Proud owner of a Red hot furnace Red Palio Mjd

[Jaggu]

Shebin i think engine will feel smoother once you run more kms, diesels take upto 15k kms to completely free up. Congratz and enjoy the ride and i think you will be right person to give a good comparison, guess you already started.

Wishing ya the best and enjoy the drive

[architect]

Congrats Shebin... It seems your long wait for the Red SDX is finally over. The interesting thing is that also being an owner of the Swift VDi, you will be able tell us where the two cars are different.

Just to compare notes with you and to mention some things I have learnt after 2100 kms of driving till date.

Originally Posted by shebin

Interiors:All of you know how it is(egronomical and solid but not great looking and stylish)

Steering:Heavy compared to swift and a breeze at higher speed.No need to clutch the steering wheel at high speed.It gives correct feed back.But if u are used to EPS you will find it a bit heavy.

Totally agree with you. Although a lot of people find EPS better, I like the HPS of Indica and Palio more. Maybe because MSIL doesn't do the EPS bit well. Important: Since you don't have the manual, let me warn you, don't leave the wheel at full lock position for more than 10-15 seconds if the car is not moving. The HPS starts emitting a humming sound and might get damaged. Straighten the wheel if you are stationery.

Originally Posted by shebin

Seats:The seats has come out very good with good support and enough space.The space is exactly what a tall person would need.i am 5, 10.I find it good.

Tell us if your foot (esp left) is too big for the footwell, because that seems to be a problem with some people. At size 8, I have no issues. I find that the seats work best if you try NOT to sit upright. The more horizontal your legs are, the better placed they are for the pedals. That's a problem I felt with Hyundais - Santro, i10, Getz. You sit fairly upright, so your foot tends to sit flat on the floor. But the pedal is more vertical. That's the reason I prefer lower seating.

Originally Posted by shebin

Suspension/handling:Too good.No Potholes are felt and the car really behaves like a sedan on rough terrain.You feel safe and solid.Handling is on softer side but well balanced due to the steering feed back.

Space: more compared to Swift,especaily boot space.


Transmission:Swift scores here.Palio gear box is smooth and you have no issues with shift.But its vague and feel like older indicas.I think swift gerbox is really good.

NVH:Somehow i feel swift is having better NVH.Palio vibrates slightly and this is transmitted to the gear and steering at times.But this doesnt interferes with the driving pleasure as such. .

Agree with you on the above. Gearbox is better than the Indica and WagonR atleast, although not so sporty like the Swift. I don't find it vague. It might take some skill rather than effort, but it never slots incorrectly.

Minor Vibrations happen only when I am in the wrong rev range. I have realised that by keeping the car above 1500-1600 rpm, I eliminate any vibrations coming on to the gear lever or steering. But no rattles except the parcel tray at times. Its all about shifting correctly.

NVH might be higher than Swift, but the amount of sound insulation I get on closing the windows is awesome. Just shut out the traffic and switch on the music. Its a cocoon.

Tell us about the ride and handling as compared to the Swift.

Originally Posted by shebin

Engine power:Enough and adequate.The car pulls very well with ac on,turbo lag is felt but 3rd gear is enough for all type of traffic.Overtaking is also a breeze.

Brakes:Good and have enough bite.not scary even on stock tyres.

I feel the 2nd and 3rd gears could be spaced a little closer. Sometimes I am too slow for 3rd gear (go below 1600 RPM) but too fast for 2nd gear. It can be a problem in traffic because the powerband is higher. Have learnt to tackle that slowly. Other ratios are fine.

Braking happens a little late, but it stops after giving you a small scare first and the guy behind you a small scare next. Again a matter of getting used to and a little skill with the brake pedal.

Originally Posted by shebin

Overall the car gives you a big car feeling.Its firmly planted on the road and you can push her hard.Change into alloys/better tyres will complement this.I think the bulid quality is quite good,but gear box is a sore spot when we think in fiat standards.

My initial impression is that this car is bulid to a budget and does not impress with the usual Fiat quality.

There are some cost-cutting issues I did not like. Is the plastic panel on the inside of the Rear Hatch present in your car? Apparently that's not standard on my SDE. Thank god the parcel tray hides that! Overall, I think its not as solid as the older ones. But I would say the difference is only 5% or so, if you can quantify such things.

Originally Posted by shebin

But when we tackle bad roads at high speed you will fell the difference of driving a fiat.

That, sir, is the best part. Amen!

[abhinav.s]

Hey Shebin,

Congrats on your new SDX and hope you will start a new thread to share your experience. That too being a Swift D owner and a Palio MJD now, you should be able to give the best comparo between the two.

Congrats once again and drive safe

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by shebin

I have done only 30 km in this car,so please consider this as an exact review.These are initial impressions and might change in the long run.

They will.... Congrats Buddy!

[vigneshram]

Hey Shebin
Congrats on your new ride,the MJD SDX.atlast your wait is over and your have got your car.I am really eager to see the pics. though.


Vignesh
1.2Siena ELX

[FERRO]

Congrats Shebin! do post your car pics in new thread if possible.

