Test Drive: Palio Stile 1.6, noisy cabin (engine noise)

[amitsingh08]

Dear Friends


Here is a TD report.

It took me a while to find a dealer to send me a 1.6 for TD. Mumbai has 3 dealers of which only 2 have 1.6. I have completed a TD with Shaman. For 2nd TD, I had to connect with the other dealer - Fortune. The guy drove from Nerul to Dadar to give me a TD. I love this level of service. Hope it remains post sale.

I tried a noise-test. Rolled-up windows, switched-off AC, put in neutral and raised RPM. There is sumptuous cabin noise, from the engine, above 2500 rpm

I also drove the car, on 3rd gear, pressed the accelerator, and again - good amount of engine noise.

I'm comparing Stile 1.6 against the Getz which has almost nil engine noise. I test drove Getz twice. I wish one of the S10/NV owners could TD the 1.6 stile. My opinion is that significant engine noise is present.

I also noticed leather gear knob and steering cover. Sales guy confirmed that these also come on 1.6, and not just on 1.1. He also confirmed that 1.6 does not have immobilizer.

The 1.6 has a peculiar start. You have to turn the ignition key and hold it there for 2 seconds. Doesn’t have an immediate start.

The dual color dash board looks beautiful. The quality of beige and gray material is very good. I loved the interior and could only find 1 flaw; gray arm rests are very unrefined.

Rear room seating feels plenty. Overall the Getz has more rear leg space, inspite of being 2 mm shorter

I also wanted to thank each and everyone. Rarely have I seen a community, online or offline, that is so helpful and collectively creates so much value. Thank You.


I now have the hard decision of Palio stile 1.6 vs Getz Prime GLS. Though agonizing, I'm also enjoying the decision making process. Will update you'll soon.

Amit

Mod's Note: This is Amit's TD report on the engine noise in the Stile 1.6 cabin. It has been moved here from his What Car query thread for better cataloging reasons.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by amitsingh08

I now have the hard decision of Palio stile 1.6 vs Getz Prime GLS. Though agonizing, I'm also enjoying the decision making process. Will update you'll soon.

As i have mentioned in another thread. When we went to the showroom, the sales guy started the Stile 1.6. The cranking noise and engine noise was high that my father asked if its a diesel!
But it settled down after some time, although not exactly silent.

Neglecting the engine noise factor, I feel the Palio Stile 1.6 is very much VFM compared to the Getz prime 1.3. (1.3 prime is overpriced for what it delivers)

[bottle]

yeah i too feel palios have this clackety noise while idle.. its a different matter once you start going though noticed this on a palio 1.2 not sure about my stile. will check

[Thingummy]

Agree with the noise part - but that's what is nice about the car (i feel) - the low seating with the lovely engine sound - makes it feel like a true sports car (even at 1.5-2k rpm, the engine makes this deep growl as if its begging to be pushed further - i love that feeling)

[uttamc]

Originally Posted by amitsingh08

I tried a noise-test. Rolled-up windows, switched-off AC, put in neutral and raised RPM. There is sumptuous cabin noise, from the engine, above 2500 rpm

I also drove the car, on 3rd gear, pressed the accelerator, and again - good amount of engine noise.

Hmm... you mean the engine GROWL! Nice ain't it.

You better get used to it, cuz its highly addictive!!

Originally Posted by amitsingh08

I'm comparing Stile 1.6 against the Getz which has almost nil engine noise. I test drove Getz twice. I wish one of the S10/NV owners could TD the 1.6 stile. My opinion is that significant engine noise is present.

Blasphemy.

[Thingummy]

Tried a 140kmph run on pretty rough tarmac with all windows rolled up - there was the nice engine sound (sounds sweet even as high as 6.5k rpm - no indication of irritating engine whine, which suggest that its not running out of breath as yet), reasonable amount of tyre noise (to be expected on stock tyres, and the rough tarmac), absolutely no wind howl (wonderful cocooning in the cabin) - and the only other noise being some junk i have in the boot rolling around occasionally. Haven't tried the Getz, but wholly lacking were any increased judders through the floor, gear knob or the pedals, which i've experienced on the swift and the zen - i'd call it damn good NVH levels (then again, i might be too much in love with my baby :-) )

[amitsingh08]

bottle is the only unbiased guy; the rest are consumed by palio fever. Thanks for your inputs all. bottle - I salute ya

[ece2k2]

From my driving experience of Fiat 1.6 engine, I feel that the car can be driven both ways - in a pretty silent manner by keeping the engine RPM low, as the torque is pretty driveable in low RPMs or to rev hard to enjoy the blast of power.

- Karthik

------------------------------
2000 Hyundai Santro DX
2003 Fiat Siena 1.6 ELX
2005 Maruti Swift Vxi

[rajeevng]

Raghu, What is the mileage offered by your 1.6? Say in Bangalore like conditions,what can one expect? Also on the highway at constant decent speeds?

