going on,,,!

[amit]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ] by the way heard bat the lock out in their factory. still going on,,,!

If ur talking about the lockout in Fiat plants in Italy then i saw CNN which said work had resumed in all Fiat plants except one. As for the Indian plant at Kurla, i am not aware of lock out there but i did read that fiat planned to shift to Ranjangoan soon.

[amit]

I forgot to add this point on After Sales Service. This was one issue that had me in a zillion minds about buying a Fiat car. But i must say i have been quite impressed by their service so far. My expereinces with FIat service are :
1. went to change the right head light as it had moisture condensation. I bought the car from Anuroop and took it there at about 10.30am. My job card was made by 10.40am and i was asked to wait in the showroom for an hour. I thought lets wait for an hour then i can make a big noise and blast these guys for not delivering the car in an hour. At 11.30am i was called to the service area to take the car.
2. changing of head lights the second time at Angad took the same time as at Anuroop.
3. First service done at Angad. Drove in at 9.35am and was out of the service station at 9.45am, job card in hand. Was promised delivery at 4pm. Got a call from Angad at 3pm telling me car was ready to be picked up anytime. Went in at 4.30pm , the invoice of Rs.0 was kept ready along with the gatepass. I was given these things and i was driving out at 4.40pm! Got a call from Angad a week later asking me if the car was doing ok. Got another call a month later asking me the same question.
4. Second service at Anuroop. drove in with an appointment at 10.30am. Job card was madeand i was out of the place at 10.40am. Promised delivery at 4.30pm. Got a call at 3.15pm asking me to pick up the car. Went in at 4pm. Invoice of Rs.617 was kept ready again. Paid by credit card and was out at about 4.15pm.

[S350L-E240]

nice to hear good abt FIAT! most magazines jus slam the dealers... guess there's always a 2nd side to a story..

[manticore]

fiat makes good cars, but u cant say the same 'bout the dealers. down south, it's really bad.......and even here in delhi i've heard lots of ppl cribbin about fiat's poor after-sales. the S10 looks good but for the stupid signatures all over the car. damn good car to drive and amazingly stable @ speeds.

[GTO]

Its a personal thing, but except for the yellow paintjob with Sachins signature on it, I love the Palio S10 to death...and had it been available with those Autocar-mentioned discounts in the color RED I would probably have bought one already.

I have been seriously thinking about the Palio q.6 since a while now, but with new examples discontinued...I think things will stay this way.

Your reviews got a real feel good factor Amit, and I agree...the Palio is the bestest hatch on Indian roads. Even the 1.2 aint that bad for people looking for a lower price with that much more economy.

GTO

[navin]

when i was looking at cars for my wife (she wanted a small car to avoid parking hassles) i short listed the Fiat 1.9 GTX SP/PS and the Opel Sail 1.6.

I liked the Fiat a lot but fear of poor service (I know that Opel has a similar reputation but the fears about Fiat's service were higher) convinced me to spring for the Sail.

I have no problems with the Sail however having driven the Fiat and now hearing about the new improved service i wonder if I made a mistake. Fiat has a lot of work to do to counter this negative impression.

[Rtech]

I wonder if a used Palio 1.6 is a decent bet? hmmmmm

[Dippy]

Hey rtech used Palio 1.6s go for a song and if you look carefully you might fine a decently used example for a good price. I'd love to have one. Its truly the hot hatch of India pity they discontinued it

Cheers