[Pedaltothefloor]

Originally Posted by praful

But I don't know what's wrong with Fiat India, they mess up the gear ratios and fueling which kills the performance.

Does you Palio have messed up Gear ratios? I find the gear ratios on my Punto to be perfectly fine.

[praful]

Originally Posted by Pedaltothefloor

Does you Palio have messed up Gear ratios? I find the gear ratios on my Punto to be perfectly fine.

Infact on the contrary I find the Punto's gears to be messed up, 90Hp even more so.

The Palio was not as much of a Fiat India product as the Punto/Linea.

PS : But this OT in this thread

[Pedaltothefloor]

Originally Posted by praful

Infact on the contrary I find the Punto's gears to be messed up, 90Hp even more so.

I am surprised you feel that way, but to each his own.

[swiftnfurious]

My current grouse with the Linea are

1. Rubbery gear shifts - they need to provide a better & accurate shift.

2. I hope they work on ergonomics as well. In the current Linea & Punto, I get severe shoulder pain while driving (can't recollect it's left or right shoulder) even for 100 kms. I am NOT sure where is the problem, but I could never find a proper comfortable driving position. Other wise, for me, it a nice car.

A nice remap will make the 1.6L a good peppy car to drive.

[khoj]

I am not surprised at the grouses mentioned in your post especially the one about the gear shifts. A lot of people grumble about this but then it is their technique that is the problem and not the vehicle.

The Linea's stick slots beautifully as long as one goes through the H gate properly. Unlike the flimsy shift gates in most Japanese makes the Linea's shift gate is not forgiving and will not allow gear stick to slot by a generically directed push or pull but needs the driver to carry out the compete movement.

As for driving position, this is very subjective. I have driven my TJET from BOM to DEL immediately after purchase and then back a few months later. Neither then nor in my shorter drives have I had an issue with the seating position or discomfort of any sort. This when my daily drive is a Cedia, an out and out driver's car that has one of the best driver seat, steering wheel, pedal, gear shift geometry.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

My current grouse with the Linea are

1. Rubbery gear shifts - they need to provide a better & accurate shift.

2. I hope they work on ergonomics as well. In the current Linea & Punto, I get severe shoulder pain while driving (can't recollect it's left or right shoulder) even for 100 kms. I am NOT sure where is the problem, but I could never find a proper comfortable driving position. Other wise, for me, it a nice car.

A nice remap will make the 1.6L a good peppy car to drive.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by khoj

I am not surprised at the grouses mentioned in your post especially the one about the gear shifts. A lot of people grumble about this but then it is they who are the problem and not the vehicle.

I didnt clearly understand what you were trying to convey but mate the gearshift quality in Linea/Punto is just average, if you dont want to believe it then its upto you, the shift gates may be solid like the rest of the car but it still is a notchy and rubbery gearbox.

I own a Linea myself and also own a Vento, the gearbox in Vento is so many times better than the one in Linea, its slick, no rubbery feeling and is a joy to use, i wish Fiat comes in with a new gearbox for the 1.6 Linea.

As for driving position, maybe at the lowest position the steering is still quite high up so people face this issue, i have no qualms with seating position in the 50k kms with Linea.

[KarthikK]

The 1st and 2nd gears are a bit too short on the MultiJet, and this only shows up when the car is subjected to quick takeoffs. Beyond that, there is no issue I want to complain about, so I wouldn't generically say the gear ratios are all messed up. In regular relaxed driving (not involving 1st gear usage) or even the highway, I find no issue with the gear ratios. Apart from the 1st / 2nd mismatch which leads to some frequent shifts in B2B traffic, and the rubbery feel, all else is well. The T-Jet's gear ratios are perfect for me, I wonder why they couldn't manage a similar setup on the MultiJet 90HP.

OT - I was driving a relative's Innova recently and wow, that is seriously what I would call short gearing.

[GrammarNazi]

^Absolutely true (what Khoj says) about the ergonomics and gear shift. Edit : Atleast I like it.

2 things I wish are that they retain are the current exterior looks and that they provide softer seats.

[khoj]

Where is the question of believing or otherwise, I am using it and posting per my experience with my own Jet as well as with an assortment of Fiat's in my social circle(s).

Originally Posted by coolboy007

if you dont want to believe it then its upto you,

LOL, my A.S.S. concurs. Softer seats indeed are the need of the hour.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

^Absolutely true (what Khoj says) about the ergonomics and gear shift. Edit : Atleast I like it.

