New Palio 1.6 Sport

[joejoe]

Palio Sport 1.6 OTR Mumbai price, less 65k cash disc = Rs 4.60L, includes mudflaps and teflon coating

Quote was obtained from Wasan (chembur) this week.

The finance discount is aover and above the Rs 65k discount.

[namit]

Congrats man !!

I liked your signature - 'Enough of driving - lets fly' - that says it all.

[GTO]

A little late butttttttttttttttttttttt

I got the delivery on 2nd Nov 2006. The Formula Red Palio 1.6 Sport.

Congrats!! A Palio in blood red looks HOT. Me and my bro couldnt take our eyes off it when we went to book the Indigo.

[omar1310]

Congrats! Indeed the Palio 1.6 is the HOT HATCH. I pity those, who haven't got the chance to drive this beauty!

Enjoy!

[joejoe]

What's the difference in performance between a Palio 1.6GTX and the Palio 1.6 Sport that's available now?

I was talking to a Fiat Adventure salesperson in Mumbai, and he said they 'detuned' the 1.6 engine in later models to improve FE...say it isn't so.

[carfreak]

Originally Posted by joejoe

What's the difference in performance between a Palio 1.6GTX and the Palio 1.6 Sport that's available now?

I was talking to a Fiat Adventure salesperson in Mumbai, and he said they 'detuned' the 1.6 engine in later models to improve FE...say it isn't so.

are you sure you heard him right joejoe?then my fears are confirmed!!my palio 1.6,right from the start felt a bit lethargic-say,the engine felt it had only 80bhp rather than the 100bhp.infact another t-bhpian who drove my car told the same thing-this fellow had driven the 1.6gtx before and he told me it had much more oomph than mine.i did not know what the cause was but i thought it could be due to any of the reasons:-

1)having run only 9500km,i felt the engine hadnt loosened up.
2)present models are euro3 which could be responsible for the power drop
3)maybe i was wrong-perhaps i was just not driving hard enough to exploit the full potential of the car!!

can other owners of the 1.6 sport please give your inputs on this.also owners of the 1.6gtx,please let us know

[mobike008]

Hey Firebird, congrats on the sporty fiat. I personally like the canary yellow in this car. It looks really hot with those alloys.

Btw, curious to know if it had been really detuned as joe joe is mentioning. If they did, then oh boy! thats bad news for palio lovers

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by carfreak

2)present models are euro3 which could be responsible for the power drop

can other owners of the 1.6 sport please give your inputs on this.also owners of the 1.6gtx,please let us know

Well the new versions are Euro3 compliant and sport a catalytic converter to comply to the norms that have been put down. I have a 1.6 Sport and does indeed feel underpowered compared to the GTX. On paper they haven't made any technical changes except for the Cat. While I did a side to side comparo I could spot hardly any differences except a few which I will document in a separate thread. For starters check the coolant can on the Sport, its made by Denso while the GTX had a Valeo unit. The entire cooling system in the Sport is by Denso while in the GTX it is made by Valeo.
Give me some time I will put up a thread.

[joejoe]

We need an expert to weigh in here. There may be good reasons for apparent lethargic performance.

I owned a 1.2 Palio that felt a lot more responsive than the adventure, which led to my question of the sales guy. I asked if it could be attributed to the weight difference and that's the answer he gave me.

I am going to test drive a 1.6 Sport next week to figure out for myself. I am expecting a sensational difference from the swift's performance; so far I'm underwhelmed.

[Debasischatterj]

Palio is a grossly underrated but a fantastic machine. And there is no comparison to Palio sports 1.6 among hutches. Best VFM. If you love power, she will satisfy you fully. I bet. Goodluck!

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by joejoe

I am going to test drive a 1.6 Sport next week to figure out for myself. I am expecting a sensational difference from the swift's performance; so far I'm underwhelmed.

The difference is not noticable but yes there is a difference. But it doesn't go down to Swift levels of response. Let us know what you feel.

The top-speed remains the same and I did not find any difficulty to reach 170 kmph with some throttle left to depress.

Joejoe, the difference in the top speeds of the Adventure and the Palio is just 2kmph without speedo error. The Adventure is indeed heavy and weighs way more than a 1.2 so the difference you felt in power is obvious.

[joejoe]

Ok, here's the deal on the perceived sluggishness of 1.6 Sport vs. GTX...

The degradation is largely due to the Euro3 compliant catalytic converter in the 1.6 Sport (moralfibre is right). The ECU was remapped as well, along the lines of the 1.2 castration, to improve FE by ~ 10%.

There's a long thread on Paliousersindia.net about this, as well , I validated it with the service head at Shaman, Mumbai. THe difference is most noticeable in 1st and 2nd gear, they state.

While I'm going ahead with the 1.6 Sport test drive next week, now my first pref is for a clean GTX. If anyone has leads in Mumbai, pls PM my way.

[carfreak]

so my doubt's confirmed now-the euro-3 palio 1.6 sport is lethargic as compared to the 1.6gtx!!so much for making cars eco-friendly!!no wonder i felt the car was not performing at its best!!

i have a small doubt though-didnt the gtx too have a cat-con?when it was launched,i think emmission norms were in place though not as strict as euro-3
levels!!could it be that the sport has a different cat-con compared to the gtx for euro-3 requirements?

moralfibre,please start the new thread whenever you get time.the experts and other palio fans can contribute too.we need to hear from them too.and it will help palio buyers too.not checked my car's cooling can,but does that make any difference in the performance?

joejoe,looks like its better to go in for a used gtx-after all there's only one reason for buying the palio 1.6 and thats pure driving pleasure!but anyway do the test drive and let us know.check for a flat-spot somewhere in the middle where the car gets a bit sluggish.check the initial response too

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by joejoe

The degradation is largely due to the Euro3 compliant catalytic converter in the 1.6 Sport (moralfibre is right). The ECU was remapped as well, along the lines of the 1.2 castration, to improve FE by ~ 10%.

Right about the Cat but wrong on the ECU remap. If you open the rubber cover (heat protectant) of the ECU you will see a year printed on the ECU. My car has a 2002 version software on the ECU and the earlier GTX's had a 2001 firmware. The ECU is untouched and so is the FE. My car returns an FE equal to the GTX. I am looking to find a GTX Cat if that makes a difference? Will update you.

moralfibre,please start the new thread whenever you get time.the experts and other palio fans can contribute too.we need to hear from them too.and it will help palio buyers too.not checked my car's cooling can,but does that make any difference in the performance?

Surely Car freak. This week is a bit busy, I shall have some details up for you. The cooling can wont make ANY difference but my point was difference in the components used. The engine internals haven't changed at all.

[condor]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Right you will see a year printed on the ECU. My car has a 2002 version software on the ECU and the earlier GTX's had a 2001 firmware.

Does the year of manufacture of the ECU, and hence the firmware have any effect on what the mapping is? Couldnt you re-program / re-map the ECU?