I hope the initial lag will go away as the engine free up. keep updating.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats mate on the Red Beauty. Do post the pics of the car and keep us updated.

[shebin]

Thank you guys for all the wishes.I will start a seperate thread on the ownership with pictures included.

Architect,thanks for the update on HPS.The concorde people never told me this.As you mentioned i would prefer HPS because i find EPS scary at high speeds.

Footwell has posed no issues for me.Its only a matter of time if somebody finds it tight.The clutch is a little heavy,but thats ok.Now the seating position is not the vertical style which you gets in swift.In swift you sit tall,but in fiat your seating is more downwards.I find Swift seating more comfortable in the city due to its visibility.But in the long run i think you will be more comfy with fiat seating,especially in the long drives because it offers more support and comfort.

One thing i noticed in this short stint is that the car gives you a lot of confidence to push hard.I missed this in swift.But again this is subjective because this might not be the case with others.

The exterior looks and color is appreciated by everybody.The design still attracts people eventhough its almost a decade old.

Jaggu,I also believe that the engine needs more time to free up as its diesel.But based on my experience with swift she was buttersmooth when i got the delivery.But the difference is negligible...

[Technocrat]

Congrats Prasidhi & shebin

What is the price difference between equally specced Swift D & Palio D ?

[bblost]

Pictures, a couple of pictures, please.

You have a very beautiful car.
If I change my car, this is the one I will buy.

[architect]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Congrats Prasidhi & shebin

What is the price difference between equally specced Swift D & Palio D ?

Lower End Variants
Swift diesel LDi Rs 5.05 Lakh OTR Delhi

Palio Stile SD Rs 4.80 Lakh OTR Delhi
Palio Stile SDE Rs 5.00 Lakh OTR Delhi

Palios have which Swift LDi don't: Tachometers.
Stile SDE has which LDi doesn't: Front Power Windows, Manual Central Locking, Fog Lamps and Rear Parcel Rack.
SDE is the better buy between SD & SDE. All three don't have Left ORVM.

Upper End Variants
Swift VDi (w/o ABS) Rs 5.44 Lakh OTR Delhi

Palio Stile SDX Rs 5.22 Lakh OTR Delhi

Palio SDX has which Swift VDi doesn't: Rear Parcel tray, Rear wiper and Rear Defogger, Back-Lit Power Window Switches.

Not Sure: I am not sure if Swift has a Day-Night Mirror or a Remote Boot Release.

Swift VDi has which Palio doesn't: Optional ABS and Immobilisers on all variants.

There are no exactly equivalent-specced variants.

SDX is slightly higher spec than VDi because of Rear Wiper, Defogger and Parcel Tray. Price Difference is Rs 22,000/-.

Add a left ORVM to SDE for Rs 3,500/- (dealer cost for entire assembly change) and you get a VDi except Rear Power Windows but with Rear Parcel Rack. Price Difference after Adding Left ORVM: Rs 41,000/-

[Prasidhi]

Managed Some Pics finally.

[shebin]

Shrodded the car with alloys(HR 14INCHES)-----PRICED 16500 4PCS
tyres changes into YOKO 195(forgot the specs,wiil get back with correct details)Priced around 16000 for 4 pcs.

JVC mp3 with usb and JBL speakers with JBL tweeters. total cost around---15000

Lumar 25 black for 2400rs.

I had a problem in getting the alloys.The alloys with multiple pcd i got,that means the bolt size is different for fiat from standard alloys and is very rare to obtain,it seems.Now this alloy can be used for swift as well as palio becuse it has two options for bolt sizes.

After adding the tyres the handling has become really good.I pushed to 100 and it was very poised and stable.The car is real cruiser on highways.

@architect,the handling and ride is really good and class apart.Almost equivalent to some big cars.Safety and stability is also there at high speeds.

@jaggu,how do you find the swift's steering response/feed back at higher speeds.I find the palio steering to be more good.Swift i find it scary above 90km/h.But in cities swift steering is breeze.

Mileage i am getting around 15 in city.

Gear box has become more smooth.But i love swift in that dept: The clutch is heavy and needs to depressed completely.Some how i didnt like this set up.Does it means that the clutch is more strong and durable(tank like)

No rattles and not even a small sound on rough patches.Tough build.

The old style dash board is not a looker,but i tell the egronomics is much better than swift.You wont serach for any switches and the positioning of ac is so good that it wont freeze your hands(i had this problem with swift)

Rest will follow soon.

I am not seeing any updates from other Fiat users other than architect.Guys what happened to you?



.

[FERRO]

@Shebin: a small request please do update us with pics of your car, would love to see the kind of alloys & setup you have.

Q: Is there a spoiler available as option in MJD ?

[shebin]

@ferro,soory for keeping you waiting for pics.I had taken pics today and tried uploading them,but failed due to some issues with my mobile/system.But i will get it done ASAP.Apologies.

I enquired for spoiler,but not available with tata/cocncorde.Think will have to get from somewhere else.

Ferro how do you find the clutch of sienna.Is it hard as palio's.Will it improve after a while?