2 things I wish are that they retain are the current exterior looks and that they provide softer seats.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by khoj

I am not surprised at the grouses mentioned in your post especially the one about the gear shifts. A lot of people grumble about this but then it is their technique that is the problem and not the vehicle...

I am NOT sure of the "technique" part, but I have seen better shift quality in Swift / Ritz / Ertiga / Duster / SX4 / Captiva etc! At the same time I need to agree it's NOT as bad as an Alto / Wagon R.

Originally Posted by khoj

...As for driving position, this is very subjective. I have driven my TJET from BOM to DEL immediately after purchase and then back a few months later...

Again this could be subjective. But I never had any such problems in either a M800 / Swift / Wagon R / Captiva during long drives.

Originally Posted by coolboy007

...i wish Fiat comes in with a new gearbox for the 1.6 Linea...

I just so wish !!

[nkrishnap]

Of all the draw backs of the MJDs on the Fiats, the 1st and 2nd is short, good for ambling in traffic, not good for straightline acceleration runs and the 5th could have been a little taller to keep the engine more relaxed on the highway. The shifts are rubbery and long throws.

The seating position is again subjective. Some find it comfortable, some dont. If Fiat had increased the height adjustment range for the steering and the telescopic adjust for the steering, the issue of the ergonomics would have mostly been taken care off.

For the facelift I would like to see these below

1. 1.6 MJD and the 1.4 Tjet in a higher state of tune as the engine options
2. New gearbox with a short shift and a stubby gear lever
3. A GC of not more than 170mm
4. Telescopic steering adjust and increased range for the height
5. Cruise control on a DCT gearbox than a manual one.

But all said and done, the babus at FIAT need to get out slumber and give what the market wants rather than what they think markets want.

[Joe M]

I personally feel nothing great about the design of the current Linea, and the facelift doesn't improve it a bit. But I always love the build and handling and engines. In my personal opinion, if they don't change the design, they're not going to sell it well. Punto design was superb, and it was sold in good numbers even though the service and dealers were the same.

Again, it's my personal opinion about the design. I know there are quite a good number of people who love the Linea's design very well.

[AMP]

Originally Posted by Joe M

I personally feel nothing great about the design of the current Linea, and the facelift doesn't improve it a bit. But I always love the build and handling and engines. In my personal opinion, if they don't change the design, they're not going to sell it well. Punto design was superb, and it was sold in good numbers even though the service and dealers were the same.

Again, it's my personal opinion about the design. I know there are quite a good number of people who love the Linea's design very well.

I am also in mixed state about Linea design. Sometimes I liked it a lot but sometimes I do not like specially the front part. Linea's rear design is beautiful! But this is my personnel opinion.

I have never faced any issue with Linea's seating position. It is just perfect for my body type(I am 5.7) except the distant side glass operation switches. Always I have extend the reach of my hands in order to access them.

[Ohh!Oxygen]

Appearances are a matter of personal choice. I would stick to the characteristic metallic grill any given day. As their ad suggests, if they really want to be a Swift and Dzire wannbe, they need to work on their basics rather than silly facelifts. I have driven my cousin's Linea extensively and it really has a great potential.
This is my wish list for the next version
1. Better gear box and engine mapping (take a clue from any Japanese, German or even Korean counterparts)
2. Better interior. You have already done a great job with the metal parts. Have some respect for plastics.
3. Professional A.S.S. Stop the don't care attitude. One of my colleague was denied warranty since the operator has mistakenly enter the date of purchase and the service center guys were like "Sir computer is not allowing me to enter, I can not do anything". Sarkari babus and state bank do a better customer service.
4. Improve city riding comfort Team-BHP has great travelogues but the real average Joe in Indian spends most of his time on bumper to bumper traffic in the city. Even in highways things are not radically different (last week I went for a Mysore trip and spent one third of my drive time on bumper to bumper)

Indian customers have a taste of their own and you need to customize as per their requirement rather than dumping models after models. They will pay insanely of they see the value proposition. Swift diesels costing more than 8 lakhs sell like hot cakes.

[nareshov]

Re: rubbery / imprecise gear shifts:

On a recent long roadtrip, I noticed that my dad (whose regular ride is a Getz) struggled a lot with shifting between gears 4 and 5. I didn't struggle as much because - as @khoj points out - I seemed to have been following the H-gate shape quite well in my mind. I do find the Getz's slotting pattern more forgiving and unhindered compared to the Tjet's.

Couple of things, I suspect, that can help are: shortening the gear stick and maybe actually placing a H-gate to restrict illegal slotting-motion vectors. Anybody willing to try these mods or correct/point me at the right direction ?