[Thingummy]

I've not had a chance for a really good highway figure - although the one instance i did measure it, i got a little more than 12kmpl. City mileage has been anywhere from a little over 9kmpl to the latest figure of 12.47kmpl (all figures with a/c on about 40-50% of the time) - I think i see a definite improvement in mileage after the first service oil and filter change. What's encouraging is that the latest mileage figure is with some reasonably hard driving post first-service - so i expect that with more sedate driving, one could possible get even better numbers.

[razor4077]

Finally got to drive a Palio 1.6 Stile. In fact, this was the first 1.6 Palio that I have driven (drove a 1.2 before). And at the end of the day, I must say it lived up to my (considerably high) expectations.
The drive was exciting to say the least. Tata/Fiat folks were pretty prompt in getting us a TD car, and set up the drive within 3-4 days of asking for one. A brand new black 1.6 Stile was waiting for us - shuvc, vrooooooom and me.
Set off on the drive and promptly stepped on the gas. Was very pleased with the surge of power and merrily red lined in 1st & 2nd. Had just shifted into 3rd when I saw a Honda City pull out into the road ahead of me. Now the Fiat people had disconnected the speedo (a common practice these days I am seeing), but I was probably a touch above 100 at that point. Not a very wise thing on my part, given that that road wasn't ideal for driving at high speeds on.
Over the next few seconds we got to test the braking of the 1.6 in real life conditions. Initially it felt that the car would not stop in time.... and it simply skated towards the City. For some reason I had it in my head that it had ABS, and tried steering towards the right but of course, there was no ABS! Thought about downshifting for a split second, but wasn't too confident of doing so with an unknown gear shift. Pumped the brakes right at the end and managed to pull off a bit to the right. End of the day, everyone was safe, though all of us were a little shaken up.
I must say that the brakes were pretty good, though when the car is as powerful as this, ABS/EBD and rear discs can be very useful, and should at least be offered as an option.

Lesson learnt - do not get carried away by the power of cars like the Palio 1.6, especially on city roads.

Anyway, TD continued for a while longer... did some fast cornering, worked out the suspension on some rough patches and drove in slow moving traffic. Overall, was very impressed with the driveability at varying speeds. There were times when the car seemed a little unstable at higher speeds, especially on bumpy roads, but nothing major (wider tyres would take care of this I think).
Front seats were comfortable and offered good lumbar and thigh support, while there was enough head and leg room. Rear seats looked spacious for a hatch, though I never sat in the back. Interiors were ok... I don't quite agree with the brushed aluminum trim on a beige background - would prefer a black/dark gray + aluminum any day. But overall, not bad. One nice change from the older Palio is that the indicator/lamp stalk is on the right and not the left.
From the outside the car looks decent, but there was something about the older Palio that stood out. Maybe these looks will grow on you.

On road price was around 4.6, with some discounts possible. I don't think there is any other car that gives this much of bang for the buck. Tata's servicing records are still suspect though (in Calcutta anyway), and that, plus the fact that a Fiat would have massive depreciation rates, would make people think twice about buying the Palio. Oh, and I was told the FE is not that great either... around 10 Kpl in the city.
But let's face it... this is a car for a car lover, and not someone who needs an A to B vehicle. Will be giving this car some thought....

[rohitgaur]

Actually the Engine "Noise" of the Palio is the sound which eminates from the Engine Compartment to the passenger Compartment. , The damped portion being covered with rubber seals which sometimes rather often loosen out and fall off the mounting, I've had a couple of palios so once you replace the seals and fix em up with some sort of sealant, the cabin sound reduces by an astounding 50%
This gyan is for all palio buffs , this trick was shown to me by my mechanic in chandigarh

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by amitsingh08

bottle is the only unbiased guy; the rest are consumed by palio fever. Thanks for your inputs all. bottle - I salute ya

I am a little surprised at this engine noise thing. My Petra 1.6 is very quiet, is it possible the same engine in Palio sounds noisy. Even the diesel Petra my neighbors own is very quiet.

The engine note is a different thing altogether, its intoxicating like many others said.

[BUSA]

Nice review Razor. I would suggest looking at the Palio Diesel when its launched, since it would have better resale and surely better FE.

[hellspawn]

its a tad irritating that you have t hold the key for 2 sec before cranking the engine(ecu and injectorcheck happens during this time).the starter motor is noisy .i didnt feel that the engine is noisy...probably you are talking about the engine growl when you press the gas and accelerate.
as far as braking is concerned the stock tires are crap.after i shifted to 195 yoko's the braking has improved atlest 50%(im not kidding).
though one thing i like about palio/siena/petra is that under hard braking the rear doesnt step out like the swift/esteem/ikon.